Commuter car

[roorback]

Corolla is a great choice. I drove a Matrix for 120k problem free miles to the tune of 30 combined and 34 highway. I never put a dime into that car besides tires, oil changes and brakes.

[stlrammer]

Olds Alero is a great choice. I have 160K on mine and its still nice to drive. No leaks. just breaks, tires, belts and hoses.

[G8GT4now]

Find a job closer to home.

[ClawSS]

In my not so humble opinion and a pet peeve.....Still confused, OP.

You have a v-6 Camaro and a Tahoe and you live in Illinois. You don't mention the Tahoe year, but probably newer than 1998. I had a '98. So I assume 15ish mpg. Next you say "drive it into the ground". I don't know what that means. Are you saving it for resale, if so why did you buy it...to see how much resale you could get? Do you have trouble maintaining it with oil changes, washings, etc? Do you believe that it isn't worthy of being seen once it hits 60k or 100k miles?

I am wondering if your question is more, "What car can I spend money on that I can abuse but trust to get me to my job that is my livelyhood that will be cheap up front and cheaper to sell when I "run it into the ground" with neglect?"

If you want out of a payment, maybe on the Tahoe, then that might be something. You will be hard pressed to find the utilitarian vehicle of the 4x4 Tahoe in a gas miser. Maybe a Suby. But I'd trust a Tahoe in Illinois winters with snow berms, pot holes, other a-holes on the roads.

I ran the numbers on my SRT or L99 at 20mpg for gas only. I only run 93 in either @ $3.57 in Kentucky. @ 20 it cost me a little over $5000 a yr. If I bump up to 30mpg, @ 89oct. @ $3.29...$3000. That's a $2000 delta / yr savings to pay for something & cover costs of the extra engine to maintain/ins. license, tires/oil...I don't run things into the ground. Not worth it to have a dream car just sit....then have some thought of "I don't drive it, might as well sell it". Read some of the For Sale posts. A bunch of them use that as an excuse.

People always say buy a beater...I never understood it...I am 43 and worked at this job for 17 yrs. with 10 of it at this long distance. Do y'all not buy cars to drive?

[LBreezie]

Why have two cars unless it's a classic?

[ClawSS]

Thanks LBreezie, that reminded me...our 1967 GTO Convertible which was purchased by my father-in-law in 1966 before shipping out to Vietnam as the family car is being rotisserie restored. It was the primary driver through Cincinnati winters up until the 80's when it moved to second car behind a Delta 88, then to cruiser behind a new 88 and an El Camino. It has almost 200k on the clock.

We are putting $40k into the resto with powder coating, disc brakes, etc and plan to put 50k miles on it with Power Tours, drive to Woodward Dream Cruise, and other Poncho events.

Drive your damn cars.

[xrayman]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I appreciate it.

[xrayman]

Originally Posted by ClawSS

In my not so humble opinion and a pet peeve.....Still confused, OP.

You have a v-6 Camaro and a Tahoe and you live in Illinois. You don't mention the Tahoe year, but probably newer than 1998. I had a '98. So I assume 15ish mpg. Next you say "drive it into the ground". I don't know what that means. Are you saving it for resale, if so why did you buy it...to see how much resale you could get? Do you have trouble maintaining it with oil changes, washings, etc? Do you believe that it isn't worthy of being seen once it hits 60k or 100k miles?

I am wondering if your question is more, "What car can I spend money on that I can abuse but trust to get me to my job that is my livelyhood that will be cheap up front and cheaper to sell when I "run it into the ground" with neglect?"

If you want out of a payment, maybe on the Tahoe, then that might be something. You will be hard pressed to find the utilitarian vehicle of the 4x4 Tahoe in a gas miser. Maybe a Suby. But I'd trust a Tahoe in Illinois winters with snow berms, pot holes, other a-holes on the roads.

