Best gas sipper?

hunterdan said:
Wow! thanks for all the info. We are definitely going to drive a Mazda 3. Last year I saw one at a gas station and really liked the look. I actually made sure to see the maker and model. It kind of looks like something that would.be styled by Jaguar.
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Mazda offers the 3 in both hatchback and sedan models. Rear visibility on the hatchback isn't great but the backup camera solves most of that. Rear seat headroom in the sedan was worse and I personally like the styling of the hatchback better. I'm pretty sure the sedan is offered in a lower trim package vs the hatchback. When I bought mine in September, the base model sedan was about $1k cheaper than the hatchback due to the options.

I've got about 6,500 miles on mine and no issues so far.

Here is my 3 with the beater Protege in the background.

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hunterdan said:
Anyone have praise for the Hyundai Elantra or any of the Kia's?
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We went from a 04' Trail Blazer ( tired of fighting the cam synch issues) to a used effing green Kia Soul 3 (?) years ago.
Still getting 35+.
In fuel savings alone the car paid for itself.
Ours has the 4 cyl GDI and the non-cv trans.
They seem to have oilring-cat-engine issues but we're at 90,000 as so far so good.
Love the little thing.
 
untchabl said:
Mazda offers the 3 in both hatchback and sedan models. Rear visibility on the hatchback isn't great but the backup camera solves most of that. Rear seat headroom in the sedan was worse and I personally like the styling of the hatchback better. I'm pretty sure the sedan is offered in a lower trim package vs the hatchback. When I bought mine in September, the base model sedan was about $1k cheaper than the hatchback due to the options.

I've got about 6,500 miles on mine and no issues so far.

Here is my 3 with the beater Protege in the background.

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Yep, that's the car I saw last year. It was the same color and is truly....sexy
1stgenxxx said:
TDI Jetta for the win.....Or maybe I look homeless driving it but it gets almost 50mpg.
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Was considering this model but not sure about a diesel now.
There's a thread here about Russia providing the oil additives for diesel. Also, I see that diesel is .50-60 cents more per gallon.
 
hunterdan said:
Was considering this model but not sure about a diesel now.
There's a thread here about Russia providing the oil additives for diesel. Also, I see that diesel is .50-60 cents more per gallon.
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For normal driving, the fuel savings over a comparable car as far as size/comfort/power will offset the added cost. And diesel cars have 10k oil change intervals (yes, the oil is probably more expensive, but you do it half or 1/3 as often). Plus most gassers get their optimal MPG using mid grade or premium, which offsets the extra cost of diesel. Seriously take a look at www.fuelly.com and see what real world MPG is for cars you are interested in, as this is aggregated data over millions of miles from hundreds or thousands of users. I am on there for all of my vehicles, trying to drag the average down :D There's a reason people who driven a diesel DD for a while almost never switch to anything else ;)
 
Willc said:
Wait for the gr corolla
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I wish.
I have a lot of car shopping to do.
I'm considering listing my FJ cruiser to get a better mpg vehicle. I'd really miss it.
Daughter wants to do the same as her Kia optima sucks gas.
Son just got permit and we're getting him something in next month.
Wife's 2009 Yaris got smashed in passenger door by friend of family. She planned to drive it forever but....oh well.
Lemme see...that's 4 cars at once😭
Appetizer below
 

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hunterdan said:
I wish.
I have a lot of car shopping to do.
I'm considering listing my FJ cruiser to get a better mpg vehicle. I'd really miss it.
Daughter wants to do the same as her Kia optima sucks gas.
Son just got permit and we're getting him something in next month.
Wife's 2009 Yaris got smashed in passenger door by friend of family. She planned to drive it forever but....oh well.
Lemme see...that's 4 cars at once😭
Appetizer below
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Sounds like everybody gets a scooter!
 
jeepinmatt said:
For normal driving, the fuel savings over a comparable car as far as size/comfort/power will offset the added cost. And diesel cars have 10k oil change intervals (yes, the oil is probably more expensive, but you do it half or 1/3 as often). Plus most gassers get their optimal MPG using mid grade or premium, which offsets the extra cost of diesel.
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Not sure if this is true anymore. My Mazda3 has a stated interval of 7500 miles, and frankly after doing that a couple times and seeing what came out it could easily go 10k. Wife's Mini is 10k standard. Regular n/a cars. I've tried 89 in the M3 and the MPGs go up a little but mathematically its a wash on cost / mile compared to 87.
Even then, when you consider the cost of an oil change in most 4 cyls (what, $40 tops with synthetic oil a good filter?) whether you do it 2x/ year vs 3x a year, the difference in annual savings is peanuts. That $40 saved in 1 year is equivalent to what, 13 gallons of gas? Or 2 large pizzas?
 
