G98, Prophet for Our Times: Small-Car Buyers' Big Regrets

[mtnbkr]

Go big, or stay small?  FSPs, or fuel-sippers?    

Something in between.  Medium sized vehicles with modest engines that are useful in size, yet get decent mileage.  You won't feel foolish driving them when gas is $2 and won't go broke when it hits $4.  Problem is, everybody shops at the extremes.

Chris

[lupinus]

I think mtnbkr hit the nail on the head.

I don't need a huge vehicle, but I don't want a pregnant roller skate either.

Cobalt, Focus, Corrola, Civic, cars like that.

I'd also love to see a smallish SUV/Pickup that gets decent gas millage.  Looking at the ratings, they pretty damn well suck for the most part.

[grampster]

My 02 Frontier 4X4, 4d, long bed has the 3.3 V-6.  Not much in the peppy department, nor good gas mileage.  Best I get is 17 mpg at freeway speeds.  On the other hand, it has been paid for since 2003.  For me to spend 25 grand to gain a couple miles to a gallon of gas would be lunacy.  At 107,000 it keeps chugging along.  All I"ve ever done is put break pads on it every 30,000, change the oil between 3-5000.  I"m thinking about a set of plugs right now.  Does everything I need it to do on and off the road.

My wife has a 06 Murano and we rarely use the freeway, so we travel the back roads at about 60 mph or so.  The Murano gets 27-28 mpg at that speed.  Maybe close to 24 on the freeway.  The Murano pretty much full sized, is a very comfortable ride.

Maybe if we lived in the city, I"d buy some sniveler to run around in town.  But not out here in the country.  I"d like my car to be a bit larger than the deer I might hit.

[drewtam]

I'd also love to see a smallish SUV/Pickup that gets decent gas millage.  Looking at the ratings, they pretty damn well suck for the most part.

I find most of the small suvs and crossovers to be around 20-28. My wife's Outlander gets 20/25. As far as I'm concerned that pretty much matches a full size car.

Anyway, fuel economy is of secondary importance compared to choosing a central place to live. My house is 5mi from my work, 5mi from her work, 5mi from the grocery store, and 10mi from the mall. In any fuel economy comparison, I usually "win", not because of the vehicles I drive, but because of where I live.

Driving 5mi at 20mpg (=1/4gal) still beats 20mi at 60mpg (=1/3gal) everyday.

[Tallpine]

Our title/registration calls our Chevy HHR an "SUV".  :rolleyes:

But it's just a Cobalt with a different, much more useful body style.  Great for grocery runs to town and able to comfortably haul things like a few 50 lb sacks of feed, bottled water, saddles, etc.  On my trip to Seattle it got between 28 and 32 mpg, except for one hop that figured out to 38mpg!  It seems to get better mileage on manual than cruise control, even in the mountains.

But it's nowhere near in the same class as a medium to full-size pickup or real "SUV".  It's not something that you can pull a horse trailer or haul firewood with, and you have to be dang careful about un-paved roads.

[Manedwolf]

I'd also love to see a smallish SUV/Pickup that gets decent gas millage.  Looking at the ratings, they pretty damn well suck for the most part.

Honda Ridgeline?

[mtnbkr]

Toyota offered their 3rd Gen 4Runner (1996 to 2001 IIRC) with a 4cyl engine that had roughly the same output as the previous generation's V6.  It wasn't a speed demon and was only rated to tow 3500lbs, but the one I drove with a 5spd was peppy even with 3 folks inside.  IIRC, the rated mileage was about 20mpg in town and 25mpg on the highway, compared to 15/18 for my V6 version (exact same vehicle, just a different engine).

That would be about perfect for someone who did light towing (utility trailer, small camper, small boat, etc) or wanted 4x4 for moderate offroading, driving on the beach, etc.  It would be a lot more capable than then car body "SUVs", but get almost the mileage they get.  I came close to buying one shortly before we bought our V6 version, but missed out because I hemmed and hawed about the 4cyl.  When I made the decision and went back to the dealer, someone was already filling out the paperwork on it.

Chris

[Tallpine]

We almost bought a used 4cyl 4-Runner for our daughters.

Went back to the lot to drive it one more time, and it suddenly started heating up (boiling over!) on a very mild day. 

We actually gave the dealer a chance to get it fixed (could have just been a stuck thermostat) but they never even bothered to call us back. 

[mtnbkr]

I wish we had bought the 4cyl instead of the 6.  At the time, I just *knew* we were going to get a popup and I wanted a V6 to make towing one easier in the mountains.  Nevermind the heaviest popup I considered was less than 3000lbs and that I would be towing it 2-3 times a year.  Shortly after we bought the V6 model, we had a kid and the popup dreams were put on hold.  The only time I've needed the V6 was when I pulled another SUV out of the sand at Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks.  All other towing jobs have been 2000lbs or less.

The additional mileage would've been nice these days and the 4cyl version was several grand cheaper (they were willing to give me an obscene trade in on my Paseo).

Chris

[Tallpine]

The only time I've needed the V6 was when I pulled another SUV out of the sand at Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks.

You probably didn't need it then.  The 4-Runner has a low range IIRC.

[mtnbkr]

It does, but my comment wasn't about the power, but to remain in the rated towing range.  I barely used any throttle to get it out.

Moron was buried up to his frame because he didn't air down his tires and kept spinning them.  We dug out enough sand to expose the frame and

There's a reason the sign at the entrance said to air down and why there were trucks and suvs parked along the side of the road doing just that...

Chris

[Desertdog]

When thinking of buying a new car I suggest renting the model your thinking about for a weekend or for a vacation.  This way you can really give it a trial run before you sink a fortune in a new car and then find out it isn't what you wanted after all.

[Gewehr98]

The comic strip prevails:

http://www.channel3000.com/automotive/17945476/detail.html

Falling Gas Prices Jump-Start GM SUV Sales
Automaker Puts Texas Plant On Overtime Amid Other Closures

POSTED: 7:39 am CST November 10, 2008


Despite the down economy, falling gas prices have driven consumers back to the sport utility vehicles they once gave the cold shoulder.

Workers at General Motor's Arlington, Texas, SUV assembly plant began working overtime this month and are scheduled to remain on overtime for the rest of the year.

The plant, which employs 2,500 workers, is now the only GM factory building full-size sport utility vehicles like the Chevrolet Tahoe, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade.

Although sales of the vehicles are still down overall, they have rebounded in recent weeks as gas prices have fallen and cash-strapped automakers have slashed prices. The vehicles have proven to be a solid source of revenue for GM.

"We're still on overtime," plant spokeswoman Wendi Sabo told The Dallas Morning News. "Nothing has changed."

GM is also placing a high-stakes bet on its SUV line overseas, opening a new $300 million plant Friday near St. Petersburg, Russia.

The plant will produce GM SUVS, the Chevrolet Captiva and Opel Antara, which have become status symbols in Russia, reported Edmunds.com.

Chevrolet is the sales champion in Russia, with 190,553 cars sold last year alone, allowing GM to claim a 10.9 percent market share there. Likewise, Opel is in Russia's top 10 in sales, recording a whopping 238 percent sales growth in 2007, according to GM figures.

[Tallpine]

my comment wasn't about the power, but to remain in the rated towing range

The "rated towing range" includes a lot of factors besides power including braking and stability.

Heck, I've pulled semi-trailer trucks with a 3/4 ton 4wd chevy pickup 

Remember (no, you probably wouldn't) the old Chevy truck ad showing a pickup pulling a ~500,000 lb Boeing 747 ?