Calling all commuters. What car for 100 miles a day?

I'm at 2 years and 90,000 miles with my 14' Cruze 1.4t 6 speed. I am seeing 37mpg overall with a mix of 75 mph highway and surface streets. No real issues thus far.

I know Aussie has had good luck with his newer Elantra.

I do 60+ a day in a G1 insight.

Here is my tactic. Drive 3-4 days in it, then grab something else in the stable that isn't so efficient ('89 6.0 truck, merkur, wife's car) to get my sanity back... Rinse & Repeat... save lots of money.

Greg Voth wrote: I'm at 2 years and 90,000 miles with my 14' Cruze 1.4t 6 speed. I am seeing 37mpg overall with a mix of 75 mph highway and surface streets. No real issues thus far. I know Aussie has had good luck with his newer Elantra.

Cruze isn't a bad choice. I've probably spent about 4 weeks total in them as rentals. For whatever reason, I preferred the Sonic to the Cruze, but it's still a nice car.

Funny you mention the Elantra. I've got my eyes glued on one right now. They lose their value super quick, so you can pick up a lightly used one for an absolute steal. Sedan is OK looking, but the hatchback or the coupe are better looking. Even the "stripper" model coupe comes with lots of goodies that other base models don't...heated seats, Bluetooth, satellite radio (I use it a lot given how much I drive), cruise, etc.. Rated at near 40mpg highway and no direct injection or turbo to deal with. Not a fast car, but a nice place to spend time and good at eating miles.

I'm at 105k on my 2011 Elantra.

When I was commuting 130 miles round trip with 90% highway I would see 34-36 mpg consistently at 75 mph. Drop to 65 and the numbers climbed to around 40 mpg.

Now that my commute is 34 miles round trip and only 50% highway I see 25-28 mpg regularly.

If I take on a longer highway trip the mileage will go back to the mid 30's so I attribute the current lower mpg's to the commute and not any maintenance/repair issue.

Depending on where you live it may be worth getting the PZEV version for the longer emissions warranty. Here in Mass that means a majority of emissions components are under warranty until 150k miles.

If I had to do it all over I'm not sure I'd have gone with the Cruze but it was a decent choice at the time. It's been a good car and is holding up well. I'm nearing the end of the warranty and very well may put a tune on it once it's over 100k.

I didn't want direct injection but the turbo made it a bit more fun to drive than the Elantra in my book. I preferred the interior of the Cruze but like the exterior Elantra better. Gas prices were creeping to $4.00 a gallon plus the uncertainty of starting a new job.

I only had two weeks to car shop and had to turn in the old company car. Couldn't find anything in my cash budget that was worth buying so I ended up with the Chevy.

Loving all the Prius hate. I don't take mine on long trips anymore because the Lexus hybrid is more comfortable and worth the 10mpg loss to me for those rare occasions. If i had to do a long commute right now i'd put a subwoofer in my Prius (dont care much about tunes on short drives) and just go. But I already own it.

I loved my 1g Insight when i was doing 120mi/day in it. It's one of the loudest cars ive ever owned as far as 'ambient' noise but it never bothered me at all. Nor did the ride quality, the 60hp, or anything else. I put 65k miles on it and loved it. I will again someday when i get back around to it.

If you want a relatively efficient but highly innocuous car that's reliable but also a highway terror and high on the sleeper scale, get a Toyota 2zz car i.e. Celica GT-S/Corolla XR-S/Matrix XR-S/Vibe GT. The amount of speed that they have from a highway roll-on is plain confusing. They don't feel crazy but they roll right alongside outright sports cars with 100 more hp. Some of the stories i've heard from my friend about his Corolla (basically stock) was dead even with a '16 STi until 135mph, beating an s2000 and keeping up with a C5 Vette. I've driven the car a fair amount and more or less believe him. When they're not doing that, they get ~35mpg hwy and feel totally normal.

