Recommend a fuel efficient vehicle please

[ORDisneyfans]

Just bought my DD a 2013 Honda Civic Lx $16995 total price. $3000 below msrp!! It is really roomy inside, has Bluetooth, back up camera (which I love) and many other new tech features. It is averaging about 28+mpg so far. We have only put 1500 miles on it since June 9. This is in town driving with her practicing so not ideal conditions for fuel economy. (Hwy is rated at 37mpg)

I like it so much I have thought about an Accord for myself. I also like the Cruze but not too sure about GM quality lately (I drive an HHR that has had a lot of electrical problems.

With only one kiddo to haul around I could drive anything really. I also love the new beetles. My luxury choice would be a Mercedes C250 or Glk350.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

My husband and I both drive used Priuses. They're both '08's with 100,000 miles on them (both purchased with only 20-30k miles on them for $15k a piece). We both drive about 100 miles a day so it's definitely helped our gas bill. We average about 50-55 mpg during the summer and 48-52 in the winter. We love them and get a lot of trash talking from friends/family for being "Prius People". However, we get a lot of requests to borrow one when there's a long road trip in their future .

We kept my husband's Jeep Commander because we also have a utility trailer and we rent a house in the Outer Banks for Thanksgiving every year and it's 4X4 only. Otherwise, I'd be perfectly happy with only our Priuses .

 

[tvguy]

My husband and I both drive used Priuses. They're both '08's with 100,000 miles on them (both purchased with only 20-30k miles on them for $15k a piece). We both drive about 100 miles a day so it's definitely helped our gas bill. We average about 50-55 mpg during the summer and 48-52 in the winter. We love them and get a lot of trash talking from friends/family for being "Prius People". However, we get a lot of requests to borrow one when there's a long road trip in their future .

We kept my husband's Jeep Commander because we also have a utility trailer and we rent a house in the Outer Banks for Thanksgiving every year and it's 4X4 only. Otherwise, I'd be perfectly happy with only our Priuses .

Priuses are perfectly good cars as far as I know. Just don't buy one expected to lower your cost per mile driven. The higher price off sets the fuel savings.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

The new Mazda 3s are getting well over 40 MPG. We cant keep them on our lot. Also for an SUV the Mazda CX5 is what we are selling most of right now.

 

[southlakejr]

I drive a civic hybrid that DH and I bought used. when we bought the car, our 20 year old explorer had died and DH was driving our Pathfinder 40 miles each way. When we switched to the civic, we were paying less for the car payment and gas than we were spending in just gas alone! Currently, I'm the one driving it as DH is now taking public transport and I'm commuting almost 70 miles a day. I prefer driving the pathfinder, because I love sitting up higher, the car in general, etc. BUT, my wallet loved the civic a lot more.

With that said, I would have spent a little more money to buy a used Prius, if we were to do it again. They really are fantastic cars, and go forever.

 

[starwood]

I love my Prius hybrid. Usually get around 48 mpg (less in winter and when using air conditioning alot). But usually not less than 45 and sometimes I can squeak out 50.

 

[sherry7]

Thanks for the advice everyone! We ended up buying today, when we went to a local dealership to test drive. I was initially planning on buying at a bigger dealership in another town, but they beat their price on the same model and I got a decent trade in value too. I ended up getting a little over $1900 knocked off the window sticker price. Oh, and I got a free set of mats and a cargo liner too.

Oh, I forgot, lol. We got a 2013 Toyota Prius Three, in black with dark gray interior. DH and I both totally forgot how to out in in park by the time we got it home. We sat there for about 2 minutes before we remembered about the park button. I'm looking forward to being part of the 50 MPG club.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

How about getting a good used car? Why get a brand new car and then run it so much? Get a used car, not too expensive, that gets great gas mileage. Just use it for your commute and put miles on it. Why put all those miles on a brand new car?

 

[JB2K]

...the Chevrolet Cruze, a global car manufactured in Ohio, has done well since its' 2011 introduction (you can expect about 38 MPG highway). As a Cruze owner, I can say this is one of GM's more innovative cars.

There will also be a diesel version of the Cruze hitting dealer showroom floors in a few months that average 46 MPG highway.

And, finally, the Chevy Volt - it's a plug-in/gasoline hybrid, meaning you can get about 45 miles off a single overnight charge, then the gasoline engine kicks-on, so you're never worrying about being stranded -- it's been around a couple of years -- and it's been rather expensive, for many -- that is, until a couple of weeks ago when GM reduced the price by $5000 (manufacturing technologies must be improving).

Hope this helps some of you...

 

[Gumbo4x4]

How about getting a good used car? Why get a brand new car and then run it so much? Get a used car, not too expensive, that gets great gas mileage. Just use it for your commute and put miles on it. Why put all those miles on a brand new car?

This has always been my approach in the past. But, the new-car sales slump over the past few years combined with the cash-for-clunkers deal has driven the price of used cars up.

As an example, I priced a 2012 smokers car with 15,000 miles at $16,999. I found an identically equipped 2013 brand new on clearance for $16,642.

Granted, there is probably wiggle room on the used car price where the new one is a firm price ($21,090 sticker). And, they only want $1,000 more for the 2014's. So, the notion that a gently used car is a better bargain than new isn't nearly as "automatic" as it once was.

The new-car sales have been rebounding of late. So, I suspect the bargain used cars will come back as more of them hit the market over the next few years. But for now, I would be very hesitant to purchase a late-model used car w/o checking new-car deals first.

Obviously, if you're willing to go several years old, that does change things.