Good Commuter Car

[Lojik]

I think my Cruze is reaching the end of it's life, persistent oil leak can't seem to be fixed. What are the best commuter cars these days? Camry/accord/civic? I'd imagine now would be a great time to buy but what I'm seeing of 2012+ cars is $10,000 for 100,000 miles, seems like that's asking a lot? I average about 35,000mi/year.

[Blingy]

I have a 2015 Corolla. Bought it in mid 2018 for $16k with 21,000 miles. It's a great car for short hops but if you're sitting in it for more than 1 hour at a stretch then look into a Camry or Accord.

[GinnasP99]

I drive a 2011 camry SE, got it paid off in 1200$ (9 payments). It's served me well thus far.

[Patriam1066]

Accord Camry civic or corolla

The Hondas are made in the USA

[RecondoJoe]

I paid $700 for a 1997 Geo Metro 4 years ago and it still runs fine. Cheap to insure and gets 40 MPG. I did math on it and it comes out to like 10 cents to get to and from work.

[Albanwr]

can't beat a corolla for an everyday car.

[Bigsham]

you can lease a brand new american car for $99-129 a month if you are buying anything else you are stupid

[Baler]

What ever has the most inexpensive replacement parts. :)

you can lease a brand new american car for $99-129 a month if you are buying anything else you are stupid

I'm currently in a 3 year lease with my 2020 vehicle, $299 a month and I can drive around in a brand new 2020 fully loaded.
Don't want to say which brand because real life.

[FatMice]

Q5

[Lojik]

you can lease a brand new american car for $99-129 a month if you are buying anything else you are stupid

Pretty sure lease is out the window with how much I drive.

What's a good reference for what I should be paying? I've heard that KBB is useless now.

[Evia]

Id suggest a used camry, corolla, accord, civic, legacy or impreza with low miles. 35k miles driven a year? you might wanna consider buying new? Lots of killer 0% interest deals on new cars right now. Some even pay all your payments for this year.

I bought my new 2020 legacy through consumer reports in March and felt like I got a good deal overall. The dealership tacked on 800 dollars worth of bullshit i should have disputed after looking through the contract, but I take overpaying 800 as a win...could have been overpaying thousands.

If you do decide to go new, or relatively new, I cannot stress enough how amazing some of the new car features are. Lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control are two new features i wont go without anymore in the future after experiencing them. It takes a lot of the stressy mental work of driving and eliminates it, Allowing you to enjoy the fun aspects of the drive. My legacy also has automatic 360 braking, so that coupled with the lane assist and adaptive cruise control, and my car will essentially drive itself! even turning and braking for me and reaccelatating while I just monitor it. Its like a non electric tesla @ 1/3 the price.

I used to think i hated driving but I've learned I LOVE driving! I've just always been driving the wrong vehicles.

[Lojik]

Id suggest a used camry, corolla, accord, civic, legacy or impreza with low miles. 35k miles driven a year? you might wanna consider buying new? Lots of killer 0% interest deals on new cars right now. Some even pay all your payments for this year.

I bought my new 2020 legacy through consumer reports in March and felt like I got a good deal overall. The dealership tacked on 800 dollars worth of bullshit i should have disputed after looking through the contract, but I take overpaying 800 as a win...could have been overpaying thousands.

If you do decide to go new, or relatively new, I cannot stress enough how amazing some of the new car features are. Lane keep assist and adaptive cruise control are two new features i wont go without anymore in the future after experiencing them. It takes a lot of the stressy mental work of driving and eliminates it, Allowing you to enjoy the fun aspects of the drive. My legacy also has automatic 360 braking, so that coupled with the lane assist and adaptive cruise control, and my car will essentially drive itself! even turning and braking for me and reaccelatating while I just monitor it. Its like a non electric tesla @ 1/3 the price.

I used to think i hated driving but I've learned I LOVE driving! I've just always been driving the wrong vehicles.

My current car I bought new. The other cars I owned before were beaters. In all honesty I don't really think it was a bad purchase, it's just new cars lose so much of their value in the first 10,000 miles. 100,000 mile warranty for me was gone in 3 years. No major issues until 150,000 miles when different parts of the coolant system started to go, and then eventually I needed the turbo replaced. Before 150,000 miles, aside from oil changes/new tires I spent maybe $500 total on repairs. After that, nothing I've had to spend on repairs has been major $$ by itself except for a new turbo at $1800, but the last year it's been in the shop a lot and it's annoying.

