Mod my offroading truck or buy a commuter?
 

Hello everybody! Long time lurker that decided to register and post up.

Financial situations have changed and I had to sell my 2011 Ford Fiesta 5speed, which has returned excellent mileage by the way. 50ish mpg tank averages in the summer in ideal conditions, unmodded, simply using things like dwb and dwl.

My only other vehicle is a 1989 Toyota pickup that is my rock crawling 4x4 hobby truck. It has a lot of mods like a solid axle swap, 35" tires on heavy ass bead-locked rims, and a '99 gm 4.3 v6 I swapped in. Not the most comfortable ride, and it returns about 15-16 mpg for a tank average.

If I were to daily drive it, I've been doing research on aeromods I could possibly do. Things like an air dam to cover that solid axle, and deflect air from the horrible aero of a body on frame. Removable wheel covers. Grille blocks, and an aeroshell. I already have an mpguino in it. One problem is it would ALL have to be easily removable as I go wheelin' a few times a month.

So really I'm leaning towards buying a cheap commuter car, I have $2k or so to spend on one. Have been watching craigslist like a hawk for a month now on the lookout for a civic vx/hx or a geo metro. Secondary cars I have on my list are a Saturn SC1, Ford Aspire, or the right Civic dx/lx. Only manual transmissions of course. I'm still pissed at barely missing a $2100 140k '98 hx by minutes... I was on my way when he told me he sold it :mad:

Any opinions on what to do, or any other promising cars I should watch for?

Forget daily driving that truck.

CL can come through wonderfully, if you widen the scope of models you'd consider. There are fantastic bargains out there.

You're in Takesass- wouldn't a small motorcycle work?

I've had numerous motorcycles, and yeah... you can ride here all year long if dedicated.

I'm too much of a wuss to daily ride a bike in 50 straight days of 100+ degree heat. Gotta have that A/C, even if it hurts FE! :D

It's a solid idea, buy a $2,000 car that will save you $2,000 per year in fuel.
You might even think about spending 2 years worth of fuel savings on a car, seeing as how it should last you more then two years and those 35" tires are not cheap to replace if you put many miles on them nor is anything else on your truck I suspect.

1995-1999 Nissan Sentra or 200SX (same car as a coupe).

They are not very exciting cars (I presume that's not an issue since Aspire is on the list) but they are rated at 29/39mpg and pretty reliable. I regularly see them on CL for <$2000, often closer to $1000. Avoid the 2.0L of course.

Would be better if you could do both, modding the offroad truck and getting a commuter. You could consider a Diesel engine swap for the truck.


Try a swamp-cooler. They're extremely popular among Brazilian truck drivers because don't take so much power from the engine like an A/C compressor does :thumbup:

If you are going to buy a commuter be sure you will actually save money.. Look at it realistically. If you are only going to drive your smaller car during certain months you might have to break up the mileage between the two.

You also have to insure it, fix it, maintain it, etc... It would add up to a LOT of fuel for your truck.


I'm just speaking from experience... It will be almost 2 years before my tracker pays for itself over my Jeep. That is if I drive it every day! I guess my point is... Payoff may be longer than you expect.

Pretty sure that engine swaps are a huge pain in the ass (based on experience!), and would take the vehicle out of commission until it was completed. It would also put tremendous pressure on you to finish the project before you needed it again. Plus the vehicle would still be an aerodynamic nightmare.

I vote for continuing to look for a cheap car. My buddy has a Saturn ION that he hates, but it returns solid 30's all the time, and believe me, he is NOT an eco-driver.

EDIT: Other vehicles to look at; Toyota Paseo and Tercel, also the Echo.

If you plan to keep whatever smaller car you buy until it falls apart and are not worried about resale, a Saturn may be a good choice. Plus they will be a lot cheaper than an equivalent Honda. I had an SC2 coupe and an SW1 wagon with a 5 speed. For inexpensive cars they drive well and parts are fairly cheap.

He also has tires on his truck that could very well cost $1,000 for a set and if they are anything like the truck tires we have at work, you replace them twice as often as car tires.
It's not just the fuel that makes trucks expensive to drive, but as it is, 15,000 miles per year at 15mpg is $3,500 in fuel, even 40mpg is $1,300 or a $2,200 savings just in fuel!

I would also buy a car as those 35s cant be cheap plus if you get a commuter car you can make your truck more hardcore offroad

As an owner of a lifted Jeep and a commuter car I gave my advice based on personal experience. I thought I should pass it on.

