I am getting ready to transition to a new phase of life, which I am super excited about. Sometime this year I plan to leave insurance and begin a "retirement career". I already accepted a new position, which I will do part time now and transition to full time upon leaving insurance. I also have a part time job working for 24 Hours of Lemons, in addition to another weekend job opportunity. The full time position is a 47 mile each way drive. My part time jobs are travel, so I will go to the airport and back often, which is 45 miles each way. Just using 100 miles/day as a round number, if I commute to my full time job 4 days per week, that's 3200 miles per month. Do the math. Ouch.
My current beater is a Prius C. At 45mpg and gas at $3.19/gallon it would use about $225/month. My other daily type vehicle is my 128i. At 26mpg on $3.69/gallon premium, it would use $455/month. Difference of $230/month, not an insignificant number.
The Prius is going away, as it has been promised to my daughter. What do I replace it with?? Yeah, easy button is another Prius and that may be the answer. However if possible I'd prefer something a bit more engaging. Ideas? Budget would be $10k. I could go higher, but I don't see a reason to spend more on something I beat to the ground, unless you convince me otherwise. Stick or auto is fine, body style can be anything. Needs to be reliable, fuel efficient and engaging. I'd plan to keep this at least 2-5 years.
*** Ahem...to recalculate the math... 100 miles * 4 days * 52 weeks in a year / 12 months = 1733 miles a month. Therefore the cost difference is actually half what's posted above. Sigh, numbers are hard early in the morning ***
Is it a pure highway commute, or are there some fun roads in there too? The good news is just about anything should be more engaging than your Prius C.
Is that 45 miles mostly highway? Or a mix of city/highway? If it's mostly highway I'm surprised the 128 doesn't do better on gas.
Other than the trying to keep it to $10k bit, a few year old TDI-something seems like a reasonable pick for this kind of use.
Ford Fiesta SFe with the 3 cylinder and a 5 speed standard transmission. They are a hoot to drive and get insane gas mileage out of that little 1.0L. Torque to boot over its 4 cylinder brother and quite tuneable with the turbocharged attached to it.
Hatchback variety or sedan. ST model parts swap right over.
If you can make the budget number a bit higher, would a Bolt be a possibility? Purchase cost is higher, but you'd have a big offset in lower operating cost.
STM317
PowerDork
2/22/23 8:28 a.m.
If you want to prioritize cost, then Prius or other hybrid is your answer.
If you want to prioritize fun without too much penalty, then best Civic SI you can find for your budget.
I like the Fiesta suggestion too with some ST suspension under it. It sounds like a decent balance between efficiency and fun.
STM317
PowerDork
2/22/23 8:36 a.m.
I also think that cheap, efficient, fun to drive cars can make for exhausting commuters thanks to poor NVH, etc.
A Prius is boring, but it's not tiresome or exhausting. There's usually some aspect of a lengthy commute that sucks. Pick your poison.
Yep, I agree there's no easy answer here. Nor one that will be "perfect". The commute is a mix of highway and large secondary road (55mph speed limit, but traffic lights). Given that I live in Atlanta, I will also encounter some degree of traffic.
In pure highway cruising, my 128i gets 30mpg, but in this situation 26 is about right.
My Prius C isn't awful, but it does have a fair amount of NVH especially above 60mph. I can't stand the regular Prius from that same era (2007-2017 or whatever). I had one and it was miserable to drive. The car doesn't need to be an outright corner carving rocket, just not a boring penalty box. I'd like it to be at least mildly interesting to drive if possible.
STM317 said:
If you want to prioritize cost, then Prius or other hybrid is your answer.
If you want to prioritize fun without too much penalty, then best Civic SI you can find for your budget.
I like the Fiesta suggestion too with some ST suspension under it. It sounds like a decent balance between efficiency and fun.
If you don't want to make a project out of it an actual st does low 30s mpg highway on 87 octane. Though you'd still want at least a set of wheels and tires for it.
That said, having just owned one for 100k miles, the interior is pretty low rent and doesn't wear super well and nvh isn't great, not sure it's a place I'd want to spend 40k miles/year.
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:
Just using 100 miles/day as a round number, if I commute to my full time job 4 days per week, that's 3200 miles per month. Do the math. Ouch.
100 miles * 4 days * 52 weeks in a year / 12 months = 1733 miles a month ... I did the math 
Congrats on the new stage of life!!
Slippery said:
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:
Just using 100 miles/day as a round number, if I commute to my full time job 4 days per week, that's 3200 miles per month. Do the math. Ouch.
100 miles * 4 days * 52 weeks in a year / 12 months = 1733 miles a month ... I did the math
Congrats on the new stage of life!!
Holy hell, that's what I get for trying to do math at 6:30am. You're right. I was doubling up the miles, assuming 1oo miles each way. Well now...that changes the story somewhat. Though still similar concept.
Go get that gus guzzler you always wanted lol!
To me, this use says larger car/engine with really tall gearing- but that's also not a segment I know much about so I'd be interested to know what actually gets decent economy in that category.
calteg
SuperDork
2/22/23 9:55 a.m.
I was in this same situation and ended up with....a Volvo wagon. I give up about 13mpg vs my Prius C, but the interior is a vast, vast improvement, plus I can actually overtake other vehicles and I have real storage space. And wagons rule. For $50/month, I figured I'd live a little
rslifkin said:
Other than the trying to keep it to $10k bit, a few year old TDI-something seems like a reasonable pick for this kind of use.
I daily a 2014 VW Jetta TDI with the DSG and see 35mpg in mixed town/mountain driving, and 45mpg pure highway, so I'd think 40mpg would be reasonable on the commute described here. Though diesel fuel is still sitting at a significant price premium.
3 or 4 years ago there were plenty of TDI Jetta and Golf around $10k, seems like now it's more like $12-$14k to find something under 100k miles. I would definitely consider the Golf and Jetta as being a great commuter and just a bit more fun than a Prius. The DSG is enjoyable for an automatic, and of course there is a manual available too.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
To me, this use says larger car/engine with really tall gearing- but that's also not a segment I know much about so I'd be interested to know what actually gets decent economy in that category.
The C5 sort of fits, but it's recommended to use premium.
335d?
If you're driving as a part of work don't punish yourself for working hard.
In reply to calteg :
What kind of Volvo did you get?
No VW products, I want to drive to work, not walk. Nor do I want to get a sunburn from all the dash warning lights.
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
To me, this use says larger car/engine with really tall gearing- but that's also not a segment I know much about so I'd be interested to know what actually gets decent economy in that category.
The C5 sort of fits, but it's recommended to use premium.
What about the other flavors of that general package? GTO/G8/Fbody?
Or, since we want lots of miles, any of the big Lexuses fit the bill?
SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:
I am getting ready to transition to a new phase of life, which I am super excited about. Sometime this year I plan to leave insurance and begin a "retirement career". I already accepted a new position, which I will do part time now and transition to full time upon leaving insurance. I also have a part time job working for 24 Hours of Lemons, in addition to another weekend job opportunity.
No suggestions but definitely a "hell yeah!" for getting to a point in life where you are able to go do this! Bravo!!
Interesting discussion! Two thoughts:
When I'm budgeting for future gas cost, I use 125% of local prices in case of price swings.
Also, for that long a commute, what about foam earplugs if it's a car with more NVH? It helps the N, for sure.
Some ideas:
Hyundai Genesis sedan
Mazda 6
Accord
Some flavor of Lexus sedan
Drive the 128i, the $10k you don't spend getting another car will buy a lot of gas.
If you spend just a bit more, I've heard that C5 Corvettes can get in the area of 30mpg 