I read a few articles this morning about how used car prices are high right now due to a lack of inventory and people not wanting to take mass transit anymore. So I'm back to being hopeful this damn leak can get fixed, cause the car is running great otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised in the next year or two for new car prices to dip a bit to be more competitive with used cars, then it might make more sense for me to consider new again. Then again maybe the government will just throw money at people and all prices will skyrocket? So many damn unknowns to deal with right now.

The good thing about my hour commute each way is I'm not really sitting in traffic so I can just throw on audiobooks. 1 hour sitting in traffic would be annoying as shit as I just can't absorb books the same way. Just getting a car with cruise control was huge, those other features sound cool too. It's weird how you can get used to a long commute.

[hobart]

At the price point I assume you're talking about considering the other cars mentioned, the only thing I'd add is Mazda.

I don't like the continuous variable transmissions that they put in a lot of the other Japanese brands. Mazda doesn't seem to use it, or at least they didn't. May be less of an issue if it's flat where you live, but it's very hilly/mountainous here.

[Topgunben]

I think my Cruze is reaching the end of it's life, persistent oil leak can't seem to be fixed. What are the best commuter cars these days? Camry/accord/civic? I'd imagine now would be a great time to buy but what I'm seeing of 2012+ cars is $10,000 for 100,000 miles, seems like that's asking a lot? I average about 35,000mi/year.

Wow you drive a lot. What area do you live in and I’ll see what I can find in CL.

In the meantime you can run a heavier oil, non synthetic and that should help with the burning oil. I ran Delo 400 in my montero when it was burning oil like crazy and it helped for some time.

[Bigsham]

if your commuting an hour you need to move

[Blingy]

if your commuting an hour you need to move

Depends on location and stuff. My house to Amazon HQ is about 15 miles. During rush hour this is one hour each direction. One of my friends teaches at University of Washington and lives about 30 miles away. Even during off peak times he's in an hour from doorstep to parking garage.

Other places such as San Francisco are worse.

[HalflingSpergand]

I vote fix oil leak.

[BlackBellamy]

I think my Cruze is reaching the end of it's life, persistent oil leak can't seem to be fixed. What are the best commuter cars these days? Camry/accord/civic? I'd imagine now would be a great time to buy but what I'm seeing of 2012+ cars is $10,000 for 100,000 miles, seems like that's asking a lot? I average about 35,000mi/year.

A 2005 Civic LX in good shape is going to run you about 2k. I use it for commuting and also 300 mile weekend trips up to Lake Placid. I'm an aggressive driver and I beat on it and take racing lines and it's holding together quite nice. 235k miles, no leaks, had to do $500 worth of suspension work but that's only natural the way I drive.

Either that or around same year Corolla. Those 2 cars best value ever. Believe me, I have an expensive rock-crawler off-road Jeep habit so I did my research on the beater.

[Bigsham]

235k miles Lol
2k car Lol poor

jesus

[Gwaihir]

With the number of miles you're driving each year, you should be able to perform your own repairs on anything short of taking the head off for head gasket replacement. Coolant system issues such as replacing thermostats, water pumps, and inlet flanges are going to be a 3 year recurring problem buying brand new, even more frequently if you buy used, as the actual-time vs book-time difference on such minor repairs are where mechanics make their best margins on both the labor and the parts.

[BlackBellamy]

235k miles Lol
2k car Lol poor

jesus

Yes, my fourth car is a total beater I don't care about. I could only afford one real good car and two so-so cars. I was fresh out when it came to figure what I would drive through the uninsured potholes of North Jersey.

[Bigsham]

Yea i got 4 cars too and donate all my money to p99

[bodenn]

So as an old man with lots of miles under my belt the best advice i can give you is buy used low mileage. I say it is less about what to buy than what not to buy. stay away from high maintenance cost cars, like BMW, Volkswagen. Also stay away from base model cars. They tend to use less quality parts in assembly. When buying used the base model cars TEND to come from people who do not take care of what they own.

