I'm contemplating moving on from the Jetta. Would probably get a similar vintage econobox, really don't want to spend a lot of money. I thought our '01 Civic was loud, my '00 Saturn was certainly louder, relative to my Jetta (when it was new). My Camry though is nice and quiet; and the Tundra is dang close. I presume 10 year old Corollas are not as quiet, and I'd be better off with a Camry?
The goal would be a low purchase price plus low running cost commuter. I suspect this is one of those "you can pick any two of these three qualities" sorts of questions.
Best I can tell my truck makes a lot of sense as a weekend vehicle; it does everything I want except pass a gas station, and I do fear what the repair bills would be like if I were to really rack up the miles. I weighed out the options of downsizing the truck and getting one vehicle to replace the both: the only things that come close would either be an SUV which would likely get about the same mpg as the truck while lacking storage space, or a CUV which wouldn't come close to the towing nor vehicle space and still would not get commuter mpg (much less while towing).
I've seen 20mpg with conservative driving on the truck, and while the truck tires etc are "expensive" I'm not sure it's worth contemplating anything with less than 30mpg highway. Also, while my camper is small this year it's apt to grow in the near future. I'm guessing 2,500lb on the small side. I'm a believer in not exceeding 80% of GCWR (I don't do small trips and I live in hilly NH), so a do-all vehicle would have to have 3,500lb min tow rating. RAV4/V6, Ridgeline, Pilot, Highlander, etc -- all low 20mpg vehicles, all kinda desirable, and yet all are more of a compromise than my Tundra + one commuter. I contemplated keeping my light weight camper, but it's pretty tiny with four people (two of which who are going to double in size over the next 10 years) and my Tundra's small bed winds up being close to full as the small camper hasn't very much storage space.
I think I just want four doors, ABS and a slushbox with cruise control. I kinda prefer Toyota's, just to get harmony in the driveway, but I'll be open minded on this one. I really would like to have a quiet ride to work (hour each way). AWD would be lovely but I can do without (been doing so for years). Cannot be too old as I don't want to deal with rust and repairs.
The goal would be a low purchase price plus low running cost commuter. I suspect this is one of those "you can pick any two of these three qualities" sorts of questions.
Best I can tell my truck makes a lot of sense as a weekend vehicle; it does everything I want except pass a gas station, and I do fear what the repair bills would be like if I were to really rack up the miles. I weighed out the options of downsizing the truck and getting one vehicle to replace the both: the only things that come close would either be an SUV which would likely get about the same mpg as the truck while lacking storage space, or a CUV which wouldn't come close to the towing nor vehicle space and still would not get commuter mpg (much less while towing).
I've seen 20mpg with conservative driving on the truck, and while the truck tires etc are "expensive" I'm not sure it's worth contemplating anything with less than 30mpg highway. Also, while my camper is small this year it's apt to grow in the near future. I'm guessing 2,500lb on the small side. I'm a believer in not exceeding 80% of GCWR (I don't do small trips and I live in hilly NH), so a do-all vehicle would have to have 3,500lb min tow rating. RAV4/V6, Ridgeline, Pilot, Highlander, etc -- all low 20mpg vehicles, all kinda desirable, and yet all are more of a compromise than my Tundra + one commuter. I contemplated keeping my light weight camper, but it's pretty tiny with four people (two of which who are going to double in size over the next 10 years) and my Tundra's small bed winds up being close to full as the small camper hasn't very much storage space.
I think I just want four doors, ABS and a slushbox with cruise control. I kinda prefer Toyota's, just to get harmony in the driveway, but I'll be open minded on this one. I really would like to have a quiet ride to work (hour each way). AWD would be lovely but I can do without (been doing so for years). Cannot be too old as I don't want to deal with rust and repairs.