I saw a Matrix XRS on the way home from work today and thought 'if i ever get tired of my Prius i'm going to buy a 2zz car and swap the whole drivetrain into the Prius!', which if you think about it, means i don't see myself ever getting truly tired of my Prius.

dean1484 wrote: What about a Volt? When I worked in Boston I was considering one. I then fell in to the jag and found that comfort and quiet were way more important to me than mpg. Now I drive 6 miles on a two lane twisty state highway in the country to my office and although I miss my jag the 97 corolla gets the job done perfectly. I would try a coupole cars out back to back on the highway. Noise fatigue is a real issue. I would pay my local carmax a visit.

I had a Volt. They're nice places to spend time, but there is a lot of road noise. Not a crazy amount, just more than I'd expect for a $40k car. Nice thing about the Volt is the really long maintenance intervals. I put 24,006 miles on my lease, and the oil life indicator was somewhere around 20% remaining. The downside is the tiny tank and the first gen spec of premium fuel.

In reply to Vigo:

Don't know about others, but I don't outright hate the Prius. After driving a 2010 for 20,000 miles, I have a ton of respect for it. It's fantastic at the mission it was designed for. But for me, as my one and only car, it just didn't work. It's far too appliance like. If I had a toy, I'd definitely put the Prius back on my list.

Late '80's Honda CRX Si.
38 mpg cruising at 80 mph. Two seater. Did numerous long trips and did not feel beat up afterwards due to comfortable seats and good driving position. Not too noisy - my girlfriend would sleep with the passenger seat rolled back. She once stayed asleep while I passed two guys hauling two halves of a double wide going 105 mph. They were going 105, I had to go 115 to pass them; well I didn't have to but I did. (Those doublewides flex a lot at 105 btw.) Down side was the top speed was only 115 or so on a flat road. Upside was the body shape with the rear spoiler added downforce and the car felt glued to the road at higher speeds even when passing large vehicles going over 100 mph.

Several years ago I was doing about 36,000/yr. commuting and my weapon of choice was a lease-return Ford Taurus. Cheap to buy, cheap, easy to fix. Reasonably quiet and comfy. I went through two of them in six years.

But for me, as my one and only car, it just didn't work. It's far too appliance like. If I had a toy, I'd definitely put the Prius back on my list.

I can understand that. If I were limited to one car it would not be a Prius.

Really, the only reason i ever consider selling my Prius (it is not really necessary in my fleet) is that they're SO common right now and for the forseeable future. I'm tempted to put that money into something that is nearly extinct, like a minty 89 Plymouth Voyager... but if noone comes along and offers me money for it i'll just keep it around as a stone-reliable 40mpg backup car for years to come.

eastsidemav wrote: My first impulse is 2nd or 3rd gen Prius,

Mrs drainoils Cmax has worked out really good so far for the past 3 years. Her daily commute is about a third of the OPs but it's mostly freeway and she still pulls 40-43 at 65 mph with the a/c on. The car really shines in stop n go traffic and the best we've done there is mid 50s. Pretty decent for a pig heavy car. Ours is the loaded SEL and the design of the driver seat is pretty comfy imo. There is quite a bit of comparos between Cmax and the various Prius models and Cmax seems to rank higher on the comfort list but its really in the eye of the beholder. Interior space is very good, almost wagon like with the fold flat rear seats. For those of us with large gords, the extra head clearance makes getting in and out minivan or large truck like.

The resale value on Cmax has dropped faster than Hillarys poling #s so now is a good time to buy. We plan to keep the car for a long time so valuation means little to us.

If I could do it myself I would, but someone will likely beat me too it on how to make the Cmax's hybrid drive system actually fast on a dragstrip.

I'm going to also suggest a Volt. It is a little louder than some other cars of similar price, but it is a nice place to spend time.

1-2 days a week, I have a 125 mile round trip commute. I have a level 2 charger both at home and at work. Depending on weather and my driving, 1/2 to 2/3 of the doesn't use the engine.

