Looking for a high mpg car

[jussi]

My brother is looking to get a secondary car. I guess Sequoia's don't get very good gas mileage. Anyone have any suggestions for a high mpg car? He's looking for a new current model.

[crokett]

How high is high? I have a Pontiac Vibe I am happy with. Toyota's version is the Matrix, but same car - made by Toyota. EPA rated 35mpg highway, or it was in 2005. I get between 30-32 on any given day.

[jussi]

How high is high? I have a Pontiac Vibe I am happy with. Toyota's version is the Matrix, but same car - made by Toyota. EPA rated 35mpg highway, or it was in 2005. I get between 30-32 on any given day.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll let him know about that model. I think he said he wanted at least 27 but prefably above 30.

Oh he also mentioned he'll probably be staying away from the hybrids cuz they're too expensive.

[docrowan]

If he's looking for used, reliability is a huge factor. Honda Civics and Toyota Corolla's consistently get both high mpg and high quality as rated by Consumer Reports. Downside: hard to find and hold their value (meaning they're much higher priced than other used cars of the same year and mileage.)

I use this website heavily : http://fueleconomy.gov to get all the scoop. I'm a careful, speed limit only type driver who mostly clocks highway miles and I can consistently beat the rated MPG on this site on all four cars I've compared it with. One thing I like also is it gives the volume of the passenger compartment and truck in cubic inches for all cars so you can compare it to other models. When you're trying to balance MPG, used car value, and family space needs, the more data the better.

Edit: just saw the OP specified a new car. The fuel economy website is still a great resource.

[crokett]

Another thing about the hybrids is unless you do a lot of stop n go driving you won't see any real advantage to an all gas car. I considered a hybrid but my commute to work is all highway where the gas engine would be used anyway.

[dbhost]

EPA Fuel Economy Website.

Steer clear of the Ford Focus. I am a proud Ford man, and I own a Focus and would MUCH rather have an early 70's Pinto. Those were better built...

[Russianwolf]

There was an article recently talking about this. Your brother may actually save more money by buying a 1-2 year old "Domestic" car.

The reliability of the domestics is near that of the Honda/Toyotas (flame away, I've had 3 Chryslers and a Saturn with no problems that weren't covered by warranty other than a mouse eating some wires) now a days and the depreciation factor makes them thousands cheaper. While the milage may or may not be quite as good the thousands saved can translate into years worth of fuel.

[cgallery]

I have to agree with Mike, the reliability of my Caravan has exceeded that which I saw with both my last Camry and my last Corolla.

[BadeMillsap]

I love my Mini Cooper ...

I have a Tahoe and an F150 Supercrew ... but with gasoline sooo high now we bought a Mini ... 30+ mpg ... and way fun to drive.

[kirkroy]

You can save a little money with cars sold under a japanese brand and an american brand like the matrix/vibe. It's cheaper to get the pontiac version than the toyota version even though they're the same car. My wife has a 2005 matrix. It's basically a slightly bigger corolla hatchback.

[wan2fly]

Gas got to us too

We have owned the Honda Fit for a week now.
It's a tight little car with a 5 speed Automatic and paddle shifters on the steering wheel. It is fairly zippy and I'm expecting mid 30s mpg on it's 1.5 litre motor.
It is a 4 door hatchback and when you fold the rear seats down it is flat all the way to the front seats. Nice for carrying all my stuff. It was also relatively inexpensive at just under 16k new. I believe they made this to replace the old civic hatchback that so many people really loved.
Reports on this car are good, but I can only say that I enjoy it for the week we've had it.

[Chris_B]

We have owned the Honda Fit for a week now.

My daughter has had one of these for a year, and they are amazing cars. Incredibly space-efficient, and lots of head-room. She loves it, and can stuff a ridiculous amount of - well - 'stuff' in the back.

The automatic is *completely* gutless, but the stick is very fun to drive. 30+mpg around town, and ~40 on the fwy.

[wan2fly]

For *completely* gutless you should test drive the comparable Hyundai and some others...

We figured that we got it for the mileage and if we want guts we drive our guzzlers.

The Fit automatic seems to have no trouble keeping up with traffic and we aren't one of the slowpokes, but it does keep our driving tactics modest adding to fuel savings.

I used to have a stick and found that after a long hard day of work, even working the clutch in traffic got really tiring when you're already exhausted.

[Chris_B]

For *completely* gutless you should test drive the comparable Hyundai and some others...

Yes, this is probably very true...

The automatic Fit is a great commute-mobile, and I can certainly understand avoiding shifting in slow-moving traffic. I was just surprised how much fun the added 'oomph' the stick provides. This is her first manual transmission, and she loves it.

[jziegler]

I'll put in another thumbs up for the Vibe/Matrix. I have a Vibe, and it's a good hauler with great mileage. On a trip to Gettysburg, PA going on the backroads in the hills, with a wire pen (for the dogs, folded up) on the roof, two large dogs and two people in the car, I still got 32 MPG for the trip. Normally, I see 33-36 here in the flatlands of NJ. With the back seats folded down, three greyhounds fit in the back with plenty of room. The 2009 is out, but mileage is probably down a bit, they put in a bigger engine. Some 2008 models are probably still on lots at a discount.

Jim