Looking to purchase a new vehicle (requirements: 30 cubic feet cargo, 30 mpg minimum)

[MPGranger]

Ryland- the power search is awesome, except that the 2013 Ford Escape isn't on it! I went to all four dealer sites and used their comparison tools but nobody had the CX-5 or the new Escape on their database, not even Ford and Mazda sites! You can look up the specs on their respective sites, just not compare them directly.

[A.J.]

I don't know what kind of annual mileage your wife is going to be doing with the car...
But it's worth considering fuel costs very carefully: 12,000 miles/year, 5 years, 13 MPG difference between a CX-5 and a Prius v: you'll save 640 gallons, say at 3.50$ that's 2200$.
That works to reduce (unfortunately not eliminate) the price premium for the hybrid...

[slowmover]

True Cost to Own (TCO) Calculator on Edmunds.com

A handy tool with which to make comparisons.

[MPGranger]

TCO is pretty awesome! Prius v 2 is $37 grand, the Sportwagon TDI manual is $37.8, and the Prius v 3 is $37.9. And again the new Escape and CX5 are no where to be seen.

I'm still a fair bit away from the actual purchase. So now I am having fun with the salesmen! Like the Toyota guy who, after I gave him my qualifications, suggests a Rav4 that got 28 Highway. I had no sympathy when I responded to his email.

[MPGranger]

Mazda CX-5 good value | This is Staffordshire

Any thoughts on the Mazda diesel? I've read that it meets EPA standards. Also the claim that it gets 61.4 MPG combined is pretty cool. But I don't know the difference between Europe's testing and America's. So should I skim 20% off for about 49 MPG combined? That's 7 better than the Jetta Sportswagon.

[jrscteg]

I was at the local auto show and the new acura tsx wagon might fit your criteria

[larrybuck]

I realize that most people want new, and your wife doesn't like wagons, but this conversation fuels my desire to keep my '84 VW Quantum wagon. $200. for a clean body,
have a good lead for a $300. diesel transplant,

My previous '82 got 55mpg+ on cross country trips, and a 6' mattress fits perfectly
in the back.

If you'd care to spend more $ on actual family outings, and less on vehicles, one can gain MORE LIFE! I'm sure in as big a place as Atlanta, there would still be a few around,
but thats just my 2c's worth.

[MPGranger]

to Larrybuck- unfortunately this is to be a family vehicle, so I want the most up to date safety features. The wife understands that this will be the last car purchase for a very long time, so she also wants some finer options. I however, could drive that on my half hour commute and be content.

I came across this article about the diesel model in Japan. Mazda Skyactiv-D 2.2 Clean Diesel Heads to U.S. in Early 2013 They quote 44 MPG on the JC08 test. So I googled deeper to find this article for conversion over to CAFE. (read EPA) Test cycles

Basically multiply the JC08 fuel economy by 1.3 to get what the EPA figures will state. 44 turns into 57! But they also have a conversion from NEDC (Europe) to US by multiplying by 1.15. So using the figure of 61.4 MPG combined in Europe from my previous post, I get 70.61.

Crap, I'm a dummy! Just realized that all the multipliers are vehicle specific! Duh! But see how low the Toyota Yaris' were? So I'm going to redo the numbers using the low/high ranges in each column; JC08-51.48 to 61.16, Europe 63.856 to 72.452. Someone smarter than me yell at me, if this assumption is stupid or not!

[Daox]

I think you have it the turned around. The Japanese test is usually WAY higher than EPA testing. So, I'd go 44 / 1.3 = 33.8 mpg which seems a lot more realistic.

[MPGranger]

Daox- click on the test cycles link, then scroll down till you find the chart with alternating horizontal shading that separates the sections. They have CAFE MPG figures as well as JCO8 and NEDC. It clearly shows that American tests report higher MPG numbers than Europe or Japan. Ford Focus got 29.8 American and 22.9 Japan; with a conversion multiplier of 1.30. so 22.9 * 1.30 = 29.77.

Also the Jetta Sportwagon gets 42 highway, so if Mazda really is making more fuel efficient engines, it will need to destroy it's apples to apples comparison. I would not consider 33.8 MPG a good figure for a recently designed diesel.