fuel efficient, reliable used cars under $3k
 

I'm in the market for a used car that's fuel efficient (40+ mpg), reliable, and under $3,000. i know of geo metro's, honda civic VX... any others people could recommend for me to look at would be appreciated... thanks! :turtle:

Ford Tempo/Mercury Tracer 2.3L with a stick.
Ford Aspire
Ford Festiva
Ford Escort/Mercury Tracer
Ford Focus with 5 Speed
Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon
Dodge 2.2 Charger/Plymouth Turismo
Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager 2.2 or 2.2 Turbo
Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunfire 4cyl 5 speed
Mazda 323
Volkswagon Rabbit/Jetta/Golf with 5 speed
Nissan Sentra
Toyota Tercel
Saturn SC1
Isuzu I-mark

Need more?

The 2.2/2.5 family of vehicles bolded out above wotn get you anywhere near 40mpg..

About the only one that gets you close to 40mpg was a 1982-1984 Dodge Rampage or Plymouth Scamp pickup 1983 only (Based on the Omni/Charger platform)
The lightest front wheel drive Chrysler vehicle ever made..

I saw 36mpg max out of it and drove it very light to the peddle..
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...T/MVC-274S.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...LET/engine.jpg

As Chrysler loving as I am, they are not very reliable..

Get the newest Geo Metro you can and you'll be set :)

That is by far the sharpest looking Rampage I've ever seen! Not that I come across many. About 4 years ago, on the commute home from work, I'd often come across the same one -- it looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor. Just a stock 2.2. Interesting that it was the lightest FWD vehicle they made...

Back to topic, 40 from an oldie is going to cost you a lot up front, now that there's a run on older, efficient vehicles. That's a tough benchmark out of the box.

It depends on how much mod and technique effort you're willing to put into it. Baseline figures for Johnny's list (except maybe any Diesels) should be in the hi 20's/ low 30's combined (except again for the minivans). With some effort, 40 can be likely be cracked.

RH77

Welcome to the site. What you driving now? No way to streach it up to 30-40 mpg?

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...T/MVC-274S.jpg
dang I saw that thing and first thing that came to mind is ... that angle is nearly perfect for a nice long boattail bed cover.

I had a turizmo, same car esentually, but at hatch back not a truck.. it had a 1.6 and a 5 speed in it and got just about 40mpg on longer trips was a great little car.

What year was your Tourismo?

I used to have the same basic car,
mine was a Shelby Automobile modified Charger GLH-S #0058 of 1,000 made :)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...HS/Image23.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...HS/Image19.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...HS/Image14.jpg


Did your Tourismo have the same front end as this..
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...dflatblack.jpg

or this?
http://www.geocities.com/aaronkarpi/turismo.jpg

1994 Honda Civic 1.5L 5spd. Mid 40's MPG combined. Every year after that they chunked up and MPG took a nosedive.

cant remember the year but it had the same front as the rampage photo.. except I covered the holes for the headlights with plexi, to look cool.. probably helped a bit on MPG but i was a kid and it was cool to have headlight covers .. lol

I also chopped the springs on it to lower it too.. again to be cool.. i wasnt a mpg hunter back then.. but it may have helped too..

How on EARTH can you manage to get 40MPG out of those vehicles?

I have a 2.2L Camry and can just BARELY manage 36mpg on the highway, around town, forget it, 32-34mpg is the best I get ever.

The only Volkswagen Rabbit/Jetta/Golf with 5 speed that will get you over 40 mpg would be a TD or TDI. The TDI, goes for a lot more than 3k currently. You might get lucky and find a good condition pre 93 TD. The 93-99, made in Mexico, have a lot of electrical issues.

You could probably pick up an old VW Bug, swap in the smallest motor, and achieve excellent fuel economy. The car is not streamlined (Cd ~0.45), but it is extremely light. Parts are plentiful, so it should be cheap to operate.

I bet a moderately modified bug could eke out 35-40mpg if you drove like you really wanted it. You'd probably have to stay away from freeway speeds (55mph+) to see that kind of mileage, though.

- LostCause

I had a freind in college who went through 3 Dodge Colts. They were nothing more than tin cans on wheels, but he claimed 40mpg and wasn't even trying.

how about a FE car in the 3K range thats OBDII? :)

as for odbII

ford escorts.. theres a guy in a zx2 getting 100mpg out of one thats been modded

honda civics

ford aspire

Hyundai accent

chevy cavalier or sunfire

Dodge neon.. those may be able to hit 40mpg

mostr of these are with some hypermiling employed to get a 40mpg tank rating.

I've worked on the Ford Aspire.. Kia was all over everything on it ;)

Out of all those choices.. The Hyundai Accent gets my :thumbup:

Whats with that Escort, got any pictures or links to their ride?
100mpg doesn't sound too shabby..:D

A user named CoZX2 (if I remember right) on GS was getting 100+mpg out of a zx2.

