Wagons that get good fuel mileage
 

Well due to recent events (truck burning up http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post451448 ) i have been on the hunt for a new to me car under the 1500-2000$ mark, i haven't had much luck finding anything.

So im curious mainly looking for a wagon/hatchback as I have a child and ive grown to love the wagon and hatchbacks in how easy they are to pack and go.

Im curious what all is out there in that price range was also hoping to get a manual transmission, as well as it being either fwd or awd can still do rwd but as winters are tough on the hill i live on it seems irresponsible to get anything rwd. and i see good fuel mileage as 30+ out of the box. Was debating a diesel but there seems to be a premium price to be had for one of them, and at least the ones i can afford are old and seem to do more harm than good.

Any help in establishing a list would be greatly appreciated hopefully i can find something soon that i can concentrate on since typing wagon into craigslist just wont cut it as im sure there are things i am missing in my search.

Honda civic VX?

the civic cx and vx are good almost bought one if not for the honda tax a few people in the area ask 1500+ for a 900$ car...trying to stay away from hondas as theres bad blood in there

I was reasonably impressed by the Volvo V70 we had for a bit...'99 model, had the 2.4 turbo. Doing nothing at all but setting cruise to 60, it nailed 31mpg with a/c running the whole way, and had a smidgeon of suburban driving mixed in too. Round trip, probably 250 miles.

My dad's '00 Passat wagon was a solid 27mpg performer, he had it set to 62 on cruise and whatever a/c was comfortable, but then his was saddled with V6 and 4motion AWD. With a 1.8t and 5-speed, FWD, it'd be much better higher maintenance costs but ours was bulletproof, and the suspension was about 1000000x better than the Volvo which managed to have a stiff ride and squishy handling.

Maybe an Accord or Camry wagon might be an interesting one to sniff out. The Camry wasn't available with a manual, the Accord I think technically was but would be tough to find. Despite being old, these cars were built at the height of Japanese quality, so they should be quite dependable, as my beat down old Echo is. Subarus of the same era are almost as durable and are more common with manual, but tend to be a bit more beat up and of course the AWD saps MPG.

I am a wagon fan so I think about these things...

Camry wagon was available as a manual, but the last one I saw was a long time ago. Like early 90's long time ago. (I came this close to getting a brown, 5-speed, 1991 Camry wagon once.)

You could get a Corolla wagon for a while, too. Haven't seen one in forever.

Saturn SW comes to mind...

Escort wagons = good fe.

How about a Metro hatch?

Your parameters are difficult if not impossible.

My vote is a 1996 Subaru Legacy 5-speed. I got 27 MPG out of the box, and eventually increased to 30 with attentive driving.

I have been very impressed with the Saturn SW2 I bought my daughter a few years back. Fun car to drive, very reliable. Gets mid 30s without trying hard. Find a SW1 (single cam, higher gearing) and you ought to get 40 with a little effort. Just stay on top of the oil level. These engines like to drink oil from some reason. Something about the piston ring design, I recall reading. But, high thirties with a quart of 5-30 every 7-8 hundred miles is pretty cheap driving.

My kid has two 90's Legacy wagons (and a newer Forester, and formerly had an Impreza and a nice WRX), one a manual and the other an automatic. I think he gets close to 30 mpg in the Legacy wagon with the stick. He swears by those things.