What is the best MPG and longest lasting and cheapest to keep car??

[Hersbird]

I'd ask city or highway? City it's going to be something super lightweight and small displacement with a manual. A late 90s Saturn with the SOHC maybe. The Toyotas are good too but everyone thinks so, so they aren't cheap. I personally don't think Hondas are any better reliable wise than most domestics but the parts cost 2-4 times more.

On the highway you need something aerodynamic with a small frontal area but sometimes a v6 or v8 and automatic transmission will still do well as it just idles along and weight isn't a big penality once up to speed.

I personally would look for a government fleet auction 10 year old Prius. It gets much better economy in town or on the highway than something old and simple. But that's assuming you are going to put 15,000 miles a year or more then getting 50mpg instead or 30mpg pays for a $5000 premium in initial purchase in 6 or 7 years and you get a nicer car the whole time.

[Caddylackn]

We had a '83 Civic 4 door sedan 5 speed CVCC which we bought new. I learned to drive on it, my parents put about 210k miles on it. My parents took the car down to St. Croix VI for five years when they lived down there and drove it with studded tires. Then they came back drove it across the country after the car survived Hurricane Hugo, then they sold it to my friend who put at least 60 - 70k more miles on it before it overheated badly , and they scrapped it.

We never did anything but change fluids in that car. It got 40 mpg new and was still getting over 32 mpg when my friend scrapped it. I don't remember even changing out the water pump, which was probably what eventually failed. Our ignition switch failed and left us cold and stranded in the middle of rural Oregon on Christmas day when it was 20 degrees out, but that was the only problem with it. Still had the original clutch, which trained at least 3 new drivers. That car did awesome in the snow with studs.

It was a good car, it would cruise all day at 75 mph with five adults in it and a trunk full of luggage and get over 35 mpg. Pretty much unheard of in 1983.

[Blacktree]

If you're looking for older cars with good mpg, a couple good options are the Suzuki Swift platform (aka Geo Metro, aka Chevy Sprint, aka Pontiac Firefly), and the Saturn S-Series cars. These cars were made in the 90s and early 2000s. So at this point, they're going to be 20-30 years old. Which means they're going to be run down. But if you're OK with driving a beater...

If you'd rather have a "nice" car, I'd go with Hersbird's advice regarding the Prius.

[zonker]

I second the Geo Metro / Suzuki Swift / Pontiac Firefly suggestion made earlier.

In June I purchased an '89 Geo Metro that was in pretty good shape except it did not pass a California Smog Check. After a little well needed maintenance and smog friendly tune up, the car passed.

Since then I have logged 6,000 trouble free miles with a 50 mpg average to boot. Not only that, but Hagerty Classic car insured it for $100 a year! Reliable, simple to fix, and easy on the pocketbook.

It's an Ecomodder's hat trick.

[freebeard]

but Hagerty Classic car insured it for $100 a year

Suddenly you have my attention.

[Caddylackn]

There are a lot of limitations on your policy of Haggerty insurance. AFAIK they will not insure a daily driver, only classics that are occasionally driven. The vehicle has to be on their accepted list of classic cars.

They are good for insuring classic cars that are only occasionally driven or stored. They would not insure my Passat TDI wagon, even though it is a rare car and collectible.

They will also drop you the first time you make a claim.

[freebeard]

I'll have to check, but the difference between one and two car with USAA isn't that much more.

I don't have a daily driver, it's more of a weekly driver.

IIRC they allow three claims before they drop you.

[zonker]

Originally Posted by Caddylackn

There are a lot of limitations on your policy of Haggerty insurance. AFAIK they will not insure a daily driver, only classics that are occasionally driven. The vehicle has to be on their accepted list of classic cars.

They are good for insuring classic cars that are only occasionally driven or stored. They would not insure my Passat TDI wagon, even though it is a rare car and collectible.

They will also drop you the first time you make a claim.

My driving record is pretty clean, so I'm sure that partially applies. Also I insure 3 other classic cars with them. When I called to insure it all Hagerty cared about was that I keep the car garaged.

[redpoint5]

A late 90s Accord or a Corolla. Hyundai Sonata.

I don't have any experience with any of those personally, but they have all been on my short list.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Blacktree

a couple good options are the Suzuki Swift platform (aka Geo Metro, aka Chevy Sprint, aka Pontiac Firefly)

Recently I had a talk with a lady who owns a 4-door Swift hatchback, which she told me it had been previously of her grandfather. That model used to be quite underappreciated back in the day, but is still quite nice. I dare you to find a new econobox featuring all-around independent suspension as the Swift did...