If she's going to be doing rotary side work, the obvious answer is an RX-8. Series 2 RX-8s (2009-up) are remarkably cheap, I have been finding R3s in the $6k range when they were $20k cars only a couple years ago. Series 2 has three oil injectors per rotor instead of two, and an upgraded transmission.
Not knowing the budget, add another one for (fill in the blank) hybrid. Avalon would top my list.
Non-hybrids I'd also consider are an Impala ('14+) , Altima ('13+), or a Mazda6 ('13+) as well.
Since it showed up in several entries, some feedback on my '13 Sonata: purchased off-lease in early '16, 50K trouble-free miles since purchase (81K total), decent mileage (28 in 50/50 highway/city commuting, low 30s on longer trips), not entirely boring to drive, good ergonomics, but the ride is surprisingly harsh on anything other than perfectly smooth surfaces (base model on 16s - Limited on 18s I test drove was even worse).
In reply to Knurled. :
Spinning Dorito Head! Meant in the nicest possible way... :)
Duke said:OHSCrifle said:Avalon Hybrid
This. Anything you can do with a Camry you can do better with an Avalon, for the same or less money.
One more for this
Prius.
There are so many good options out there, I think you'll want to let her test drive them and see what she thinks. They've all been named already. Sonata, Optima, Camry, Accord, Mazda6, Avalon. Heck, even the Impala isn't a bad place to spend time and eat miles, though it's not as good on fuel.
Personally I'd rule out the Prius simply for the driving experience. It's horrid, I had a 2010 and even my wife commented how bad the handling is. It's a fabulous appliance and I give it credit for that, but it handles far worse than our family minivan, no thanks.
If I had to pick a final two out of the group I'd go Avalon or Accord V6. The Avalon will have more luxuries, but the Accord is more sporty. I love the Accord V6 as it'll hit well over 30mph highway, yet can run 0-60 in around 5.5 sec and take corners with much "sportier" cars. It's also stupid roomy inside, the back seat is like a limo.
Hyundai is the only answer. 100k warranty, easy to work on, cheap and you can get ridiculously good deals on used low mileage cars.
Hyundai Sonata or Kia Optima are right there in price, performance and availability. AND....AND.....you can get a turbo model if you want(the 2.0L Optima Turbo hauls the mail).
In reply to Klayfish :
As a third gen Prius owner I agree it's not the even remotely fun to drive. However I love the 55mpg I get on my 350/week commute. Will your wife even care about the "feel" of the car or is it purely just an appliance?
They also last forever and fairly comfy so it'll be my easy button.
kevinatfms said:100k warranty...ridiculously good deals on used low mileage cars.
I agree with what you wrote but just a point of clarification. The Koreans offer 100k warranty to the new car buyer but for the second buyer, the portion of the warranty that transfers is just 60k. So, 100k to first buyer and just 60k to used buyer.
I'll point the wife to this thread and let her decide what she wants.
It will be treated like a refrigerator. Maintained minimally, driven hard, put up wet, and run into the ground.
Just put some pencil to paper. At $2.69 a gallon and 26,000 miles a year (500 miles a week), 25mpg costs $2,800. 35mpg costs $2,000, 40mpg costs $1,750.
At 39,000 miles a year (750 miles a week), 25mpg is $4,200, 35mpg is $3,000; 40mpg is $2,600. If you're getting a gas card, you probably don't care, but if you're getting a standard mileage rate, these are significant differences and you should really be looking at a Prius or a Volt.
John Welsh said:kevinatfms said:100k warranty...ridiculously good deals on used low mileage cars.
I agree with what you wrote but just a point of clarification. The Koreans offer 100k warranty to the new car buyer but for the second buyer, the portion of the warranty that transfers is just 60k. So, 100k to first buyer and just 60k to used buyer.
UNLESS you go CPO.
Toyman01 said:I'll point the wife to this thread and let her decide what she wants.
It will be treated like a refrigerator. Maintained minimally, driven hard, put up wet, and run into the ground.
then Korean is what you want. They excel at that for a fraction of the cost of the Japanese
In reply to mtn :
The website fueleconomy.gov will do this math for you if you want. Just search a couple of car and then compare. The standard comparison will be for 15k miles driven per year at an average, current fuel cost rate. From there you can personalize the data. As an example, you can then compare at gas prices of $3 per gal or $4 per gal, or 10k, 20k, 30k ,40k driven per year, etc.
mtn said:Just put some pencil to paper. At $2.69 a gallon and 26,000 miles a year (500 miles a week), 25mpg costs $2,800. 35mpg costs $2,000, 40mpg costs $1,750.
At 39,000 miles a year (750 miles a week), 25mpg is $4,200, 35mpg is $3,000; 40mpg is $2,600. If you're getting a gas card, you probably don't care, but if you're getting a standard mileage rate, these are significant differences and you should really be looking at a Prius or a Volt.
I basically did the came calculation, and came to the conclusion that buying a used Prius would more than pay for itself (depreciation, insurance, regs, gas) than using my FRS for daily commute simply based on gas savings (plus cheaper tires, maintenance, etc. are all on top of that). And since the FRS is mostly a track car now anything is fairly boring to drive in comparison so I don't really mind it (vs. a camry or whatever).
