ANOTHERWHATCARTHREAD – New York Commuter Car Edition

We just signed a contract on a house out in the suburbs of Westchester, NY, so wife, son and I will be moving soon. The good news: Beginning in June the kid will have a swingset and I will own a double height two car garage (suitable for a lift) which I am guessing will be a better spot for wrenching than the paddock at the track. The Bad News: I work in lower Manhattan, so my commuting choices are, twice daily: (a) an hour and forty five minute commute via foot, subway and train, or (b) a 30-40 min drive.

I’m choosing the driving option, and am looking for suggestions for a $3000-$4000 car (not SUV) with auto tranny, comfy ride (roads here suck), good A/C and heat, and moderate fuel consumption/parts prices. I will do all wrenching. I don’t mind catch up maintenance, but would otherwise prefer this to be an appliance (however soul crushing) and not a project.

I know they are VERY different, but right now I am thinking of an older Saturn sL, non-turbo Volvo, e36 318TI or some flavor e46 BMW (I know them pretty well). The issue with the BMWs would be resisting the urge to make improvements. Miata/Cherokee/e30 are out, I already have one of each and for once they fail to check the boxes…

For that price and purpose I'd look into v6 Maximas. You should be able to find a very clean one in that price range.

Ma Bell spec Taurus. Get something nondescript, something that perps in the City won't touch.

Thanks Joe! By the way, today is my 6 year anneversary on the site, but I am sadly branded with the misleading "New Reader" tag because I'm mostly a lurker. I guess adding a category for "The Silent Motority" is probably too much to ask!

Joe Gearin wrote: For that price and purpose I'd look into v6 Maximas. You should be able to find a very clean one in that price range.

The train.

I don't know where you're going to be, but 30-40 minutes from anywhere north of 287 to lower Manhattan is highly unlikely to happen ever; south of 287 might happen sometimes if the planets are aligned, but no matter how you slice it, driving into Manhattan during the rush is essentially driving into a funnel for traffic, and getting all the way downtown just makes it worse.

Personally, from most locations in Westchester I'd buy a monthly Metro-North pass and call it a day.

"The Silent Motority" I like that....

Having had a few experiences driving in Manhattan, I would suggest something large, powerful, and already beat to E36 M3, since it seems most New Yorkers drive by a sense of feel. Also, it should have a loud horn, and a driver's window that rolls down easily, for the purpose of flipping the bird.

1988RedT2 wrote: Having had a few experiences driving in Manhattan, I would suggest something large, powerful, and already beat to E36 M3, since it seems most New Yorkers drive by a sense of feel. Also, it should have a loud horn, and a driver's window that rolls down easily, for the purpose of flipping the bird.

In other words what every cabbie already knows. He needs a crown vic. I sure has heck wouldn't drive anything I cared about in any way. Get a beater and finish it off.

Have you factored the price of parking? My guess is it would be high.

02, we will be living just outside of New Rochelle, so well south of 287. 40 minutes is perhaps optimistic, but I will be coming in at around 715am, and leaving generally around 7pm, after traffic has hopefully cleared. The fastest I could ever get up to Grand Central via subway & then train up and walk home is about 90 minutes, if all is perfectly timed. Even if the drive home 50 minutes or an hour, the time saved is still the difference between seeing my son before bedtime or not. I've been running the train versus drive calculation in my head the whole time we have been househunting. A montly parking spot is about $100 more than the cost of a monthly MetroNorth plus subway pass plus annual train station parking pass. Basically the tradeoff is $1200 plus annual gas/tolls, in exchange for getting to do bedtime or sometimes make it to ball games etc. To make the equation work I need as cheap a car as possible.

I know, I know, we need to move back to Florida...

Two seat Honda Insight.

JohnRW1621 wrote: Two seat Honda Insight.

He'll be squashed like a bug. He needs one of these:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/doc/cto/4355654422.html

I'd drive something you currently own (if you own something) for the first few weeks and see how you like driving. I'm not as familiar with NYC traffic as I once was, but coming in from NJ a few years back, if I wasn't on the road by 6:30 AM, the commute was not a pleasant one. I commute an hour to Stamford, CT each day, and if I start at 7:15 AM, I'm in the thick of rush hour.