He was getting excellent mileage on his own, but the fact that he lived up in the mountains gave him a huge advantage. Thin air + opportunities for pulsing up mountain passes and gliding down them probably helped a lot. I think the only noteworthy mods he had were fender skirts (front and back).

- LostCause

No, he modded more than that: air dam, grille block, transmission (gearing), ECU programming, block heater, alternator shut-off... There was probably more that I'm forgetting.

Let me rephrase that: "The only noteworthy mods I could see." :p

- LostCause

MetroMPG -

Yeah, his day job is with the NHRA, so he is "in the soup". He set up pressure gauges to measure his aerodynamic mods for pete's sake!!!

CarloSW2

this guy got a web page on his car or what?

Id think realistically 60mpg TOPS!!!!!

Realistically he was right at the edge. Could be that he was BS'ing, but I know that w/ similar conditions (hills) I can get double the EPA at much higher speeds in a car w/ no mods. Is ~100mpg in hill country w/ aeromods, LRR tires pumped to the max, fuel cut, a leaner mixture, ~35mph average speeds, and efficient driving possible in a ~2500lb car? Yes IMO.

95-99 Neons
 

I think the ultimate "sleeper" hypermiler car is the SOHC 5spd 95-99 Neons, these are rated in Canada at 43.5 MPG highway. This is better than a 2000 Echo for example or any of the normal Civics or Corollas of the late 90's or newer.
With the Neon's bad reputation, probably you can find ones with low miles for well under $1500. www.neons.org has more information on these cars than you will ever need. I'd say they are not a car for people who get bothered by little problems or can't fix little issues. The frameless windows whistle at over 60mph, etc. But the interior of my 95 rattles less than my friends 2003 Echo so they are not totally hopeless either. The wannabe racers all go for the DOHC versions but the SOHC ones will have Honda civic owners amazed how hard a 4 banger can pull at 2000rpm and still do OK at redline. If you are into engines, these ones like to rev and are import smooth doing it.
Ian

I have a 97 civic EX... when I bought it, it had 160k miles and kbb said $3700. Now it has 200k 2 years later, and kbb tells me $4025. Civics, possible the only cars that are going UP in value?

btw I get low 40's mpg usually, drops to upper 30's if I drive it like an idiot. And its a honda, the engine will last longer than you will.

also, civics have such a HUGE market for parts they are extremely easy to mod for additional FE. I've done quite a few FE engine mods at minimal cost due to such a large supply of old civic parts.

Any 96-02 saturn s series will get you 40mpg. The 5 speed sohc will do best. Even the automatics are capable of 40+ mpg highway.

I thought this post would be bump worthy..
I'm going to start looking for a dd thats light in the gas tank :)

Get a Toyota Echo with manual transmission, 2 door, no A/C.
That little car will get you in the 40 mpg ralem without mods.

I have opportunity to pick up one, possible two, Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizons on the cheap. Both are autos, though. Is it worth looking into one/the pair of them to try for 40's? I'm not afraid of modding or engine repair.

The 3 spd autos make 40 mpg pretty hard to get unless you can pulse and glide from like 50mph to 20mph without having other drivers kill you... Also I'm pretty sure those autos didn't lock the converter either.

I have the same auto in my 95 neon with a locking torque converter and a good commute to coast down hills and I can get into the high 30's for a commute but its hard to get a whole tank up there. Any city driving brings the average down. At 60 mph my car runs at 2700 rpm too which is a bit high for good mpg. On the plus side the tranny doesn't seem to mind going from N to D at 55-60mph.

Free cars are good though, and you could probably get low 30's out of them without to much trouble.
Ian

ps, I forgot some of the omni's used lean burn technology back then, so they may do better than I thought. If yours are lean burners then getting a manual trans might push you into the 50's

My choice:
Manual-trans Honda Civics from the mid-80s to ~mid-90s. Especially the CRX derivatives. Most especially the CRX HF versions. But even the Si will get up into the 40s relatively easily.

-soD

can those be had for $3,000 or less?


you'll never see 40's in an automatic omni/horizon,
the auto transmissions rob power like crazy..
also, they have that feedback carburator setups..
its a pain in the arse to deal with when they run bad because parts are scarce..

Chris -

For a ballpark figure, I went to Kelly Blue Book for Minnesota and got these numbers for a 2003 Echo @ 45K miles without A/C private seller :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1240982996


CarloSW2

.

you guys can sweat your balls off for that little bit of extra mpg,
thats one thing I wont skimp on is air conditioning.. lol

I dont want to smell like an air cooled VW owner ;)

I usually just turn it on long enough to chill the interior for a while and turn it off..
we also have a bunch of bugs out here like crazy lol

Is there an easy way to check on the lean burn? The cars wouldn't be free, but probably 500 bucks for a pair of them. Could always convert one to EV...?

i saw the pontiac sunfire being mentioned


any support on this?

I drove old Toyotas for years for less than $200. pa for parts and depreciation. Now I'm into the 3-cyl Suzuki family, with even better reliability.