Anyone downsizing?

[MrCritical]

Sold my '02 Grand Caravan. I drove 30 miles a day to work and back and I was the only rider.

Now I drive my '97 200SX SE-R. 30+ mpg and a blast to drive. If I only go to work I can go 2 weeks without filling up.

 

[eljefino]

I downsized 5 years ago when gas was $1.65 and that was bugging me. Went from a 29 mpg cutlass ciera to a 40 mpg saturn.

Also moved closer to town/work, cutting commute from 24 to 13 miles.

 

[javacontour]

I haven't really downsized the car. After all, how much smaller than a 1.6L Toyota 4A-FE can one go today?j

But I've taken to splitting an on-site gig with another engineer, so 50% of the year, I just drive to the train station and take the train to the customer site.

I've cut about 10K miles out of my yearly driving.

 

[Gary Allan]

I can't make the numbers work. Two paid for jeeps. One gets about 18-19mpg ..the other gets about 20-21 doing my wife's commute. I'm a short tripper. She does 18k/year. I think gas will have to be about $6-$7/gallon to make the numbers work. If $20k gets laid in my lap, I may buy her a SmartCar.

 

[exranger06]

I only drive my Ranger back and forth to school about 3 times a week, and drive the Accord the other 3. The Ranger gets about 17.5 mpg and the Accord gets about 24.5 mpg. Neither are that great, but I would rather rack up the mileage on the Accord than the Ranger. I don't plan on ever downsizing, as I have already grown VERY attached to this truck, but maybe someday if the Accord craps out, I'll buy something more efficient and still keep the truck. Although that's not happening any time soon, as the Accord has only 125k miles and only gets driven about 6k miles per year.

 

[Harley Anderson]

I thought about downsizing, but I need a truck and the 05 dodge diesel gets anywhere from 16-19 mpg. Everything else I looked at didn't make any sense, plus I would of been losing money in the long run. I'll be driving the wheels off the diesel and riding my motorcycles as much as I can in the summer to conserve fuel, which both get in upwards of 50mpg.

 

[badtlc]

I'm not going to downsize when my current vehicles are fine. It makes no financial sense. On the other hand, when I replace my current car (mazda6i), I will most likely replace it with a beater or nice compact car that gets excellent fuel economy.

 

[Whimsey]

My wife has a 2005 EB Explorer with the 4.6. She has no intention of downsizing. She was in a horrific accident in her beloved 1988 Mustang GT. All that mass saved her life. She only feels comfortable in larger vehicles.

I have a 2002 4.6L F-150 8' bed supercab with a heavy fiberglass cap. With the poor performing ethanol gas it now gets around 13 mpg in the winter and around 16 mpg in the warmer weather. I also have a 1996 Contour with only 70,000 miles on it. It averages 28 mpg for my driving, but 34 mpg+ on the highway. I use the Contour when the snow and salt are gone. Otherwise it spends the winter in the garage.

Luckily work is only 22 miles R/T. Both vehicles are paid for and I really need the truck for home and my other business. It just doesn't pay to sell the truck at a loss. It's cheaper to keep and pay more for gas.

Whimsey

 

[Cutehumor]

7 days ago I filled up at walmart gas station with my 3 cent off gift card, I drive to work 17 miles and back, three times a week. 7 days later, I still have a a 75% full tank. I already consider myself driving economy cars. So to conserve, I just stay at home and post on bitog!

 

[ARB1977]

Depends how bad gas prices really get. I love driving my 18 mpg Tacoma.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Wife and me both downsized. I sold my Tacoma that got 18-20 mpg and got a 00' Saturn SL that gets me 40. Traded in the Saturn VUE that got about 25 on the 07' Corolla that we haven't picked up yet from the dealer.

I loved that 2000 Tacoma 4x4 more than any other vehicle I ever had, but just couldn't justify 20 mpg just running around town or going for road trips.

 

[wavinwayne]

Not here. We effectively upsized last year, when we sold the paid for Expedition & purchased a Mercedes that doesn't get any better mileage.

I've downsized before, though; I once sold my almost new Tacoma Pre-Runner, to drive a POS Beretta that was given to me. Drove the Beretta for 3 years, until I purchased my GTI.

 

[Saturn_Fan]

Hey don't knock the ol' Beretta or the similar Chevy Corsica. Seen many folks get a couple hundred grand out of the old trusty 2.8L

 

[01rangerxl]

Sort of I guess, but not really for fuel economy. I had a 2001 Ranger that got great fuel economy for a truck. It would get close to 30 MPG on the highway. When I got my Explorer, I sold the Ranger. The Explorer got truely awful fuel economy around town, but was decent on the highway. Once I put larger tires on it, it got bad on the highway too. The Explorer was expensive to put gas in, but that isn't why I got rid of it. It had turned into a full blown project and I was going to have to do a lot of rust repair before the next inspection (brake lines, some suspension stuff). Shops would charge more than the truck was worth, and I just don't have the time or facilities to do the work myself. Now I drive a 2002 Ranger with a 3.0L V6. It is more economical than the Explorer, but not by a whole lot. It probably weighs about as much, has horrible aerodynamics, and the 3.0 which isn't known for good fuel economy, despite its small size. I guess I don't really downsize as much as I just move around to different Ranger-based vehicles.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
When my 92 Toy 4x4 6cyl p/u got totaled I replaced it with a 06 Toy 4x4 4 cyl?


Jeep makes 4 banger 4x4 called Patriot or some sort. It is a [censored] of puke. I rent one on a trip and that thing didn't have any light into the cabin to look at maps, find cell phone, or whatever. What a poor design. And the car is weak, even on highway.

 

[M1Accord]

the word pi le is censored??? as in pil E of puke

 

[M1Accord]

pile of puke

 

[AmericaWestCMH]

I already drive a compact but would certainly consider a high mpg diesel in the future if the price was right.

 

[1sttruck]

The Dodge diesel pickup will be paid off in a couple of months, so we're not looking for another car payment. I get 17mpg to 18mpg around town, which is about mid pack for vehicles in town on the EPA mileage list. Either of the Taurus sedans can hit 18 mpg, although they're typically 20 mpg in town so there isn't much benefit in driving either sedan. We're a family of five so we've wanted seating for six, but as the kids start to move out we can get smaller vehicles.

Looking for my son's first vehicle a year ago we of course looked at econo stuff, but at his less than $2k price range the vehicles either didn't sound very good, or needed some sort of major body work, or were scary at speed due to some sort of suspension or driveline issue.

Looking at new cars it's depressing how expensive they've become. People can spend more on Accords than I did on for my new 4x4 truck. I may get a diesel something for the wife when she needs a another car, but will be dreading it as it will cost more than my truck did.

 

[buster]

I've wanted to trade in my 2.4L Honda for something with a lot more power (V6 Accord/Mustang/BMW 135i), but I am thinking of just hanging on to it for awhile.

I keep my tires at 36 psi and use M1 0w20 to maximize fuel economy.