Need ideas for what eco car to buy next

[EcoBill]

Hey everyone...

Well...im trying to search for a decent car under $4000 (my max budget..would like it around $3500 tho). I currently drive a 98 Jetta TDI, but feel like im polluting to much with the soot that comes out of it and I just realized that parts are expensive to replace, so im selling it.(I was going to do bio-diesel, but dont have the time btw working/trying to move out of parents house/parents dont want 55g of methonal on the side of there house..lol)

I also figured that lets say a 2000 honda civic vs. my 1998 jetta tdi..with gas+diesel prices, im only saving about .015 cents per mile. Not much of a savings.

Soo im searching for something with at least 30-35 mpg city around the price listed above. I use to be into hondas/toyotas until my honda was stolen years ago. Im currently in a lil euro phase, but cant seem to find anything with 30+ city mpg.
I def plan on "ecomodding" it, with hope to increase the mpg.This car also cant be very old as I need it as my main transportation to work.


Any ideas?

I know I could easily find a japanese car with that range.

[bobmutch]

2000 or 2001 Honda Insight hands down. I am in the process of picking one up for $3200.

Here is one that just when for $2900.
Honda : Insight: eBay Motors (item 230546046848 end time Nov-03-10 13:58:42 PDT)

$2100 -- need the battery pack fixed (this can be done for $1250 Hybrid-Battery-Repair)
Honda : Insight: eBay Motors (item 150512938341 end time Nov-03-10 07:11:30 PDT)

You can keep an eye on ebay.com.
Honda Insight - Get a great deal on a new or used car or truck on eBay Motors!

Here is a way to search kijiji.ca for all of canada.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=site:kijiji.ca+"honda+insight"+-2010

Here is a way to search ebayclassifieds.com for all of USA.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=site:ebayclassifieds.com+"honda+insight"+-2010

[user removed]

Have the injectors rebuilt-replaced in the Jetta and get rid of the smoke. That is if the rest of the car needs nothing serious.

You could try some red line or other diesel fuel additives to see it it helps before the injector work.

regards
Mech

[EcoBill]

Originally Posted by bobmutch

2000 or 2001 Honda Insight hands down. I am in the process of picking one up for $3200.

an insight would be cool...but i heard that they dont last that long past 150k?

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

Have the injectors rebuilt-replaced in the Jetta and get rid of the smoke. That is if the rest of the car needs nothing serious.

You could try some red line or other diesel fuel additives to see it it helps before the injector work.

regards
Mech

well i replaced the rear brake seals not long ago, now one of my front struts blew out....and timing belt change is coming up soon(even tho it looks fine..i was going by the book every 60k)

[endurance]

Most cars between the 1980s to recently had timing belts. Now many, if not most, manufacturers are going back to timing chains, but that means anything in your price range is going to have a big expense on the horizon. Most service intervals are 60-90k miles for the belt, but buying used is buying blind and they can say they just replaced the timing belt, but when it breaks, you're the one who has to pay. Unless they have a receipt for the service, buyer beware.

I've been watching the price bracket just above yours ($4-6k) and there is a lot of good stuff out there (lots of civics, some prii, some corollas, some sentras...). Heck, I just sent a friend an ad for a 1998 Civic HX with 145k miles on it for just $3500. There's good stuff out there, but it's questionable whether you'll do better than what you have. What's the first digit of your VIN? Just curious, because I've heard the ones from Mexico are crap, but the ones from Canada are unstoppable.

[nimblemotors]

First, I'd suggest you fix your Jetta, or at least make sure whoever buys it knows its bad and can fix it, otherwise, you've just moved the pollution to someone else, which gained nothing.

For another car, today I noticed the Mazda MX3, looks like a nice aerodynamic body,
might be a good one to "eco mod" ?

[Daox]

Keep the jetta and fix it up. For the price range you're looking at you're not going to find anything that much better.

[EcoBill]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

First, I'd suggest you fix your Jetta, or at least make sure whoever buys it knows its bad and can fix it, otherwise, you've just moved the pollution to someone else, which gained nothing.

For another car, today I noticed the Mazda MX3, looks like a nice aerodynamic body,
might be a good one to "eco mod" ?

Originally Posted by Daox

Keep the jetta and fix it up. For the price range you're looking at you're not going to find anything that much better.

yea im currently in the middle of fixing it now...the previous owner put an UpSolute chip in it...would that be causing all of the soot? he gave me the original chip as well...wasnt really sure what the chip did.

cant find any decent euro cars in that range... the only other cars I could think of are honda/acura/toyota that get those kind of miles im looking for.

[JasonG]

With VW TDIs much can be changed that may be causing the soot issue.

I would keep and repair it. Worst case is needing to have your fuel pump rebuilt.

TDI FAQ should help.

[Formula413]

Originally Posted by EcoBill

yea im currently in the middle of fixing it now...the previous owner put an UpSolute chip in it...would that be causing all of the soot? he gave me the original chip as well...wasnt really sure what the chip did.

The first thing I would do would be take that chip out and try the factory one. I'm assuming it's made for performance and not fuel economy. And I know that diesel trucks with performance tunes smoke like chimneys.