One thing to consider is if it's mostly highway or stop & go and city mileage. My FRS would get 20 tops in warm weather city traffic, but will do 30 on the highway. The Prius is actually higher in the city but between 50-55 regardless of condition, so as you think about savings it could make a big difference.
In reply to Shadeux :
We average about 28 miles per gallon on the highway in our '16. I wuoild not recommend for that much driving when when the owner is not being reimbursed for the gasoline.
A Mazda 3 on the other hand...
Newest Ford Escape you can afford. Thirty plus miles per gallon on highway. Fairly roomy inside and comfortable especially in the higher trim models. Advantage is there a lot of them around so there should be a good low mileage market. Have rented a couple for 2000 plus mile trips and liked them.
I just totaled a Gen2 Prius and if you don't mind the steering wheel being like 8 feet too far away they're 'okay' cars. I got it from a fellow GRM'er a couple years ago, and in it's brief stint with me it did 40k miles maintenance free aside from brake pads and routine oil changes. The fuel savings alone basically paid for the car in 18 months. I ended up getting more for it from State Farm than I paid so I would say they are still holding some value even if they are getting up in age. I had no plans to get rid of it any time soon, but now that my commute is changing I'm exploring some other options.
bcp2011 said:In reply to Klayfish :
As a third gen Prius owner I agree it's not the even remotely fun to drive. However I love the 55mpg I get on my 350/week commute. Will your wife even care about the "feel" of the car or is it purely just an appliance?
They also last forever and fairly comfy so it'll be my easy button.
My Prius got roughly 42mpg during my commuting, which was a lot of highway, mixed with stop and go rush hour. I couldn't stand the insanely wallowy feel of the car and neither could my wife. That was 5 years ago when I had it. I have had a few cars since then (I change cars often anyway). I just picked up a car a few weeks ago for my DD. Similar to OP, I needed something that can eat a ton of miles, be somewhat fuel efficient and just as importantly have a lot of cargo room. I drive 30-40k miles per year, much of it is transporting my kids to practices, games, tournaments. In the past year I've driven from Atlanta to Baltimore, Tampa, Charlotte, etc...in fact I'm heading to Florida tomorrow with my daughter. Prius was a consideration, but I simply can't deal with how it drives. I also wanted a touch more cargo room, though the Prius V would have fit nicely. I also had to consider buy in price, as I didn't want to spend too much on the car itself. In the end, I wound up picking up a 2009 Chevy HHR with incredibly low miles for its age. It had 41,500 when I bought it. Got it for a steal too. I've had one before and loved it for how practical it is. Gets about 30mpg, which is decent, has a ton of room. It's a higher trim, so I've got heated leather, sunroof, etc... Yeah, it's typical GM stuff such as plastic everywhere, but seeing how I'm carrying cargo a lot I'm OK with that. It'll also be the typical GM "run poorly forever" car, but that's fine as long as it keeps going and going. I've had it two weeks now and already put 2000 miles on it. Will put another 1000 on it this weekend alone.
Update on our Fusion S: we just drove 800 miles last Saturday for a funeral; wife in the passenger seat, 9 and 13 yo in the back. Only stopped once for gas. No complaints from anyone, we just cruised. Lifetime mpg is 30.6, approaching 150,000 miles. Never anything but basic maintenance (filters, oil). It is a great car. Hybrid is available. CUV version would be similar, I assume.
Cars like this may have reached their zenith. Hard to go wrong. Find one she likes and that the cops ignore.
If you're considering a Prius just plain skip it and get a Ford C-Max instead. Similar layout, similar space, similar fuel economy, much better looking, and a much more pleasant drive in every way.
mtn said:Just put some pencil to paper. At $2.69 a gallon and 26,000 miles a year (500 miles a week), 25mpg costs $2,800. 35mpg costs $2,000, 40mpg costs $1,750.
At 39,000 miles a year (750 miles a week), 25mpg is $4,200, 35mpg is $3,000; 40mpg is $2,600. If you're getting a gas card, you probably don't care, but if you're getting a standard mileage rate, these are significant differences and you should really be looking at a Prius or a Volt.
This. Or a hybrid Camry, Avalon, Fusion, etc. Also at that mileage the length of time the vehicle lasts will have a large impact on $$ in your pocket, so don't think of anything as 'disposable'. Get something that is either good for 300k miles, or has good resale at 200k.
In reply to John Welsh :
P71 is the obvious answer here. Road racing, check! Rally cross, check! Autocross, check! Dinner with 5 adults, check!
Unless gas mileage is not important, than the Asto Van may be a better solution for the OP (in case 7 adults want to eat).
Hybrids do their best fuel sipping around town, not necessarily on the highway.
I recently crossed the country in fairly short order in a rented 4 cyl Altima with leather, Bose, etc. They can't be that expensive. Thing got 500+ miles per tank and was super comfortable, even on the two days that I did 17+ hour stints.
Of course, if you want to get weird with it, Volvo 850 Turbo Sedan/Wagon is a wonderful choice. They can be had cheap, even in nice shape/lower miles, are reliable, great in all weather, get around 25/hwy, and have about the most comfortable seats known to man.
2wd CX-5, newer Mazda 6 or Altima gets my vote.
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