Thinking about a used Corolla, Yaris or Prius!

[addyguy]

Patman, just how far is your commute?

ANY car that you are considering will get better mileage than your 'Vette; and going with a car that will get 34mpg instead of 30mpg is pointless if you don't like that car!

Unless you are doing a 60-mile+ commute a day, and that 4mpg will add up, go with the car you like the best...if you are after sporty and peppy, then you'll most like want to go with the Mazda 2.3....

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: addyguy
Patman, just how far is your commute?



My commute to work isn't too far at all, just 52km round trip. But I also do extra driving to go pick up my son a couple of times a week, and in the future if I'm taking long trips anywhere (like Wonderland in the summer, we go about once a week) it'll be nice to get that extra 4MPG of the Civic over the Mazda.

 

[rationull]

Originally Posted By: Patman

My commute to work isn't too far at all, just 52km round trip. But I also do extra driving to go pick up my son a couple of times a week, and in the future if I'm taking long trips anywhere (like Wonderland in the summer, we go about once a week) it'll be nice to get that extra 4MPG of the Civic over the Mazda.



Another note on this... While I don't think the gas mileage difference between our Civic and our 3 is that large cost wise, it does enable the Civic to have a longer range per tank than the Mazda despite the Mazda having a little bit bigger tank (13.2 gal vs 14.5 or so I think). I know it doesn't matter to some people but I'm one of the people who likes having a long range between fill ups. I wish they could've crammed a 20 gallon tank into the Civic

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Patman
My commute to work isn't too far at all, just 52km round trip. But I also do extra driving to go pick up my son a couple of times a week, and in the future if I'm taking long trips anywhere (like Wonderland in the summer, we go about once a week) it'll be nice to get that extra 4MPG of the Civic over the Mazda.

Just to put things in perspective, if you assume 70km per day x 6 days a week x 52 weeks, that comes out to about 22k km per year. Over that distance, the difference between 30 mpg and 34 mpg is about 53 extra gallons of fuel per year, or about $200 (maybe somewhat more in Canada). Personally, I'd gladly pay this difference if it's going to allow me to spend those 22k km in a more fun car, but then again, you already have one very fun car, so maybe it isn't that important to get another one...

My friend just got an '08 GTI as his commute car (GT3 is his fun car) and he gets 30 mpg in it, too. Not saying you should get that, but that would be a fun commute car nonetheless.

 

[Patman]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

Just to put things in perspective, if you assume 70km per day x 6 days a week x 52 weeks, that comes out to about 22k km per year. Over that distance, the difference between 30 mpg and 34 mpg is about 53 extra gallons of fuel per year, or about $200 (maybe somewhat more in Canada). Personally, I'd gladly pay this difference if it's going to allow me to spend those 22k km in a more fun car, but then again, you already have one very fun car, so maybe it isn't that important to get another one...



That is true, and also keep in mind the two cars we are comparing here that are only 4 MPG apart are the Mazda3 and the Civic Coupe and I think in terms of fun they would be pretty equal, in terms of horsepower they are very close, so that 4MPG bonus from the Civic tips the scales heavily in it's favor. In terms of styling, the Civic Coupe wins over the Mazda3 by a long shot in my opinion too.

As far as the GTI goes, that would certainly be a fun daily driver! However 30 MPG with premium fuel is going to cost me a lot more, the price for premium fuel up here is insane (I paid $1.42 a liter tonight for premium!)

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Patman
In terms of styling, the Civic Coupe wins over the Mazda3 by a long shot in my opinion too.

Subjective, but personally, I agree with it.

Quote:

However 30 MPG with premium fuel is going to cost me a lot more, the price for premium fuel up here is insane (I paid $1.42 a liter tonight for premium!)

Good point. You're paying about a dollar more for a gallon of premium than what I'm paying down here.

 

[Astro14]

There is more to the decision than just MPG. The Corolla is a bigger, more capable and comfortable car than the Yaris. The Prius drives a lot like a Corolla...on really skinny tires...so the handling is mushy...and the battery pack kills luggage space.

But the price on a used Prius is much higher than the same model year Corolla.

We have an '06 Corolla...bought it as a 3 month old demo with 6K on it. Gets exactly the MPG the window sticker claimed, about 28 in town and 36 highway.

The Corolla is the best riding and has the most useable space of the cars in your consideration...you mentioned long trips...the Corolla is the clear pick for that purpose. Further, ours has required zero repairs in 74K miles.

Mine's not for sale, but an '05 - '06 Corolla would be a great car for your stated requirements.

 

[Storch]

The VE that I had from 99 did not have OD. You could see on the shifter the space for where the OD button went on the higer end LE and CE models from that year. Find one that is maintained and you could be assured a car that will run for a very long time. My 99 was sold with nearly 200K on it. U used 10-40 in summer 10-30 winter with CD2 (gray) as I had one cylinder that burned a bit. Also put MMO in every other tankfull. Car only needed an alternator and starter well in the high 100k's. The car was one of the best machines I ever owned.

 

[Storch]

I salute and admire all who have worn and all who do wear the uniforms of our armed services.