best new car for money and mpg's

[Arminius]

A car with 80k on it is still "new" as far as I'm concerned, especially if I owned it from the start.

The last two weeks some of my friends have been going onto car lots and getting brand new cars (GM's) for absurdly low prices. If I were buying a car, I'd go to a Ford or GM lot and offer them 30% below sticker and watch what they do. My friends did that and they ended up with cars for just 1k above their offers.

[Formula413]

Not to highjack, but there's a reason, or rather reasons, for that...

GM to cut 21,000 US factory jobs, shed Pontiac

[theunchosen]

My vote is still not worth it. If you are looking for inexpensive go look at Kia's or Hyundai's. They might be kind of hard to get parts for. . .but if something major breaks you can afford to buy a second one before you go over the budget of buying one of just about anything else. . . If I could get a GM cheaper than I could get a Fit or a Civic I might consider it. . .but I am pretty sure at 50% off Honda is still going to give them a run for lowest bid.

[joesgot4]

i dont pulse and glide,i just ease into the accelerator when i get it up to speed i have a k&n air filter,michellin x tires pumped to max pressure of 44lbs, and an about 2/3 lower grill block i made with toggle bolts and a plastic container cover! i get the mileage by dividing how many miles driven by how many gallons to fill it up! it has a economy section on the in car readout that is usually about 1 mpg wrong!

[talldudenumber5]

any pictures of the malibu mods

[busypaws]

If you have to buy a new car I'd say consider a Hyundia. I really think Hyundia and Kia have the same quality and longevity as the Honda/Toyota/Mazda's but people don't know that yet. Since people don't know it yet they can't charge as much.
A Hyundia Accent 2dr GS Manual "Blue" is 9,995 MSRP. You can probably get one for 8.5K with rebate. If your looking for new and low cost with 36mpg highway.

The "Blue" model (minimum electric stuff) is curb weight at 2400 lbs. So pull a few things out like PS and switch to lightweight/narrow wheels and you could get 40mpg easy.
I think I'll wait till the first couple start showing up as used early next year. Pick one up for 7K with 10,000 miles.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by busypaws

If you have to buy a new car I'd say consider a Hyundia. I really think Hyundia and Kia have the same quality and longevity as the Honda/Toyota/Mazda's but people don't know that yet. Since people don't know it yet they can't charge as much.
A Hyundia Accent 2dr GS Manual "Blue" is 9,995 MSRP. You can probably get one for 8.5K with rebate. If your looking for new and low cost with 36mpg highway.

The "Blue" model (minimum electric stuff) is curb weight at 2400 lbs. So pull a few things out like PS and switch to lightweight/narrow wheels and you could get 40mpg easy.
I think I'll wait till the first couple start showing up as used early next year. Pick one up for 7K with 10,000 miles.

Both the base Versa and base Yaris are about that same price, and the Yaris with the 5-speed easily gets 45 mpg with no mods.

[SentraSE-R]

Going by MSRP, the Yaris' base price is more like $12,500, or $2500 more than the Accent or Versa. The Accent is 27/36 city/hwy. The Versa is 26/34. The Yaris is 29/36

[Clev]

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

Going by MSRP, the Yaris' base price is more like $12,500, or $2500 more than the Accent or Versa. The Accent is 27/36 city/hwy. The Versa is 26/34. The Yaris is 29/36

I'm just going by what I see. The local Toyota dealer and local Nissan dealer here in the Inland Empire are selling the base Versa and Yaris for $9,990. When I was shopping for my in-laws, I had both cars decently optioned (including automatic) for $12,600 and $13,100, respectively, including all taxes and fees. It looks like the MSRP on the Yaris went up, but it was a '10 that the dealer was bidding on. The Versa's MSRP is still $9,990 for the '10 model.

My estimate of the Yaris' mileage is based on my rental of one, where over the course of a bit over a week of commuting, I averaged about 42 mpg in an automatic Yaris, including my nightly climb to 4,675 feet. The 5-speed on a flat road should have no problem getting 45 mpg.

[SentraSE-R]

I expect the same hypermiler driving an Accent and a Yaris will be able to tweak the same mpg out of both of them, and come within 2 mpg of their mpg driving a Versa.

I've seen local Hyundai and Nissan dealers advertising Accents and Versas for $9990. IIRC, Toyota dealers don't advertise Yaris' below $1199.