Recommendations for sister's new car

[Daox]

My sister is wanting to look for a newer car. She is currently driving a 96 Celica (EPA: 25 city, 31 highway, 27 combined). She is tired of having a two door car and is making 4 doors a requirement for her next vehicle. It also must have a manual transmission. She also does a lot of driving for her job so I am swaying her towards a fuel efficient vehicle of course. She had been looking at small SUVs. I talked with her and got her to realize that its really not a good idea. So, I immediately think of a Civic HX, but then find out that its only made in a 2 door model, very disappointing. I thought about doing an engine swap, but I really just don't have time to do it. The next thought was a TDI of some sort (minus the Beetle which she doesn't like). The only downside is the higher price of diesel currently.

I'm really kinda wanting to get her into a much higher mileage vehicle. Thats not incredibly easy to do when her current vehicle is getting 30 mpg. I know theres the basic Corolla/Civic that I could go for, but its not a real big improvement. She wants to keep the price under $8000. You guys got any ideas?

[SuperTrooper]

You can't really do much better than her current MPG for the price. I assume she wants something much newer for reliability and safety features. At the $8K limit there will be some newer Aveos, as well as Kia Rios and Hyundai Accents with low mileage and good warranty still left. You might find a recently off-lease Cobalt or Focus at that price. 03-05 Buick Century will work here and they get far better real world mileage than EPA, while being very reliable and comfortable.

You'll find a ton of Dodge Neons at this price, but friends' experiences have warned me away from them.

Good luck in the search!

[metromizer]

Originally Posted by Daox

My sister is wanting to look for a newer car. She is currently driving a 96 Celica...She is tired of having a two door car and is making 4 doors a requirement for her next vehicle. It also must have a manual transmission. She also does a lot of driving for her job so I am swaying her towards a fuel efficient vehicle of course. ...The next thought was a TDI of some sort (minus the Beetle which she doesn't like). The only downside is the higher price of diesel currently.

I'm really kinda wanting to get her into a much higher mileage vehicle. Thats not incredibly easy to do when her current vehicle is getting 30 mpg. I know theres the basic Corolla/Civic that I could go for, but its not a real big improvement. She wants to keep the price under $8000...

My 'fun car' is a '95 Celica convertible, good car but not real hard to improve upon. anything modern will be an improvement in terms of creature comfort, and a real back seat.

In the $8k range, any decent TDI is out. I think you have her on the right path, a 5spd 4dr. Civic or Corrolla, add an aftermarket GPS unit, a nice bluetooth set up for her phone, and call it a day.

[Ford Man]

They made the Ford Escort in a 4 door at least up until 2002. I'm not sure whether they made it any longer or not. With a 5 speed you could probably get 35+ mpg with good driving habits. I bought 2002 Escort for my 17 year old son to drive. With the automatic and me driving it I can get about 33 combined and 40-42 on the highway at 55-60 mph. She should be able to pick one of them up for well under $8000.

[pugmanic]

This sort of thing?

Or a later model?

[gascort]

I'm looking (with my wife) for a new car too. My wife currently has a '98 Olds. Intrigue with 200k miles on it, and she gets 25-27 mpg in it. Her job involves a 71 mile commute that is 85% highway.
We're trying to find something she'll be comfortable with - not losing too many of the creature comforts she's used to, for under $7-8k, and newer, with reasonable (sub-75k) mileage.
She's probably open for a 5-speed, and she wants a 4-door with plenty of room in the back seat for our car seat.
I want something that is capable of getting 40 mpg at 65mph on the highway with very minimal aero mods, and something that rates ok at www.safercar.gov - obviously a larger (longer) car would be safer and not take a big aero hit.
Cars we're starting our search with:
Chevrolet Cavalier
Saturn Ion
Subaru ?
audi/vw TDI cars - probably out of our mileage or price range
Honda civic or accord
toyota corolla
nissan sentra

Anything we're missing that you guys can think of?

[SuperTrooper]

At $8K and less than 75K miles most of the major players (Corolla, Civic, Jetta) won't fit your budget or the mileage.

How about a Mitsubishi Lancer? Often overlooked, it is a decent car as long as you don't compare it too closely to a Honda or Toyota. It lacks a tiny bit of refinement in comparison to the Big 2.

Maybe a Mazda 3/Protege? Nice car wrapped in a somewhat boring package in the earlier years.

Hmmm... Mitsubishi Galant? Slightly larger than the other 2, but usually well equipped for the price. A nice car that, again, never quite measured up to the Accord or Camry, so they are more affordable. Automatics only.

Olds Alero/Pontiac Grand Am. The 4 cyls get good mileage and there are a few 5-speeds out there if you look. Probably some good bargains to be found here.

[taco]

Originally Posted by SuperTrooper

At $8K and less than 75K miles most of the major players (Corolla, Civic, Jetta) won't fit your budget or the mileage.

How about a Mitsubishi Lancer? Often overlooked, it is a decent car as long as you don't compare it too closely to a Honda or Toyota. It lacks a tiny bit of refinement in comparison to the Big 2.

Maybe a Mazda 3/Protege? Nice car wrapped in a somewhat boring package in the earlier years.

Hmmm... Mitsubishi Galant? Slightly larger than the other 2, but usually well equipped for the price. A nice car that, again, never quite measured up to the Accord or Camry, so they are more affordable. Automatics only.

Olds Alero/Pontiac Grand Am. The 4 cyls get good mileage and there are a few 5-speeds out there if you look. Probably some good bargains to be found here.

my siter has a 02 mazda protege5 , auto , with 5 people and doin 80ish from charleston wv to charlotte, nc we got right at 30 mpg, with out trying a/cblasting the whole way also. it is a great little car so far lots of room.
ona side note we drove up to canton oh to pick the car up in 2005, the car i took was a 97 lexus es300 and it got 31mpg, and on the return trip the mazda not driven. so soft got 30mpg, i blame the mountains.

we found the car on AutoTrader.com - Buy Used Cars, New Cars, Sell a Car, Find Car Dealers

[Daox]

Alright, I found a Golf TDI with what I think of as higher mileage. But, I'm not sure how long these things run. I really could use some info from TDI owners.

2001 VW TDI Golf


I also stumbled across a veggie Jetta, but I know nothing of the Elsbett kit.

2000 VW Jetta with Elsbett kit -- veggie oil $7500

[TestDrive]

I'm not an owner.
FWIW Search results for Volkswagen Manual Diesel 200,000 miles and more in Cars & Trucks