I'm 6'1" and 240 - I love our 05 Cooper S. The seats are confortable and it has all the comforts including heated seats, automatic climate control and an 8 spkr Harman Kardon sound system that is easily the best factory sytem I've ever heard. Set the cruise on 75 and watch the scenery roll by. My only complaint is that the short wheelbase gets pitchy on concrete interstates.
I second(fifth?) the Mazda 3 and the new Golf. I've spent time in '08 versions of both and they are reasonably sporty while being comfortable and quiet on the highway. If I were buying I'd go for a slightly used Mazda 3 without the stupid grin or a brand new diesel Golf. Sure the Golf will cost more to repair once it gets old, but you would have saved a lot of money by that point from it being a diesel...
+1 on the Mazda3.
jrw1621 wrote: How long do you expect to drive this much? 1500 per week is 78,000 miles per year. Are you more the type to buy one car and put 300k miles on it or a new car every 10 months. I once did similar and had great luck with Accords. I would buy them off lease with roughly 36k miles on them. Make sure that they had fresh tires and brake pads before buying them. I would take these "low mile cars" up to about 80k where they were then just known a slightly "higher mileage or average mile cars." For you, this would mean a new car every 7 or 8 months. In that time, the car would need little to no servicing and I could loose as little a $2k - $4k off the original purchase price. I would get about 16 months out of the cars this way (so I was driving less than you.) It may be hard to pass on the diesel option for that much driving. If i went that way I would want the new Jetta wagon.
Hah!
I am not "the type" to ever buy anything new. I buy 150K cars, spend a little on them and drive them until I can't anymore, then park them in the yard with the rest of the lawn ornaments.
There's a good chance I could be doing this for a long time.
Which means a lot is going to change, including the "type" of buyer I am. Reliability will become key (so I'll have to be buying newer vehicles), and I will be going through a lot of cars, as you have correctly assessed.
Sounds like I'll be taking a second look at V-Dubs. I LIKE the Mazda3 (though I've never driven one long distance).
I've actually never driven a Mini. Just figured it's BMW pedigree would mean it should be pretty high on the interior comfort scale while keeping the fun factor. 37 mpg doesn't hurt either! 
With a $.50 per mile mileage reimbursement, the fuel savings will quickly cover the car payments.
I rode in a Mini, an 04 I think, N/A and it was said to have some sport suspension package on it. I thought the ride was somewhat rough and punishing. It didn't help that the driver thought it was high time to drive like a jackass who stole the thing.
Test drive before getting too sold on the thing. I just wasn't that impressed with the one I was in for a few short rides.
Here is another thought since you are getting $0.50 per mile.
1500 miles is $750 per week.
Rent a car(s).
If you drive 1500 miles at 25 miles per gallon you will need 60 gallons. At $4 per gallon (high estimate) you will spend $240 in gas per week. ($3 per gallon = $180)
If you rent a car for $40 per day that will cost you $200 per week. ($30 per day = $150)
That brings your expense to $440 per week but your weekly income is $750 or a weekly profit of $310 ($420 profit with low estimates)
Drive the rental like god intended (beat the living hell out of it) with unlimited miles and at the end of the week you have real profit not profit that will be eroded away due to replacing transmissions or tires or oil. You will have no maintainence/repair at all and no repair downtime!
You can get rental cars for less than $40 a day. I recommend priceline.com. Even better may be walking into your local rental place like Hertz, Avis, Budget or Enterprise and negotiating a regular customer rate. Consistent repeat customers are gold to these places since they really see little steady, repeat customer business.
Most rental placed will let you rent for 30 days at a shot. If you get a car you do not like or a mechanical problem pops up, pull into any rental location and get a fresh car - same price.
In the rental world, 5 day typically is the same price as the whole week (7 days) so you are really not paying to keep them over the weekend.
Own a beater (or what you might call your regular style vehicle.) On Monday morning, drive that car to the rent a car store. Leave it in their parking lot as you pull away in a rental car. At the end of the week or month, get your car back for a weekend then return again on Monday to re-park your car.
Keep full coverage insurance on your beater, which will be cheap, and that insurance will cover rental car damage in the unfortunate event that you need it. Pass on all the insurances offered by the rental car company.
Enterprise is my least favorite. I have had good luck with Hertz, Avis, Budget. All but Enterprise have a "points" reward system so you can still earn some benefit there but in your negotiation on price make them aware that you are willing to forgo the points if that betters the price.
