Thinking I might need a cheap car to get around in.

[spiderrey]

I've been doing a lot of driving for work lately. Oakland, Porterville, now San Diego is coming up. Don't want to run my truck into the ground, and I could save a lot of gas money. Just need to figure out what to get.

[So Cal Mark]

how about an FI Spider?

[narfire]

Mk 2 Vw golf.(92 and earlier).. 35+ miles to the imperial gallon, bomb-proof engines, price... here around $1400.00 with 300000 kms (180,000 miles). In my opinion great little, cheap, easy to fix, plenty of parts type car....
Will cruise all day at 65-70 mph
Chris

[spiderrey]

Never thought about that Mark. Do you know where there is a cheap runner? Gonna be running back n forth to San Diego starting Saturday. Get back from Porterville Friday. Didn't think about rabbits or golfs either. Had a GTI. Great little car. Was lookin at ol integral and civics. Came across an S2000, but it wasn't that cheap. And it doesn't break 25 mpg. What to do?

[azruss]

If you want cheap, stick with as new a car as you can afford. No 30+ year old car is cheap.

[wikkid]

Something like a Kia Rio. Get one for about $12k +/-; plenty of nice standard features. 36 mpg hwy.

Do the math: 15000 miles/year - that's around 425 gallons @ 36mpg; with gas @ $4/ga, that's $1700.

@ 20 mpg (my Tacoma), that would use 750 gallons; @ $4/gallon, that's $3000. Save $1300 per year in gas costs alone, plus good warranty coverage, so few hidden costs.

Save the cost of the car over 10 years, and by then the mpg world will probably be very different.

Of course, for a few $k more up front, you could get a Fiat 500, with about the same mileage.

[spiderrey]

Thanx for all the ideas. Still trying to figure out the best route for me. Was thinking about spending a few g,s. what to do.

[vandor]

Here's what NOT to get: 1998-2000 Volvo S70 or V70. Horrible pieces of cr@p. And I like Volvos...

[spiderrey]

O K, thanks Vandor. Volvo wagon, hmmmm. Wonder what kind of mileage they get?

[So Cal Mark]

I've got just the Spider for you

[spiderrey]

Details Mark. Call me or send pics.

[manoa matt]

When I lived in Chicago for about 7 years I drove a 1996 Geo Prism (before Chevy bought Geo), same car as a Toyota Corolla several parts interchange. It was a stick and I beat the snot out of it all the time, and I never had a problem. It was a little 4 banger, 1600cc IIRC I could fit all my carpentry tools in the trunk including a compressor, chop saw, and everything else imaginable. Several 8' boards can fit in the cabin. When I went to drive to school one day and found the bumper lying on the ground (hit and run) I could just go to any pick and pull and find my car in the same color and pick parts cheaply. The front wheel drive and stick meant I never got stuck no matter how deep the snow got, but you won't have that problem, and thankfully now I don't either.

[toplessexpat]

Here's what NOT to get: 1998-2000 Volvo S70 or V70. Horrible pieces of cr@p. And I like Volvos...

Hah... I used to have Volvos Csaba... started with a 360GL, then a 440SE... ended up with a S60R which was fantastic... Although the Spider makes me smile ALOT more...

Getting back on point - I think you're looking the right direction with a 10yr old European (i.e. smaller engined). Golf/Rabbit/Passat are all good options, perhaps even a 318/320 BMW. Now if Mark can come with something that fits from the Fiat stable - then why not!?!?

A

[donm]

Yeah, I know they don't make them anymore but get a Saab, especially the 9.5 model. Because of that, they're pretty cheap right now.
I have 2 as daily drivers, one with 190k miles, pretty much problem free. They're very safe, great handling cars. There's great web support, and there are enough of them around so that parts are not a problem. I once had a Saab 900 that I put 334K miles on. Never had any engine problems, and even with all that mileage only used about a quart of oil in 3000 miles.

[spiderrey]

Thanx for all the ideas. Gettin closer to a solution here.