Hi everyone - recommend a car?

Dee67 · #1 06-07-2007, 09:26 PM

Hi everyone, new here and first post.

I am a sinner who has seen the light. Have been driving a 2003 ford explorer with v8 engine. And I do already understand the consequences of that for my wallet, neighborhood, state and planet - so that is not where I'm looking for the guidence...

I have been doing a lot of research from "that" consumer magazine, edmunds, vehix, greenhybrid and of course here at cleanmpg.com forums.

I have never driven a small or economy car in the 23 years of driving I've done, so I'm green in one sense, but not yet the way that matters. I thought the Toyota Yaris was going to be the one to change things for me due to the hatch, gas milage, predicted reliability and purchase price.. BUT, couldn't comfortably sit in it and whacked my knee on the steering wheel on the way in and out. Unfortunately, not a match.

I know that what may look good on paper is still going to need to 'fit' me (6' tall, like comfort, etc) but I would really like to gain from all the vast experience of these cars that you folks have based on my situation (which I already kind of understand is less than ideal).

My driving pattern is to take my wife to and from work (she is unable to drive) it's 3 miles each way.. we live in a hilly neighborhood and she works in a hilly spot (a doosey of a hill really) and in between it's tight, light after light, congested with angry drivers that swap lanes like mad in hopes of making up a nanosecond. So plenty of hills, plenty of traffic lights and unplanned stopping and going around a bunch of rageaholics. Also, the majority of all the other driving I may do is also on the street (only like 10% highway total) - mixed conditions, New England hills and winters which also brings up the SNOW aspect of things. We live on a steep hill and have a steep driveway which typically cripples FWD cars in the right kind of snow.

Ideally, I would like a vehicle I can finance since we don't "have" money.

This place seems to be a wealth of years of experience from people I'd like to be more like. I would love to serve myself, my planet and my wallet with my lifestyle, starting with dropping this land arc and moving forward. I REALLY look forward to any advice, experiences and such to help guide me toward a vehicle that can be most efficient at handling the abovementioned scenario.

Thanks to you all in advance and thanks to everyone at cleanmpg for having a place like this for people to rehabilitate themselves.

brucepick · #2 06-07-2007, 09:46 PM

Prius? I used to carpool with the owner of an '06 Prius. He was at least 6'2 and fit comfortably. I also knew another fellow about 6'4" who drove a Camry very comfortably. Not particularly fuel efficient but in 4-cyl version at least its not a gas hog. And I'd definitely try sitting in a Civic and Accord. The Civics with 5-spd show up very well on our mileage log page.

As for snow, if you have real snow you need four snow tires. Take it from a New England driver. Don't buy that bunk about all seasons if you have real snow in your locale. Unless you drive a 4wd car, then you can get away with all seasons - however 4wd will destroy mpg all year long just because of the mechanical facts of life.

BailOut · #3 06-07-2007, 10:13 PM

Did you know that the steering wheel in the Yaris has tilt, and that it ships from the factory in the full down position?

ATL · #4 06-07-2007, 10:20 PM

Welcome to the forum and good luck with your car search. I would reccomend that you test drive a honda fit or a nissan versa, both have 1.2" more headroom and more legroom than the yaris, and are around the same price and offer similar features.

ILAveo · #5 06-07-2007, 10:33 PM

We recently bought the Aveo because both my wife (5'3", 125) and I (6'2", 220) could find reasonably comfortable driving positions, had decent cargo space and because it was inexpensive. It is one of the few cars you can get without all the nonsense power options. The Focus lacked head and shoulder room. If you want the power option, um, stuff you may like Honda Fit which is laid out along pretty much the same lines as the Aveo, and probably gets about 2 or 3 extra MPG but when we were buying was about an extra $5K out the door (admittedly you did get extra nonsense for the extra $$.)

Walter · #6 06-07-2007, 10:55 PM

Hi Dee67, I've recently gone through buying a new car.
How many miles/year do you drive? If you don't drive many miles, consider keeping your Explorer and reading up on gas saving driving here.

Where do you live? Mostly I agree with Brucepick, get fwd and 4 good snow tires. If you live in the snowbelt in upstate NY, or snowy parts of VT, NH, ME, maybe you do need 4wd. I get by with just snowtires in a snowy spot 1 mile south of NH on a high hill. If you decide you really must have 4wd then probably a Suburu, used 4wd Matrix, Ford Escape Hybrid, ...

Hybrid or non-Hybrid? For me this came down to $$$. I loved the Prius except for price.
I'd try on for size:
small-- Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit (my car). These have a surprising amount of room. My 6'3" sons fit comfortably in front or rear seats of my Fit.
medium -- Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic (mpg equal or better than the small cars).

To see what mpg these get: fueleconomy.gov
the EPA ratings have recently changed. Be careful not to mix up the new and old ratings.

Safety ratings and overall reliability, I'd check Consumer Reports annual book on cars.

Have fun shopping.
--Walter

Dee67 · #7 06-08-2007, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BailOut

Did you know that the steering wheel in the Yaris has tilt, and that it ships from the factory in the full down position?

That was with wheel in it's uppermost position.

If your message was as helpful as it was smart alecky, I'd have my new car picked out already.

Dee67 · #8 06-08-2007, 07:32 AM

brucepick, ATL, ILAveo and Walter - thank you very much for your helpful responses, you (and people like you) are exactly the reason I thought I would persue this further here.

Walter - CT and around 9k miles a year. Not a lot by any stretch of the imagination. And in typical situations, the snow isn't a problem in any vehicle with some tread on the tires, but, as mentioned, our street, neighborhood and particularly our driveway are murder, even with the 4wd from time to time in the snow due to the steep, unforgiving incline.

Hybrid or not for me so far has been a question of best chance of saving fuel/money in the long run versus money in the here and now sense.

With all the stopping and starting, city-ness of the driving, I assumed (and I know about assuming) that a hybrid might be the best bet even driving like a 'normal' human being without applying any hypermiling techniques. If that line of thinking is skewed, I would love to be educated on why, I'm very open to learning.. clearly by my past vehicle choices, I'm just a babe in the woods in this stuff...

Thank you again. I truly appreciate it.

CoasterToasterXB · #9 06-08-2007, 08:22 AM

My scion xb fits me well. I'm 6'4 - 205. I have plenty of head and leg room. Scion XB'S have lots of storage. Very inexpensive as well. Good luck on your car search.

DebbieKatz · #10 06-08-2007, 08:36 AM

Welcome Dee!

Allow me to add the Ford Escape Hybrid to your list of recommendations!

My 6'+ husband is very comfortable in it, it handles great in the snow with the stock tires (so with snow tires, your FWD-killer hill should be attainable

), & gets terrific FE (hopefully Pravus Prime will weigh in on this thread - he can give you actual numbers as to how much $$ he's saved, compared to when he drove his Explorer.)

I don't have those kind of numbers for you, but I *can* tell you that I was beating the (old) EPA rating (31 hwy/36 city) before I discovered this site & hypermiling

Of course, I'm not *biased* at all...

- but don't let that stop you