For commuting in NYC forget driving and take the train. It will be less expensive (variable fuel costs, maintenance, repair) You will have time to sleep, read, learn or work remotely, plus the walking is surprisingly nice.

I rode the train from Trenton NJ to midtown for 5yrs (~2hr commute each way). Only drove in two times once on a bet and the second time for a family issue. Each time I have vowed to never do it again!!

I'd think if you're going to go P71, you'll want to bring it from Florida.

LS400, reliable, timeless, pimp, 1uz v8, dirt cheap.

Train from New Rochelle is about 40 minutes to GCT. Maybe 10-15 minutes for the 4 or the 5 to lower Manhattan. Not sure how far you'll be from the station in New Rochelle, but I suppose that's an important factor.

I suggest you start looking at the traffic on Google Maps or Waze at the times you plan to travel. You may be unpleasantly surprised by how bad it can be at 0700 and/or 1900. But if you absolutely insist on driving, something indestructible, cheap, and disposable is the way to go.

M1A2.

In reply to 02Pilot:

Before 7am you can wait 10-15 minutes to get a 4 or 5 train, then depending how far you go another 15-20 minutes. You're right about 40-50 minutes being optimistic for the ride home though. I wouldn't rule out the train until you've tried both a few times. My commute is about the same driving or by train but I much preferred the train. I have been stuck driving for the last six months because I start too early. Once you get settled take the family out on the weekend and get familiar with different routes too and from work. There will be days where one or more will be flooded or otherwise hopelessly jammed so having an alternate route will be important.

For a car there are a few things I would avoid. Anything with low profile tires. The roads here are terrible. You see lots of bent wheels and flat tires on newer cars because of it. Don't get too attached to your bumpers. I lost count of how many times someone has bumped into me in stop and go traffic. Make sure the seats are comfortable because it doesn't take much to turn 40 minutes into 2 hours.

The type of car doesn't seem to matter as much as staying on top of the Maintainance. There are a lot of us commuting from upstate, PA and Jersey with high mileage cars. I'm at 380k on my Malibu, and I have a few coworkers well into 400k on a variety or cars.

It's out of the budget, but I have to say - on my last visit to Manhattan I finally realized why the BMW X3 exists (other than to soak up extra cash from impressionable rich folks). Manhattan is its natural habitat - high enough to see out of, zippy and small enough to lane surf, with enough suspension travel to take on curbs and potholes.

Last time I was in Manhattan I was driving a (still muddy) rallycross car with a side exit exhaust. Even the cabbies backed off- it was great!

Admittedly, it was not rush hour.

last time I was in NYC I was behind the wheel of my old Volvo 850. I was really impressed with how well that boxy sedan handled the mean streets. It was cushy, comfy seats, and being square, I knew exactly where every edge of my car was.

and being a Volvo, I knew I would come out ontop of everything but a major accident with a crown vic

Jeep Cherokee urban assault vehicle.

UPDATE: Shortly after moving we bought a used Volvo XC70 family-mobile, and I used that to commute for about 3 months. Amazing car, comfortable and decent power, but a total gas hog (21mpg). Wife used the M3 during that period for school runs etc...I am still finding used cheerios and milk spills. After a loooong search, during which I discovered that I simply dont fit in a Mazda3, I ended picked up a 2003 SAAB 9-3 automatic about 10 days ago. 65k miles for $2500. Car is basically spotless, but needs some easy catch up maintenance...Front brakes, front shocks, plugs, air filters, etc. Only wrinkle is that it seems to have the balance chain tensioner/guide problem common to early ecoboost engines. I am now wrestling with the decision to either just replace the tensioner and guide and call it a day, or re-do both the timing and balance setups completely. In fact, that is probably a question I should address to the bretheren. Even running rough, Iv'e so far averaged 30 mpg.