I was doing this a lot back in 2006 and used a suburban Hertz location in a strip mall about 3 miles from my house.
Hmmm... renting.
You have a point, though I might do the math a little different.
I'd make MORE money on a 35 mpg car with no rental fees. Your $310 per week would look more like $503 (after car payments)
$503 per wek sounds nice. With 50 working weeks of the year, that's $25,150 (compared to $15,500 by your rental numbers).
HOWEVER, I'd have the expenses. It's easy to imagine how I could go through 2 sets of tires a year, plus other repairs and down time. That could be $2K per year. But worse is the depreciation. KBB says the trade-in value of a 2009 Clubman with 15,000 miles is $18,700, compared to $12,000 for one with 75,000 miles on it. That's making your rental proposal look pretty tempting.
I guess my biggest issue with the rental, other than the fact that I like owning my car, is a practical one. My work requires I carry with me a few specialized tools, business info, and the car needs to be a mobile office. Navigation system, built-in hard wired speaker phone, etc. It's a little easier to set up the car and always know it is ready to go, instead of always trying to set up stuff in a rental (making sure not to forget anything).
But the rental IS food for thought.
That's true.
We have chased a rabbit. My original intent was not actually to consider a brand new vehicle. I'm just trying to figure out what is out there that gets good fuel economy that I can stand driving 1500 miles per week.
My Miata ain't it.
Preemptive strike against P71s. Yeah, I said it. He wants a little sport with good mileage. The P71 does neither.
I think a Fit would work surprisingly well. The one I was in was comfortable, but that could just be youth speaking.
1st Gen Scion xB? I always thought those would make a great "eco-panel truck." I have an unexplainable soft spot for the xA too, thought I've never been in one.
My 03 Jetta seats are the ONLY seats that I have been able to cover back to back 900 mile days without hurting.
Just to muddy the waters, during your work travels:
Do you ever have to carry passengers?
Do you have to have a certain image?
You have already mentioned using a hands free phone, you need to consider interior noise.
I have to be careful what shoes I wear when I drive my wife's MINI, since I have big feet. If I wear boots or my sandals, my feet hit more than one pedal at a time. It's worse than in my Miata.
MrJoshua wrote: Just to muddy the waters, during your work travels: Do you ever have to carry passengers? Do you have to have a certain image? You have already mentioned using a hands free phone, you need to consider interior noise.
Interior noise definitely an issue. Another reason why a Miata won't work. Again, I was thinking Mini because of the BMW pedigree.
Passengers- I don't HAVE to carry any passengers, though it wouldn't hurt to have a back seat (since I have kids).
Image- yeah, I need a certain level of professionalism. No clown cars, race cars, or terds. But I don't have to impress customers. I will be doing quality inspections on high-end commercial construction sites. Just need to look professional (in a "getting down to business" kind of way) when I pull up. Could be anything from a clean looking truck to a grey or black Smart Car.
Hey SVreX
The Mini is a great car (at least I love my '05 Cooper S) I find it very comfortable on long drives and also enjoy the tossability on weekends. The interior is quiet and it is a very economical car. You are absolutely right about the BMW pedigree. The best way I have found to describe Mini is that it is every bit as fun to drive as my Miata, but also has the build quality and feel of my 328IS. Sounds fun right?? Well, it is!
That said: The ride has been described by some as "harsh" because the suspension is firm. Rear seat room is at a minimum, especially of the front seat passengers are on the tall side. Also remember this is a small car. the cargo capacity is on the small side. You can carry passengers in the rear seat and a limited amount of stuff, or put the rear seats down and carry more stuff.
I wouldn't trade mine for the world right now. I love it! (unless I need to get both kids AND a Goalie bag somewhere... LOL
In reply to SVreX:
My wife and I love our Mini. It's got pretty good ergonomics. The seat adjustment works for most folks and the gas mileage is great.
However, for what you're describing a 1st get Scion Xb sounds about perfect. Same or similar gas mileage, more room, much lower cost, toyota reliability and parts cost. A Mini is a baby bimmer, with the parts prices to go with it. I had a friend who worked as a surveryor for a civil engineering firm, had 2 kids. His Xb really worked out well for all its required duties.
You can scrounge up a clean Xb for about $7500. You won't find a Mini or a Fit for that money.
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