RatLabGuy said:
Not sure if this is true anymore. My Mazda3 has a stated interval of 7500 miles, and frankly after doing that a couple times and seeing what came out it could easily go 10k. Wife's Mini is 10k standard. Regular n/a cars. I've tried 89 in the M3 and the MPGs go up a little but mathematically its a wash on cost / mile compared to 87.
Even then, when you consider the cost of an oil change in most 4 cyls (what, $40 tops with synthetic oil a good filter?) whether you do it 2x/ year vs 3x a year, the difference in annual savings is peanuts. That $40 saved in 1 year is equivalent to what, 13 gallons of gas? Or 2 large pizzas?
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And there's nothing wrong with that, and its a very economical car to own and drive. The only reason I even mentioned oil change costs is because that's one of the first things "gas people" say when you start talking about diesels.

Oil changes in my Passat were around $70. Did them every 10-12k. No idea if it could have gone longer or not, didn't really care because that was twice a year or less.

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30mpg vs 39mpg, both very good, but one is 30% higher than the other. However, it's close enough that you can sway the math whichever way your preference leans.

The biggest problem is that they are no longer making diesel VWs in the US, so the newest one you can get is gonna be 7 years old. With that said, they are darn good cars and they all have a 10yr/120k mile or more diesel emissions warranty:
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Plus they offer a great driving experience, much like the Mazda I assume. You have to commit to the diesel approach because its not "normal", but for those of us who do, it's worth it in my experience. And it's not for everyone. But if you do a lot of highway driving, 45+mpg is easily achievable, and the torque is addicting.
 
jeepinmatt said:
30mpg vs 39mpg, both very good, but one is 30% higher than the other. However, it's close enough that you can sway the math whichever way your preference leans.
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Related, for OP or whomever is looking to switch vehicles to save $$ on gas, it's worth doing the math on what it actually means in doll hair savings at the end of the year per realistic MPG you see.

If you do 15k a year at 30mpg, $3 gas, thats ~1500 spent. 40 mpg is only 1125, you saved 325 McBucks!
If you keep that care 5 years thats almost $1875 saved.
At $3.50 gas its ~$2200.

Not trivial, but what other costs are there? Does that 40mpg car come with the same smile every day? @jeepinmatt's Passat probably does, so it's possible. But does it cost $2200 more to buy? Insure? etc.
This is of course just looking at math.. Comfort, drivng excitement, lack of maintanance headache - all have value.

Note also, at 15k and $3 gas, going from 20 mpg to 30mpg nets your $750 a year, and $3750 over 5 years. Now we're starting to talk more significant change.

The point is, keep in mind where the relative value tradeoff point is. For me its around 30 mpg. I'd be happy to get better but I'm not going to sacrifice much or pay more for it.
 
RatLabGuy said:
Related, for OP or whomever is looking to switch vehicles to save $$ on gas, it's worth doing the math on what it actually means in doll hair savings at the end of the year per realistic MPG you see.

If you do 15k a year at 30mpg, $3 gas, thats ~1500 spent. 40 mpg is only 1125, you saved 325 McBucks!
If you keep that care 5 years thats almost $1875 saved.
At $3.50 gas its ~$2200.

Not trivial, but what other costs are there? Does that 40mpg car come with the same smile every day? @jeepinmatt's Passat probably does, so it's possible. But does it cost $2200 more to buy? Insure? etc.
This is of course just looking at math.. Comfort, drivng excitement, lack of maintanance headache - all have value.

Note also, at 15k and $3 gas, going from 20 mpg to 30mpg nets your $750 a year, and $3750 over 5 years. Now we're starting to talk more significant change.

The point is, keep in mind where the relative value tradeoff point is. For me its around 30 mpg. I'd be happy to get better but I'm not going to sacrifice much or pay more for it.
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I actually looked up $10-15k Passat TDIs and $15-20k 2018 Mazda 3s, but decided not to even wade into that side of the discussion. And resale value is a crapshoot these days.

Check this out
04 Passat, 3yrs old, 76k miles, paid $17000, sold $4500@190k
14 Passat 4yrs old, 80k miles, paid $8800, sold $9000@125k (to my cousin for a good deal, could have probably got $11k if I was patient)
 
I like my gas sippers like I like my women. Domestic or exotic, whatever. But a long standing history of the current drivetrain. I don't want something "new" or "experimental".

30+mpg on the 2014 Toyota corrola and super comfortable and looked sporty. Tried and true engine/trans combo
30+mpg on the 2008 BMW 3 series. Feels classy, same engine/trans with long standing history. And is lsswap ready whenever.
 
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