best resale/used car for money and mpg

[Angmaar]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

No offense but that age range also includes the Metro which "should" be cheap along with the good versions of the Dodge Neons (if there was a good version, I'm talking FE only)

Oops you said resale, but then again

Woops... I forgot the Geo. That would be the best bet for FE/Cost.

[cfg83]

johnlvs2run -

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

...

Do the figures reflect the average of all models for that manufacturer, or the very best performance of any model for that manufacturer? Also, are those auto and manual combined? It is surprising that only a few of them are over 40 mpg.

Those are larrydag questions.

I would venture to guess that it's all the gasoline models of the manufacturer in the Ecomodder garage. I originally thought it was diesel+hybrid+gasser, but I didn't read larrydag's statement closely, so now I am not so sure :

Here are some more stats with EM Garage. This is showing GAS-CARS only meaning I excluded motorcycles and EVs

CarloSW2

[j12piprius]

How does this one sound?
I might get one manual and one automatic (for friend).

chevy geo metro 2000 - $1700 - 140xxx miles
automatic, says 35-40 mpg fwy, new brakes, good tires
or trade for a truck for the same year ranger, tacoma, frontier

[j12piprius]

Here's one for comparison. I'm going to see this one tomorrow afternoon.

2001 Suzuki Swift 94,000 miles - $2900 - 34 mpg fwy / 30 city
3 door hatchback, white, new tires, good condition, well maintained, no accidents.
automatic, powerful 4 cylinder with good acceleration, easy to park.

The owner says it had oil changes every 3,000 miles and never needed much work.

[Ryland]

The Geo Metro with the Automatic is pretty worthless, I would have to think long and hard about it if someone were willing to give me one and would only take it to convert to electric after swapping to a 5 speed.

A scangauge is going to be a worth while investment so you might want to buy one right now as it will work in any 1996 or newer vehicle you look at and will give you real time MPG along with a long list of other info that can help alot in choosing a used car.

[j12piprius]

Ryland, thanks for your comments.

The automatic would be for a friend who is not able to drive a manual, for an around the town car that is easy to maneuver and park. Do you feel the Suzuki would be good? I am favoring the Suzuki as it sounds well taken care of, but can wait if there would be something else better.

Does a scangauge plug in under the dash, and then work automatically?

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by johnlvs2run

Does a scangauge plug in under the dash, and then work automatically?

It plugs in straightaway, but needs to be calibrated when filling up.
Once the calibration is properly done, I've found it to be as accurate as the on board computer.

[j12piprius]

DarMar reported getting 40+ with a 2001 suzuki swift automatic, if this is the same model of car, and it looks like it is. Any comments are much appreciated, as I'll be looking at this car today. Also the book value says 2400 top but the asking is 2900.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...goes-8700.html

The owner reports getting 34mpg and 30 around town, which would be fine anyway as my friend doesn't drive very much. Does this automatic sound good, or would a different one be better for the price?

Your MPG Estimates

[j12piprius]

The list is helpful to me, because I check out the cars at the top to see what's available locally, then look up the history of the cars I'm interested in on various sites, including this one. That's how I found the suzuki.

Interestingly, most of the mention on ecomodder is about honda, and not much about suzuki or vw, though they are higher on the list. Perhaps that is because of the insight, but other models get good mpg too.

[j12piprius]

Well I called my mechanic and he recommended not getting the suzuki swift.

The reason is that he only sees one every couple of years, and there's no dealer around, so if it needed something like a hard to find part or special tools then it could be costly to work on the car.

He recommended either a honda or toyota for that reason, because they are more popular cars.