What econ car can haul Plywood Laying Flat???

[Cardinal Grammeter]

Awesome Suzuki Carry Truck!

What really torques my lug nuts is the Honda Civic VX. 50 mpg and +90 HP. And between the EPA outlawing Lean Burn and all the kids out there ruining all the Hondas, it is such a sad state of affairs.

If I could find a VX, that thought of the Escort Wagon would go up in smoke in an instant. It would be "bring on that Harbor Freight folding trailer!"

I also thought about a Roadmaster with the LT1... or Taurus SW.

I am not that well read in big mpg combos out there, but it seems like from what is in this thread is that the little trucks do well. If that is the case, why are the mini-vans so terrible? I speak from the experience of my close friend that owns 2 taxi companies and has some that are "so new they have 17" wheels(!)" He said they all had terrible, sub 20, mpg.

One note on the taxi business, there were some 3.8 (not 3800) GM's that got in the upper 20's mpg in taxi service. They were rare and you could have 2 identical cars, one would get 28 mpg and the other one 15. No one could ever figure out why some got so high mpg. I found on the internet, that some of the 3800's (I don't know if this applied to the older 3.8's) had lean burn 17:1 tables already in the computer and all you had to do was set a parameter or two to access them. People claim over 30 mpg is no problem. Others have tricked over 40 mpg. A high mpg 3800 SW would be an excellent solution too - might even be big enough to lay that plywood down?

I have a friend (lives in Carson City, NV - altitude > 5000ft.) who has a (1998 I think) 6-cyl Camaro that regularly gets 36-39. He can't explain it either.
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The plywood "base" for the roof rack sounds like a good idea too.

Thanks for all the suggestions,
Tom

[ecomodded]

I like the trailer idea myself, Even if you are going to be hauling building supplies constantly with the trailer you simply unhook it and your supply hauling vehicle is now a gas miser, assuming you buy a fuel economy car to start with.
I had thought I needed a pick up before, so i buy a 6 cylinder ford ranger{thinking the 4 banger would not be strong enough) and do use it lots for hauling supplies well doing a whole house renovation, then I ran into the problem of having large windows and lumber to long to haul in my Ford Ranger, now what to do? I buy a 1000 lbs boat trailer problem solved. Only now i have a gas pig daily driver that cant haul large windows or long pieces of lumber. I deduced my truck idea was not really the solution, the trailer was.
I sold my truck and with the cash bought my diesel beetle (and have 3 grand left over) and enjoy 1/3 the cost of fuel , For every 50 bucks i throw in my beetles tank i would have to have thrown $150 bucks into the Rangers tank. I am literally smiling on my way to the gas station as I go there so infrequently.. and I get to calculate my gas mileage :-)

[Weather Spotter]

Get a Matrx, and a small trailer. then put a boat tail on the car (like i did) and you can haul up to 44 wide stuff. and with the boat tail I can get 12' pipe and lumber.

[JRMichler]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Oh. Thought maybe the girl at the register was cute or something.

I wish.

[Cardinal Grammeter]

The irony of this is that since the objective is to save money, you can't spend extra money on a econocar.

If you drive a $2000 car, it makes absolutely no sense to spend $10,000 for more mpg since that $8000 will buy a lot of gas.

Since I only drive 12-15k miles a year, it doesn't leave a lot to work with.

Say 12k: 1000 mi/month: 15 mpg => 67 gallons: @ $3.50/gal => $233/month, $2800/year.

30 mpg would save $1400/year.

Assume sell van for $1400, then:

To recover $ in 1 year: buy $2800 eco car.
2 years: $4200
5 years: $8400

Recovery would be even greater since gas prices will go up.

Way to save real money is buy any POS eco car that you run into (!)

Sell van for $1400 and find an $800 Colt (!)

Other wise known as "coarse motoring!"

Thanks for all the interest,
Tom

[Vekke]

If you need the bigger load carriyng room very rarely you can also rent or borrow that big truck or just the trailer. At least in Finland big warehouses that sell wood and other heavy stuff rent those trailers for free to customers .

[Frank Lee]

Way to save real money is buy any POS eco car that you run into (!)

There ya go. I've found several sub-$200 cars that only required a bit of TLC to make nice. Some of them have been reliable transport for me for 15 years now!

[TXwaterdog]

Originally Posted by Vekke

If you need the bigger load carriyng room very rarely you can also rent or borrow that big truck or just the trailer. At least in Finland big warehouses that sell wood and other heavy stuff rent those trailers for free to customers .

This is a good point! Home Depot and Lowes both have trucks you can rent $25 for 2 hours which is plenty to get the materials home and back. I forgot about that.

[TXwaterdog]

Originally Posted by Cardinal Grammeter

The irony of this is that since the objective is to save money, you can't spend extra money on a econocar.

If you drive a $2000 car, it makes absolutely no sense to spend $10,000 for more mpg since that $8000 will buy a lot of gas....

This is a good point. But I've never had any luck buying used cars. No one really takes any kind of care of them. So, I'm with the OP here. If the OP is willing to spend 8,000 then they should be able to find a decent car with under 90k. And, that should be a good buy. I've seen corollas, focus, geos, and the like for 3-6k all the time on craigslist with under 90k. A nicer eco-car that's not a sacrifice to drive is the goal. But you usually have to buy something that's 5 years old to get a good deal. That usually means it needs a few things including tires.

[TXwaterdog]

Originally Posted by morphector

I don't know if you can import them in the us but you could get a carry truck
these get around 40mpg with a 660cc engine.

I've seen them all over Austin. There's a few dealers selling them off the main highway (IH 35). I've seen them implemented at parks, ranches, and other places. They seem to be good vehicles and I've often wondered about them. Do you have experience with these small trucks?