I've had my 2013 Volt about 13 months, and have racked up 25,000 miles in that time. I'll need new tires soon, and probably an oil change soon after that.

One car not sure if anyone has mentioned is the Toyota Avalon. Big and comfy as your favorite couch. Super quiet, decent highway mpg and will survive longer than cockroaches.

In reply to Klayfish:

Yeah, I recommended an Avalon. Cop-friendly, very comfortable, powerful enough, economic enough, reliable as heck, and value-priced.

Duke wrote:

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: Yamaha FZ1

What's Ron Jeremy doing on a motorcycle?

If I could do it myself I would, but someone will likely beat me too it on how to make the Cmax's hybrid drive system actually fast on a dragstrip.

Not that I wouldn't like to make one faster, but it's already the punchiest of the small hatchback hybrids. It probably can take some performance suspension parts from other fords. I'd say it's a driving enthusiasts choice over a Prius. It's basically a Fusion Hybrid drivetrain in a smaller car. Toyota did that with the old HS250h but back then the Camry Hybrid wasn't especially punchy. If Toyota did it again with the newer Camry Hybrid drivetrain in a Prius sized car, it would run high 14s in a 1/4 mile. But, it would only get 45 mpg and Toyota is pushing for 60.

My dad had a similar commute and chose a 2006 Honda Civic automatic over the diesels and hybrids. Plenty comfortable, great mileage, hassle free maintenance - oil and tires. He bought it new and tracked up 160k trouble free miles in just a few years, sold it for nearly $4k when he retired. It held up really well, just commuter scratches and dents. I have a ~ 500/mile week commute and am very pleased with our 05 Accord sedan, 4cyl auto, I'm getting a bit over 400 miles between fill ups.

I guess what makes this question so intriguing is the unique high legal speed limits the OP experiences.

Even in Michigan there are 75mph speed limit highways. So it puts the window sticker numbers into question when they rarely test at those speeds to rate the mpg of a car.

So I am very curious if the Prius is optimized for 20-60 mph usage and once you get up to 75-80 sustained does the mpg fall off. Maybe it performs flawlessly. And when I used my Evo to commute for a short time with a 40 minute stretch of 75mph speed limit driving, it would be in the boost the whole way and just waste gas.

I found the 05 corolla ok but the seats didn't fit me right.

Get a fun car for the short trips and buy the quiet car for the commute. Dean said try CARMAX and that is probably the best way to get into many cars quickly.

spitfirebill wrote:

Duke wrote:

Nick (LUCAS) Comstock wrote: Yamaha FZ1

What's Ron Jeremy doing on a motorcycle?

There's a hole in the seat.

Advan046 wrote: So I am very curious if the Prius is optimized for 20-60 mph usage and once you get up to 75-80 sustained does the mpg fall off. Maybe it performs flawlessly.

I think most cars do best around 60mph or less due to aero, and the Prius would be no exception. My Prius did get somewhat less mpg if I was steady state cruising at 80mph. It would drop into the mid-30's. At lower speeds, mixed with some gnarled highway traffic, it'd hit the low 40s.

Mine is still in the upper 30s at 80mph. Which harks back to something i've often said in response to people throwing out idiotic stereotypes about Prius drivers driving slow. You can drive fast in a Prius and still be getting better mpg than other people driving normally.

Greg Voth wrote: I'm at 2 years and 90,000 miles with my 14' Cruze 1.4t 6 speed. I am seeing 37mpg overall with a mix of 75 mph highway and surface streets. No real issues thus far. I know Aussie has had good luck with his newer Elantra.

Im at about 34MPG in my 1.4/6sp 30k Cruze, at approx 73 mph avg, so not too far off. I am carpooling with another adult, so I probably am sacrificing a few MPG due to weight, and my commute is half surface streets, but I couldnt be happier. Decent stereo, comfy seats, crisp handling, and small blind spots - great commuter, would drive again

My uncle is a California Highway Patrolman and says he writes more tickets to Prius owners than anything else. I found that funny.