Buy a mid range used car with one owner and low millage. get it checked by a mechanic if you cant do that your self. Hell do that any way even if you can.

All in all if your current car runs get it fixed. Drive the wheels off. All cars loose value dont dump money into a new one.

[Bigsham]

What has nine arms and sucks?

octopus?

[Topgunben]

So as an old man with lots of miles under my belt the best advice i can give you is buy used low mileage. I say it is less about what to buy than what not to buy. stay away from high maintenance cost cars, like BMW, Volkswagen. Also stay away from base model cars. They tend to use less quality parts in assembly. When buying used the base model cars TEND to come from people who do not take care of what they own.

Buy a mid range used car with one owner and low millage. get it checked by a mechanic if you cant do that your self. Hell do that any way even if you can.

All in all if your current car runs get it fixed. Drive the wheels off. All cars loose value dont dump money into a new one.

Add Jaguar on to that list as well. I owned a Jaguar X type back in the day, and while I really thought it was beautiful, I felt like it was falling apart here and there.

Best vehicle I ever had was a 1993 Chevy 1500 4x4 extended cab that was 15 years old when I bought it. Now driving a newer more expensive diesel, where changing a single injector runs me about 750 bucks, or replacing the transmission is $6500. That chevy cost me $3300 used and ran like a dream until I got the itch to "upgrade" to something that cost me a lot more and really gave me no more happiness.

[HalflingSpergand]

Currently driving a 7.3 powerstroke with dual Confederate flags and straight pipe out the hood. Leaks a quart of oil a week

[Topgunben]

Currently driving a 7.3 powerstroke with dual Confederate flags and straight pipe out the hood. Leaks a quart of oil a week

Lol rolling coal. I have a 5.9 with Banks setup on it. Not losing that much oil...... yet.

[Gwaihir]

Add Jaguar on to that list as well. I owned a Jaguar X type back in the day, and while I really thought it was beautiful, I felt like it was falling apart here and there.

Best vehicle I ever had was a 1993 Chevy 1500 4x4 extended cab that was 15 years old when I bought it. Now driving a newer more expensive diesel, where changing a single injector runs me about 750 bucks, or replacing the transmission is $6500. That chevy cost me $3300 used and ran like a dream until I got the itch to "upgrade" to something that cost me a lot more and really gave me no more happiness.

Next buy is gonna be a '75 F350 because of the ease of major repairs.

[Topgunben]

Next buy is gonna be a '75 F350 because of the ease of major repairs.

Those are classic. Easy to work on.

[Patriam1066]

Currently driving a 7.3 powerstroke with dual Confederate flags and straight pipe out the hood. Leaks a quart of oil a week

You may be a flat earther, but I got a good chuckle from this post

[bodenn]

What has nine arms and sucks?

octopus?

deflepord

[Cen]

Basically any of the common 4 door sedans will do it for a decent price. Civic, Accord, Elentra, Corolla, Camry, Legacy, Altima, etc

You can also do well using the compact hatchback vehicles for a little more like the Impreza/Crosstrek, CX3, HRV if you want a commuter car but like to camp every once in awhile or haul a small thing

[PieOats]

My commute is made bearable by the ‘38 Opel Kadett that I drive. At 6.9 MPG it is not the most fuel efficient vehicle (suck it greens!), but at 1.2m miles the I4 and 3 speed manual :cool: transmission are rock solid.

[BlackBellamy]

Nice, finally found someone with lower MPG than my Wrangler.

[Danth]

My commute is made bearable by the ‘38 Opel Kadett that I drive. At 6.9 MPG it is not the most fuel efficient vehicle (suck it greens!), but at 1.2m miles the I4 and 3 speed manual :cool: transmission are rock solid.

You'll improve your MPG if you patch that pesky hole in your fuel line. The '70 El Dorado with the 500 CID engine made better mileage than that. Some 5 axle trucks can manage that (aero-cab turbo inline 6's, etc). Yes I know your post isn't likely serious and now I'm nostalgic for 2.5 MPG 12v71 two stroke big rigs and the sound they made.

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Good commuter car is anything with a soft ride and comfy seats. Not many cars fit the bill anymore, the modern fashion seems to be for rock-hard suspensions and cramped claustrophobic interiors designed for short people.

Danth