Need ideas for wife's new car

[Ecky]

I'm looking for something <$2000 with 4 seats and great FE. The obvious FE champion is a Metro, but I thought I'd ask and see what else is out there. I spend a lot of time working on Hondas but I'm sure I could adapt.


She tends to like older boxy cars, which doesn't in my mind mesh well with "aerodynamic". Think VW Rabbit. I talked her out of getting a gasser Volvo, and she was mooning over a Honda 600 on Craigslist a few days back.

I'm a bit wary of getting something too old and odd, for fear of not being able to find reasonably priced parts, and I think there's probably a lot going for a modern powertrain. At the same time, I'd like to own something a little more interesting than a 90's Civic.

Thoughts, suggestions? I'd be fairly content with the idea of a Metro, but what else ought I look at that has some high FE potential?



As an aside, Minimania.com sells conversion kits for classic Mini's that would allow you to drop a CRX HF motor/tranny, or even a Honda K series, right in without much issue. I'd love to own a classic mini, but it's both a bit out of my ideal pricerange (maybe at a later date) and I don't suppose a Mini Cooper has a terribly good Cd anyway.

[Frank Lee]

She definitely needs a Tempo or Topaz.

[MetroMPG]

You don't say what transmission she wants. No point in getting a Metro/Swift/etc unless she's willing to drive a manual. The automatics were ancient 3-speeds (with no lock-up) that return horrible fuel economy.

Personally: I'd say there's some merit to the idea of sticking with what you know - there are efficient options in Hondas in that price range.

(Sticking with what you know is also Frank's advice, though he wants you to stick with what he knows. )

Maybe we need a stickified thread - this kind of question comes up a lot... "what used car should I get that's efficient"

[user removed]

Look through the garage at the list of cars with the highest mileage for your candidates.
Your price range will be tough to achieve with anything that does not have a ton of miles or other issues.

regards
Mech

[Tango Charlie]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Maybe we need a stickified thread - this kind of question comes up a lot... "what used car should I get that's efficient"

What would be cool is a searchable database where you could select various parameters. Kind of like when you search tires on the Tire Rack site.
For instance, Ecky would select "1990-2008", "0-$2000", "1-4 passenger", and it would spit out a list of cars with their EPA ratings from highest to lowest.
Other parameters besides year, cost and passenger capacity could be
gas/diesel/hybrid/EV
manual/automatic
sedan, coupe, hatchback
etc.

Gee, I wish I could program.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

You don't say what transmission she wants. No point in getting a Metro/Swift/etc unless she's willing to drive a manual. The automatics were ancient 3-speeds that return horrible fuel economy.

She's enthusiastic to learn stick but we haven't found the time to teach her. I'd prefer she has a manual and I think she does too, in an abstract way, but an automatic isn't out of the question.

For instance, with the new Civics, the automatic gearbox is actually longer than the manual box and typically returns better highway mileage.

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

She definitely needs a Tempo or Topaz.

I'll ask and see what she thinks. =D

[samwichse]

She was mooning over the Honda 600? That a good wife!

[FXSTi]

One under appreciated car is the Ford Festiva. It offers a peppier drive than the Metro but can do well over 45 mpg with easy driving. If the wife likes old and boxy this could be the car for her. Avoid the auto trans in a Festiva though, they accelerate like a golf cart and get horrible gas mileage.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by FXSTi

One under appreciated car is the Ford Festiva. It offers a peppier drive than the Metro but can do well over 45 mpg with easy driving. If the wife likes old and boxy this could be the car for her. Avoid the auto trans in a Festiva though, they accelerate like a golf cart and get horrible gas mileage.

I think the Festiva would be a winner, if we could find one. There's nothing on Craigslist within 500 miles though. We'll likely look at a Tempo if one comes up locally.

I found this on ebay, might put the CRX back in the running:

Rear Seat Complete Honda CRX JDM SI HF DX 88-92 Ef8 / EE8 / ED9 ***rare*** | eBay

[Ryland]

The Honda N600 would not be my first choice for a daily driver, nor would it be a good choice for someone who wants to learn to drive stick as it's a weird stick shift to drive with the stick shift being more of a floppy joystick mounted to the dashboard, my parents have one and my mom who has been driving stick for 40+ years has yet to learn to shift it... reverse is a counter clockwise twist and a counter clockwise rotation till the shift lever points at the floor, learning double clutch on a Honda 600 is a must as well as many of them didn't have synchronized transmissions, some parts are common, like the starter rebuild kit was in stock at the auto part store, ball joints were an Ebay find, oil filters are also Ebay.
Another boxy car is the Subaru Justy, there were a few 2 wheel drive versions built but all of them are hard to find.
I personally like the 1991 and older Honda Civic's, 1980 to 1983 are my favorite with the Civic FE two door hatch back being an awesome car, there was also the 1984 to 1987 Civic 1.3L hatch back (base model I think) that got decent mileage and had a ton of space inside.
If she does long distance driving then a diesel VW rabbit might be the best choice.