Just going out and laying down a grand or 2 on a car doesn't necessarily call it done. After I bought my tracker a tune up, brakes and fluid change all around easily ate $500. I had to insure it, buy registration and put a tag on it. All said and done I have a great little commuter but it is going to take quite a while to pay for itself with fuel savings. Remember registration, inspections, maintenance and insurance are all reoccurring costs.

Before you say something about inspecting a vehicle before you buy it remember you are talking about a cheap commuter typically bought from an individual. There is no warranty, no certified pre owned nonsense. Even if it's in great shape it would be unwise to rely on it without establishing a maintenance baseline. I for one wouldn't rely on brakes every day if I had no clue the condition of them....or a battery if it is questionable... etc.

Thanks for all of the replies. At this point I'm pretty set on getting a gas saver. Right now I am daily driving the truck, it's kinda fun to drive in its own way... but man those fill ups are depressing. I think that even with the associated expenses of another vehicle, the gas savings will bring me even, if not in the black. I am at about 15,000 miles a year. I am already driving eco consciously and getting 16mpg, so aero mods may get me 18? 20 maybe? That is 750 gallons a year, at 20mpg. Or $2,500 at current gas prices. A 40mpg average car will consume 375 gallons for $1240/year.
I do all of my own maintenance and work, including rebuilds and whatnot, and I'm a freak about replacing all the worn out items on my (new) used cars. So yeah there will be that expense. If I grab a civic I'll almost certainly be doing the timing belt plus going over the whole thing, probably several hundred dollars all said and done.

I won't deny the fun of getting a new car, even if it is a beater. And learning to do eco mods, projects like that are fun. Get to refine my glass skills :rolleyes:

I am going to look at a '96 HX tomorrow. I saw from the pictures it has a fart can :mad: but otherwise unmolested. If the entire exhaust from the header back is hacked up I may pass.

That's not a good option here in the states. We only have big diesel engines, inline 6 or v8 that weight nearly 1k lbs, or VW tdi's. I have a hilux, mini truck, so VW is only choice that fits. Expensive and takes custom machining of a bell housing adapter. There are guys that have done it, but it is $$$$.

They're about $750, I wait for the sales. But yeah, expensive! My last set did last 55k miles, not much different than passenger tires. I will say that hardcore rock tires or certain mud terrains are way soft and will wear accordingly. Wear faster on road = better traction off road, typically.

Ya good idea on sticking with the small car plan. Toys are toys. We spend money on them to make them the way we want them, but as soon as you try and get it to do something you didn't modify it to do, you are wasting your time and money. My old Vette would probably get decent MPG, but I wouldn't try to do that with it, that's not what I intended it for. Get an eco friendly ride and have fun modding it for more MPGs, then have your modded 4x4 toy for going wheeling. Problem solved lol. :snail:

At 16mpg... I would go buy a cheap saturn or something small to zip around in. Even with ecomodding the truck you be busting your tail working for 25 when a random small car will be getting ya 25-32

Just noticed you are in Texas. So rust shouldn't be an issue with older stuff. Man you should be able to find something like a late '80 early '90s Civic or Tercel or 323 for cheeeeeap. I am biased towards cars from this era, but having owned a lot of older stuff I can say that if you find a "good" one it will be as reliable and efficient as something much newer, for a fraction of the price.

Could even stick with a 2wd 4c 5 spd truck and cut you fuel use in half.

So after a three week long search I found a '96 Geo Metro for $700. 1.0L 3cyl 5 speed, 150k miles. Throws egr and o2 heater code, small exhaust leak, and malfunctioning a/c... which is why it was cheap.

Ran my normal route and got 52mpg trip per my laptop obd2whiz. So pretty good, don't even know what psi the tires are at yet. Should be solid after a tune up and some aero mods. I laughed when I saw this thing doesn't even have a trip odometer, but it drives better than I thought metros did, and isn't particularly uncomfortable.

I'll throw some pics up tomorrow.

:thumbup:

Since you're in Texas, I assume you probably never considered an A/C delete. If your intention with the Metro is all about fuel-savings, why not to consider it, replacing the A/C with an evaporative cooler?

I assume that is the same as a "swamp cooler"? I don't know anyone running those in an auto application... I also thought they were for dry climates only? We're semi humid in this part of Texas.

Edit: I see the thread here http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...r-c-24392.html ...interesting.

Over-the-road and agricultural versions are very popular among Brazilian truck drivers, both for fuel savings comparing to an engine-driven A/C compressor and the ability to leave it turned on while sleeping inside the vehicle with the engine off. I've seen it even in Amazon, which is highly humid.