New guy needs help picking a vehicle.
 

Alright here's the deal. I got $5000.00 that i am willing to spend on a car.Im going to College in January and it's a 70 mile Highway drive that i will be doing twice a week. I would like to have a vehicle that gets great mpgs. I aint the type of guy that usually cares to much about mpgs. my first car was a 1970 C/20 that We built up to a 383. But anyways, I aint interested in to many of them foreign cars,in fact the only to import brands that i'm considering are Subaru and or VW.DO NOT SUGGEST ME A HONDA. I've always been in love with f150 with the 4.9 inline 6 but they are not necessarly the most fuel efficient engines,unless someone can prove me wrong.However the 4.9 is a bullet proof reliable engine. I am considering GM cars with the 3.8. i've always had a thing for the 3800, its not really my first choice. i'm kind of a muscle car and truck kind of guy but i need mpgs.

PLEASE GIVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS!!!! :D

VW Jetta TDI or Golf TDI from the late 90s or early 2000s will be the highest mileage cars you can get given your criteria.

As long as you select a small, competently engineered, reasonably efficient car, you'll do fine. Saturn S-series, Foci, Priora, and Escorts come to mind. Hondas are popular here because they meet those criteria, but you can find plenty of good, small American-badged cars for $5000.

It sounds to me like you're in a large-displacement mindset. That's very reasonable for a muscle car, but if you want good fuel economy, you'd do well to cross a car off your list if it has more than 2.0L.

You don't have to have lots of displacement to have a fun car. Just look at stick-shifted examples of: S2000, MX5, Paseo, CRX.

Well, I appreciate the suggestions.but needless to less i am looking at a gas hog tomorrow and maybe purchasing it. 1995 Ford f-15 4.9 inline 6, 5speed manual 4x4.
Any suggestions on how to improve mpg on that beast? i figure i'll do a cold air intake and probably some exhuast work, it all ready has a Tauno cover on the bed any other suggestions? Thanks and try and deal with my stupidity of buying something that sucks in that much gas.:rolleyes:

A CAI and better exhaust will not help your MPGs. Just so you know.

An aerodynamic rear cover like this (homemade or commercial product) would make a big improvement.

I am not expecting a drastic from either the cold air intake or exhaust. Cold air intake and exhaust can effect mpgs , How affective are is debatable but any improvement is nice. Do you have any suggestions?

firstly, welcome:)

Secondly, i know why you like large engines-same reason as i do-lots of torque, lazy drive, easy acceleration etc.
They are a bit juicy though..

I'd suggest something similar to what i'm drivng just now. Its a saab 9-3 turbo.
As a 2.0 when your off boost, the mpg is decent compared to most of the us cars in the same class.
The turbo can be fettled to give decent power-the car is light so you dont need as much hp to shift it.

They seem fairly popular in the US and Š3500 would get you a good one and some tuning:)

Failing that if you go for the f150 you want a WARM air intake to boost mpg's!

Either not buying it, or having it recycled would be a great improvement.

Thanks for saying it yourself so others don't need to say it ...

Also, thanks for polluting the planet on a grand scale and for doing your damnedest best to help drive up fuel prices by excessive consumption of the stuff.

I presume you set out to buy a car that would save you money on gas for your expected long commute. The Ford FISO does not accomplish this, and is not the correct vehicle for you.

As to how to get better mileage out of a pickup, scrap it and buy a Ranger / S10 with a four cylinder and a stick. Or a small car, which is the right tool for the job of transporting one human 280mi a week.

You said you were a truck guy, into American-made cars with that muscle look?

VW had a factory in Vermont making Volkswagen Golf/rabbit pickup trucks. They're small, but the diesels in them had plenty of power to haul any 700 pound load. I suggest buying one, and then getting a Surly Big Dummy cargo bike to do any trips that wouldn't require a car (<300 pound loads)

Oh boy, I figured there would be a couple of people like this. I am not what you would call an environmentalist, I'm mainly using this for looking at options of what I can do to save me some money, and I will not waste my time arguing with you. So if you don't have anything reasonable to say please don't Comment on my post.Thank you :thumbup:

Take a look at my truck...
1991 F-250 4.9 I6
25-30 mpg

I'd take the truck. It is probably much cheaper than a car anyway.

BTW: I haul firewood in my truck and still get good mileage. I get 20-22 pulling my tractor (John Deere M), plow, and disc on a flatbed.

I don't have any belly pan or bed cover either!

I was actually looking at a 1980something VW rabbit pickup for sale. It had the the 1.5 diesel in it if i'm not mistaken. It had a few problems with it that i can't seem to remember. I wanted it but my parents shot it down. Needless to say it sold. I live in Nebraska and we don't get to many of them in here. If I were ever to find one again I would most definitely buy it.

Wow that's awesome. I really hope this guy answers his phone so i can come take a look at the truck.

Well the F-150 guy is not answering his phone, leaving me time to surf the web at other cars and trucks. Anybody have some suggestions?

hmmmmm, call him again? Do you know anything about the truck?
How many miles, oil changes, brakes, maintenance?

A lot of people call them gas hogs, but they get better mileage than most other engines if kept in good order. Use regular spark plugs and good wires.
I should do a warm air intake on mine and see if I gain anything.

He could easily be getting twice that mileage in a VW TDI.

