Efficient, cheap beaters! Used car ads: 35 mpg highway or more for $1500 or less

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by ME_Andy

I wouldn't call that a steal. You could buy my 5-year-old Cruze with only 72k miles for that. And I know... Honda, Honda,... But I would still take the 11-year newer vehicle. Seems crazy to me

I'm aware of this; I'm not convinced the Cruze would have as much utility, fuel economy or reliability, even being 6 years newer.

Dashboard Light's reliability statistics (which are collected from mechanics across the US from cars that are actually worked on):





I'm skeptical that had I purchased a Cruze with 72k miles for the same price, that over 30k miles it would have needed only 3 oil changes and two light bulbs, delivered ~45mpg (+/- 4) with your average non-ecomodder driver, and been able to move the sort of things we regularly move with the Fit:



Image stolen from Google:

[Xist]

No reliability score, because they never break down!

[ME_Andy]

Well I won't argue too much, but the 2011 Cruze Eco was rated at 42 mpg highway, the 2007 Fit was rated at 38 highway. And I've only needed a thermostat so far.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

EPA ratings mean nothing. Real world matters most. Honda Fits have typically been underrated by the EPA.

Heck, my mom's Prius and my Insight have the same EPA city rating (48 MPG), yet my car can easily get 20-50 MPG higher around town than the Prius.

-

Regarding cheap beaters under $1500 though, found an Insight in Detroit for $500: https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/c...920556491.html

*resists the urge to buy another Insight*

[Xist]

That must be the best car to ever come out of Detroit!

[The posting was deleted]

[freebeard]

But can it do this?


Just A Car Guy: first time I've seen a Model T used to dig post holes... geez! They did EVERY thing with model Ts

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Xist

That must be the best car to ever come out of Detroit!

[The posting was deleted]

Good that it was deleted. I don't need the temptation.

[MetroMPG]

This is the cheapest used Mirage I've seen that isn't a crash write-off, and the first one that qualifies in this glorious $1500-and-under thread!



Asking $1250 for 190,000 km = 118k miles.

It's a 2014 base model, which in Canada means no A/C (don't care!).

It's got a 5-speed manual, which is more efficient in the real world than the CVT, despite the better EPA rating for the snowmobile transmission.

95 manual transmission drivers on MirageForum are averaging 44.3 MPG (US) = 5.3 L/100 KM (vs. 42.4 for CVT drivers) over 1.7 million miles tracked.

Owner says...

Description
Très économique, bonne mécanique, roule bien, enjoliveurs neufs d'origine incl.

Meaning: "Very economical, good mechanical condition, runs well, new OEM hubcaps included."

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details...dId=1444667191

If it wasn't so far away, I'd already be on my way to see it with cash in my pocket!

The cheapest Mirages are going for around $3k CAD lately, so this one is waaaay off the bell curve. Why they're asking so little, I have no idea. Needs the money fast? Doesn't need money at all? Didn't do any research?

[mpg_numbers_guy]

That is pretty cheap! Cheapest ones around here are around $4000 still for 2014s. There is a white 2017 sedan with 27k miles for $4000, but the interior has been spray painted and looks hideous.

But that aero-killing roof rack though..

[MetroMPG]

Yeah, that rack is probably a 10 MPG hit... empty!