I ran the numbers on my SRT or L99 at 20mpg for gas only. I only run 93 in either @ $3.57 in Kentucky. @ 20 it cost me a little over $5000 a yr. If I bump up to 30mpg, @ 89oct. @ $3.29...$3000. That's a $2000 delta / yr savings to pay for something & cover costs of the extra engine to maintain/ins. license, tires/oil...I don't run things into the ground. Not worth it to have a dream car just sit....then have some thought of "I don't drive it, might as well sell it". Read some of the For Sale posts. A bunch of them use that as an excuse.

People always say buy a beater...I never understood it...I am 43 and worked at this job for 17 yrs. with 10 of it at this long distance. Do y'all not buy cars to drive?

I have no idea what you are talking about. In an earlier response I said I don't want to drive my Camaro into the ground, which driving 500 miles a week will do, if you reread my post you will clearly see that is what I said. Secondly, by choice I am not driving my Camaro in the winter. I know some people here do and that is there choice, my car will never see a Illinois winter as long as I own it. Currently, I drive my 05 Tahoe that has 155k on it, during the winter, if it were not maintained it would have not lasted as long as it has. Prior to the Camaro the Tahoe was a year round DD.

You don't have to wonder about anything, please reread the original post it's very clear, but to help you out here goes, I potentially may start to travel 500 miles a week for work and I am looking for a fuel efficient car to drive year round and I am going to get rid of my Tahoe because I don't need 5 cars. I don't no how to make it any clearer than that.

[xrayman]

Originally Posted by G8GT4now

Find a job closer to home.

Have to go where the work is at.

[ClawSS]

Your idea of 500 a week must be harder than mine. Our daily driver car is show ready every Mon morning following a wash, blow dry and interior detail while bonding with my son teaching maintenance. Tomorrow morning I will get this done prior to vaccinating 40 hd of cattle on the 700ac family farm. On mon. We will drive the car to our day job in melting snow and ky road salt. That night I will rinse the salt from the Brembos so they don't corrode. You just don't want to maintain it. 500mi a day is just breaking it in.

Number 2... You currently have 4 cars and you can't / won't drive any of them daily? Wow. You made a lot of things painfully clear with that statement.

[ClawSS]

PS... I hope you enjoy a 2012 Suby outback wagon. Which is what I would recommend, BTW due to great reliability and mpg and right at 15k used with a bit of utilitarian mixed in.

[xrayman]

Your idea of 500 a week must be harder than mine. Our daily driver car is show ready every Mon morning following a wash, blow dry and interior detail while bonding with my son teaching maintenance. Tomorrow morning I will get this done prior to vaccinating 40 hd of cattle on the 700ac family farm. On mon. We will drive the car to our day job in melting snow and ky road salt. That night I will rinse the salt from the Brembos so they don't corrode. You just don't want to maintain it. 500mi a day is just breaking it in.

Number 2... You currently have 4 cars and you can't / won't drive any of them daily? Wow. You made a lot of things painfully clear with that statement.

Originally Posted by ClawSS

PS... I hope you enjoy a 2012 Suby outback wagon. Which is what I would recommend, BTW due to great reliability and mpg and right at 15k used with a bit of utilitarian mixed in.

ClawSS what you choose to do with your cars is your business, you owe me no explanation, and what I choose to do with the four that belong to me and my wife is mine. To educate you, the wife and I each have daily's and play cars as we call them but that is neither here nor there. You truly have no idea what you are talking about as it relates to me and this matter. It's quite obvious you live in a world filled with speculation and not one based upon facts. This is a public forum and you are entitled to your opinion and that is great. But I tell you what, your thoughts, your ideas, your suggestions at this point are all irrelevant to me.
Thanks for playing.

[Truck Norris]

Not that they get the best mpg (25-29) but Subaru WRX's hold their value extremely well. My buddy bought the 265hp 2009 model new for $25k and I still see them used for around $20k If you look around you can pick a used one up in your budget.

[ClawSS]

I am sorry. There was definitely no call for my actions. You are the better person and I hear the view from the high road is much nicer than where I am currently sitting.