Not if he can't find one...

You gotta do with what you can find.

That's the whole point: I AM saying something reasonable, but do you want to hear it ?

It doesn't make any sense at all to buy a gas guzzling monster truck for commuting to college, and then go and look for ways to hope to improve your gas mileage.
No matter how much you go over its EPA rating, you'll never get anywhere near a really decent fuel economy out of it.

You don't need to be an environmentalist to understand that.
All it takes is a bit of common sense.
That exceedingly rare commodity will also come in handy at college, BTW.


You don't need to waste your time arguing with me if you'd rather be wasting your money on gas, or wasting your time on the odd job to pay for it all.

I've called him 3 times my guess is he's just having second thoughts on selling it. The truck only has 88, 300 miles and he says that he has proof of regular maintenance "this is all coming from a craigslist post". From the pictures he has it looks like a pretty solid and clean truck, but you can't really judge just by pictures.

I appreciate how concerned you are about my whole situtation. But stop for a moment and here me out. I live in Nebraska,now where i live it's not uncommon for the streets not to get plowed.Needless to say 4wd is necessary in the winter. I also ride fourwheelers and have a fishing boat. Now if I have to sacrifice some mpg for something that fits my lifestyle that's all right with me.

Hell a F-150 is cheap enough I might even be able to afford a more fuel efficient car I can drive around in the other 3 seasons.

Now if you can find me a car that meets my criteria and under $5000 by god I'll by it now. Just to let you know you have failed to suggest a single vehicle to me, their for making you useless to this whole thread.

This is true.However I can not seem to find one in my price range in this parts.
I believe I will keep my eyes open.

Need good performance in the snow? Just about any FWD car on the road has six inches of ground clearance. Fitted with four dedicated snow tires, FWD is every bit as good in the winter as AWD.

Wake up to more than 8" of snow depth? Call in sick. Or take the four-wheeler. :) No sense guzzling gas all year because you wanted to be prepared for the two days a year that extra ground clearance would be helpful. Or buy a Subaru Outback if you must.

Need to move a fishing boat, some furniture, sheets of plywood, and some four wheelers? Get a Prius. A 2004 will fit within your budget, and it should be good to tow 1000lbs, same as just about any compact car on the market.

You already know what makes one vehicle more efficient than another: better aerodynamics, lighter weight, smaller engine, stick shift, fewer driven wheels. If you're actually looking for a fuel efficient vehicle, you know what to do.

I don't think you can formulate the problem in a way that makes the macho truck you want to own the rational, low-cost choice.

I've been looking at some fwd cars.Mainly Buick Le Sabre, I have also considered a Geo Prizm, not necessarily the most beautiful cars but pretty fuel efficient.I have been looking at Subaru's however I have failed at finding anything decent in my price range around here.

I am not sure about finding a 2004 Prius for $5000. KBB suggested retail value is $11,500 excellent.

Thanks, I really do appreciate the input.

Have you looked for a Matrix or a vibe? they have FWD or AWD. I can get 40+ MPG with driving changes. EPA is 29. I can also haul 5 people, 8' lumber, a 1500# trailer and drive through 8+" of snow (mine is FWD, with all season tiers).

Cost should be in the 3-5K range for an 03-05 for a very versatile car that is light on the gas.

Here's a bit of an off the wall suggestion. How about a Chevy Caprice?
They're tow-rated to 5000 lbs with the 5.7L LT1 engine.

I had a '96 with 5.7L LT1 engine that got me 27-29 mpg on the highway regularly at 75 mph. (Chevy put some really tall gears in the rear to get that good highway mileage. To see what I mean, the tow package comes with 2.93 rear gears, while the standard ratio is 2.56) That's with no ecomods at all. Outfit it with some smooth hubcaps, warm-air intake, partial grill block, etc. and you could be seeing over 30 mpg. You could even get the Caprice wagon and have almost as much cargo room as a Suburban.

Of course, you'll need some studded snow tires for the winter, but with positraction, you'll be able to get through all but the biggest snows.

Unfortunately, that's what a lot of people have been doing on a really excessive scale.
It has led to a lyfestyle typified by excessive use of fuel and cars to match.

You decide wether you continue that lifestyle, or not.
Your choice will only affect over 6 billion others ...

you gotta do what you gotta do. If you can save money by getting a cheaper vehicle then do it and use the leftover for gas/mods. The older f-series is more reliable and will save you $$$ in the long run.

Here I was thinking the Ford Ranger is the thriftiest vehicle with a 5000lbs tow rating, but the Caprice wagon delivers slightly better EPA ratings and probably more cargo space.

Still, it's a thirsty vehicle, especially around town. Settling for a 1000lbs tow rating will dramatically improve your mileage.

Plus, they have that awesome V8 for situations where you need it (passing, freeway entrance ramps, getting out of the way of a downhill speeding semi).

I agree, but it sounds like TEX doesn't want anything like that.

TEX, if what you're towing is under 2000 lbs, get something like a Buick LeSabre, Chevy Impala LS, or Pontiac Grand Prix (with the 3800 V6). My wife had a loaded '03 Impala LS and we'd get 33-34 mpg on our semi-annual 1100 mile round-trip to my inlaws'. That was going 70-75 mph with two (large) adults, two kids and a trunk full of luggage and coolers. I've heard many similar stories from others with that engine.