I have two gas guzzlers and the pick up I have to keep for our business but the second vehicle ( a 91 Jimmy) I think I'd like to sell and get a small, efficient on gas new or used vehicle. I live in the boonies and its a forty mile round trip town run. We have lots of snow so I need something with fairly good traction. Volkswagons seem to have the best gas milage from what I can tell on some web info. Any good or bad experiences with Volkswagons? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

-- Lucy (lifeisgoodhere@webtv.net), January 22, 2000

Answers

Have a 96 Chevy Lumina 4 dr and it gets 30 mpg at 70 plus miles per hour on freeway and 20 - 25 easy around town. Its not a "small" car and has front wheel drive. We live in northern Michigan and get lots of snow. Hope this helps.

-- JB (noway@jose.com), January 22, 2000.

Didn't VW have problems with their parts operation? Maybe a domestic car might be better in terms of price and availability of parts.

-- Will (righthere@home.now), January 22, 2000.

Honda Insight = 70 miles per gallon

This could be the stepping stone to completely electric vehicles. Be the first on your block to be a proud owner, save money, and help save the planet too! :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), January 22, 2000.

---as an older hipster, i can tell you that the original air cooled beetles are great, if you do a few small things religiously, that is change oil frequently, use very good quality oil and adjust the valves every oil change. They are such hobbyists/enthusiasts cars that any manner of parts are available, and they hold resale value very good. With that said, my choice would be another volkswagen, namely the old diesel rabbit pickup. If you can find one, have it gone over by a professional mechanic initially, fix what needs fixin and maybe whatever else the mechanic recommends, one of those might fit the bill for you. Good traction, front wheel drive, pickup versatality, and like 60 miles per gallon!

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), January 22, 2000.

We own two GEO metro's. Bought our first last Jun - it's a l990 and gets 55mpg at 55 mph, and about 42mpg at 75 mph hiway driving. We liked the 1990 so much we bought a new l999. Overall, tbe 99 gets about 10 mpg less. Take proper care and you will get well over 100,000 miles out of them. Keep in mind they are nothing fancy, nothing luxurious and very small. However, if you do not like walking, have very little money to spend on buying another vehicle, then a Metro is one good option to look at. There are plenty of used ones out there.

-- ilander -- (ilander@minot.com), January 22, 2000.

Lucy:

It depends on your priorities. If one looks at the majority of cars on the market at the moment, what is the technology used to gain mileage. [with the exception of a very small engine]. Really only one. Weight reduction. Thin glass in the windows, thin metal in the body and reduced internal structure [the Metro is a prime example]. If you were to hit anything larger than a squirrel you would become an unrecognizable blob of protoplasm. Better vehicles are on the horizion [as mentioned above]. But for now, think about where and how you drive and make a decision. It is after all your decision.

Best wishe

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), January 22, 2000.

Lucy:

For added transportation insurance, buy a good, dependable bicycle with spare parts!

-- dinosaur (dinosaur@williams-net.com), January 22, 2000.

Americans are scaredy-boys and scaredy-girls. They worry about their own and and their children's safety.

How about the safety of the babies in Nigeria suffering under Shell Oil's eco-genocide prompted by our demand for cheap gasoline. How about the safety of the Iraq babies that are dying for owning oil.

How about all the little boys and girls that will be underwater when the planet frys.

Selfish Americans might try driving a little slower, a little more carefully, instead of demanding tanks for transportation.

I drive a Geo-Tracker, when i drive -- I live in town and work on the internet. The Tracker gives me that rugged fourwheelin kind of guy feelin' that everyone seems to need

Pete

-- Muzzle the Guzzlers (Muzzletheguzzlers@home.com), January 22, 2000.

Muzzle:

I drive a Geo-Tracker. You drive a Geo. Good luck.

Best wishes,,,,

Z

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), January 22, 2000.

bot a vw jetta diesel last summer. fairly good performance. 50 mpg on hwy. 700 mile range. am quite happy with it. and.. diesel stores longer and safer than gas. it has been trouble free. only negative = a bit pricey.

-- ribbitt (kermitrbt@aol.com), January 22, 2000.

We put "Prolong" in our 1995 Saturn SL 1 sedan oil (w/automatic!!!) and get 38 mpg highway which is pretty good. Otherwise I would buy the new Toyota Echo for mpg.

-- churchorganist (swedishmusic@webtv.net), January 22, 2000.

I have two diesel vehicles here in NH. An 83 Suburban for moving BIG stuff, at 20+ mpg. (Not a misprint - diesels are twice as good as gas on mileage.... Could improve it a bit with a higher ratio rear end or bigger tires.) Other is an 83 Benz 300SD, at around 27mpg. Both start fine in Winter, especially if you plug them in below 10 degrees F. The Suburban is the best thing on the planet in snow. I had an 87 Mercury Tracer (relabeled Mazda 323) which did 36mpg and was an excellent snow car. Would have vaporized if hit by a big vehicle, so I sold it. I have a 15 year old son who will be learning to drive in a few months. I would not put him on the road in a Metro or Rabbit, either. I might get a diesel Rabbit myself though. BTW, diesel is at 1.76 here, up .40 in a couple of weeks. Hmmmmm.....

-- DTorrey (davidt@drtmastering.com), January 23, 2000.

Lucy,

My husband and I both drive Geo Prisms. I drive a 91 automatic, and he drives a 95 manual transmission. Both get about 40 to 45 to the gallon.

I bought my Prism about 6 years ago. Before I bought my car, I spent about 6 months asking people what kind of car they drove, did they have problems with it, would they buy it again, etc. Only the Prism owners were so enthused about their cars that they were CONVINCED that they would never buy another make/model. The linchpin was when I asked the head mechanic what car he recommend - in other words, what cars did he see as having the least problems? His answer was: the Prism. Not only did he never see them in for repairs, but he had just bought his daughter a Prism. That settled it for me. I found the Prism enthusiasm was justified, and when my husband's car died last year in early March, we bought another Prism for him. He loves his car as much as I love mine.

Look at back issues of Consumer Reports for what they recommend as good cars. That may also confirm some ideas other people give you. Of course if you have the money, buy one of the newer Japanese cars that gives you 70 mpg. But they run about $27000, so unless you have the money, you may want to look at a good used car.

Hope this helps!

-- luann (flataufm@hutchtel.net), January 23, 2000.

"I think I'd like to sell and get a small, efficient on gas new or used vehicle"

MO: Buy a Honda Civic Hatchback w/ manual transmission -- outstanding gas mileage, low maintenance, relatively inexpensive. For what it's worth my friend's Civic has over 170k and is spinning like a top.

-- 2 (civic@decent.reliable), January 24, 2000.