In my situation which car would be best?

[Eco_Bob]

Thank you all for replying!

In response to Nemo taking the Tri-Rail - For the possible new job - Tri-rail doesnt go that far up north yet (Jupiter, FL). I was taking the tri-rail with my last job - I live walking distance from a station - but stopped for the most part after almost getting hit for the third time crossing the street when some asshat runs the red light.

I have sat in a metro before, and I assume the the Jetta/Golf tdi ride is the pretty much as it's gas counterpart? Have yet had the opportunity to sit in an insight. I assume its closer in driving comfort to a Metro than the tdi?

At this point, I am kinda leaning more toward the insight just because of the better mpg - but find that I am shifting between the 3 throughout the week...

Assuming all the options are kept in relatively good shape (oil changed on schedule, lights and weird sounds are investigated soon, etc) - Does either of the three options have a higher likelyhood of leaving me stranded during the long commute or other long trip?

I suppose a large part of my questioning of which car I should focus on comes down to total cost of ownership - Any ballpark figures or guesstimates on maintenance/repair costs (assuming I can do the easier repair items myself) to get the three options to another 150k+ miles? I suppose another question would be which would have a higher frequency of repairs/maintenance - my free time will be limited with a new kid on the way :-)
Assuming I start with:

95-00 Metro 3 cyl -~ 85K miles
00-04 Jetta/Golf tdi ~ 150K miles
00-05 insight ~ 130K miles

Thanks again,

Bob

p.s.
Poking around the forum some more - I found Elio Motors -- assuming their mpg and release date are anywhere near their claims - this may be a good viable option?

[UltArc]

Originally Posted by doviatt

Ok. I'll agree with you to a point. But, who has fun driving to work? Save your fun for weekends with a different (more expensive) car.
My old Metro (not Tweety) was only used for work (and on purpose as I only bought it for the work commute). It was never driven on weekends, nor evenings, or even grocery runs, as it was so ugly, uncomfortable, bad, only I enjoyed driving it because of the savings and challenge for efficiency. The money I saved gave me better things in life that I actually enjoyed. My new convertible Metro, however, is lot's of fun and very efficient. I enjoy driving it.

Oh, and cruse control? Don't use it. Don't install it. It is inefficient. Drive with intent and focus always with your mind engaged. Take the effort and get good at adjusting to the variability of the commute. It takes practice but it is better and more enjoyable than mindless cruising.

I have fun driving to work. Actually, I have a blast driving everywhere lol. Why buy two cars, one for work, and one for play? Spend way more money, two cars to insure (or buy a trailer/race track), more of everything.

And cruise control can be very effective. I find with my car cruise control is very effective for level roads, or even gentle hills, when I am at a set speed. A high traffic area with a slight hill near my home goes from 35, to 50, to 55, the hill being towards the end of the 50 to the 55. So I accelerate from 39 to 50 while maintaining 30 mpg, and then CC at 50 mph, gives me the best mileage. My car uses as little fuel as possible to keep that speed.

Now, obviously CC is terrible at many things, but a blanket statement like that may misguide someone not familiar with when to, or not to, use it.


Elio motors, if it comes to life :/

[Awd180]

Originally Posted by Eco_Bob

95-00 Metro 3 cyl -~ 85K miles
00-04 Jetta/Golf tdi ~ 150K miles
00-05 insight ~ 130K miles

Thanks again,

Bob

p.s.
Poking around the forum some more - I found Elio Motors -- assuming their mpg and release date are anywhere near their claims - this may be a good viable option?

With a newborn you're in the wrong market, but if you already have a reliable car then you're ok. Condition is everything, if you're aren't going to be driving around with the child the metro would be your best choice. With the mileage and age of all three a lot of things could happen. However out of the 3 the best previous owner might be the insight, keeping to maintenance, but vw owners can also be responsible.

[Eco_Bob]

Originally Posted by Awd180

With a newborn you're in the wrong market, but if you already have a reliable car then you're ok....

Whoops forgot to mention, I have a mostly reliable 99' Mustang Convertible (auto, v6 - on a good day 24mpg highway) and the wife has a fairly reliable 06' Jeep Liberty 4x4 (auto, v6 - on a good day 20mpg highway) - The Jeep Liberty will be the kid moving car. Getting something like a Jetta Wagon TDI would allow us to have another option (and added hassle of moving the car seat to and from ;-)) However my initial goal was to get something that would pay for itself from gas savings and save me a hefty chunk of cash in a few years from the fuel efficiency (compared to the Mustang)

[samwichse]

If you're looking for an Insight, there are actually 10 (!) for sale right now on the InsightCentral.net forum. One member is divesting himself of his collection (6 cars), and another has 4 for sale that he's gotten from various sources and R&R'd them for resale.

I don't like VW's for their poor reliability (the old joke: friends don't let friends buy used Volkswagens).

And between the Metro and the Insight, if having rear seats is no concern, there's no comparison in terms of ride comfort and sportiness. Plus, the Insight looks cool with those factory fender skirts.

Plus, the G1 Insight was hand built in Japan from aluminum in the same factory that built the Acura NSX. There are three cars on ICCentral with >400k on them (one has over 500k now). I wish I still had mine, but a 15 passenger van sat on it :-(

[RedDevil]

2009 2nd gen Insights with some miles should just fall into your price range by now. They are lighter and more practical than Civic hybrids and less likely to develop battery problems. They have virtually no reliability issues at all.

They are less economical than the 1st gen but a lot quieter inside. Also they (both gens) are fun to drive on twisting roads esp. when compared with the other choices.
Just my definitely biased opinion

[Ryland]

Friends with VW's are the only ones that I know of who've had to call tow trucks, pretty much any other car will give you fair warning before something fails enough to leave you stranded.

I would say sitting in the insight is a few steps above the Geo Metro, the metro's plastic parts tend to fit poorly and the seats are very simple, while Honda seems to do a better job with the fit and finish of their cars along with them just feeling solid.

[roosterk0031]

Here's one for you, do a fly and drive, no affiliation but bought my Cobalt from them.


http://www.usautolinks.com/cgi-bin/w...to_id%3D199340

[Awd180]

+1 for insight verse metro, it will have a better srs, for defense of VW it comes to ownership and maintenance. VW's especially tdi's are high demand cars and will keep the reputation as far as I can see, half the time the second or third owner is a first time owner and did little to upkeep it. Head gaskets and other seals are going to leak unless they're fixed before they leak, ie when it's time to do the timing belt also consider the head and oil pan gasket. Some people tend to let things like that go for a long time (50-60k miles) and the engine bay, firewall, or undercarriage will show it.

Back on topic, I'd say the metro will be a lot easier car on maintenance. In comparison the headgasket is 200x's easier on the metro than 99% of any other car.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Seems like a TDI is your best match, still providing a decent fuel economy with the space required to all that baby stuff.

Originally Posted by samwichse

I don't like VW's for their poor reliability (the old joke: friends don't let friends buy used Volkswagens).

The problem with Volkswagens are owners who neglect the preventive maintenance.