Like I said in the tag line, I need a new car. I am a dyed in the wool car guy. I eat, sleep, and breathe cars, but I'm not excited or happy. Why not?

Well, here's the situation...

I drive a 2005 MINI Cooper S with the John Cooper Works engine, brake, and suspension upgrades. My MINI has razor sharp handling, brakes that are awe inspiring, and great power. I'm a car guy who lives in a curvy mountainous area, so this car is a good match for me! I like this car far better than any car I've ever had, even though I have owned cars with a lot more power.


I got a new job about a year ago. I went from a commute of 60 round trip miles to one of 125 round trip miles. I am running up miles at an alarming rate. I don't want to run this car into the ground, I want to enjoy it for many years to come; therefore I need a new car. I'll keep the MINI and use it as a "fun car".

In the past, I have always looked for the sportiest and most enjoyable car I could (just barely) afford. This time, I need a plain ol' grocery getter that'll hold up for at least 5 and preferably 10 years while racking up 45-50K miles per year. I'm hoping that some fellow NAM members are road warriors and can give me some advise on what cars currently available in the US that can take a lot of miles and be economical to operate over the long haul. My "must haves" are air conditioning and a MANUAL transmission. It's hot here in the spring, summer, and fall; and I've had so much bad history with automatic transmissions that I'll never buy another one.

I am considering:

Honda Civic EX- floaty vague suspension...$17.5K
Toyota Corolla- haven't tested one yet but $16K
Nissan Sentra- absulutely undrivable, floats over the road and darty $18K
Lexus IS250- ok, but uninspiring and all for the astounding price of $31K

The standby good advice of "buy the one that smiles back at you" doesn't apply because none of them smile at me. I know the Lexus is a bit out of place in the comparison, but I found some leftover 07 models for a discount, and I expected the other cars to be about $5K more, therefore I expected the price gap to be smaller.

Help me out. Anyone out there drive as much as me and able to keep a car running?

Rawhyde

 

i own a 08Fit Sport 5MT with about $2.5K in mods as my commuter.
still under $18.5K. check out the gallery, i have a few picts there.

funnest car ive driven for the price. excellent handling, nice torque,
doesn't feel slow at all, did i mention FUN to motor in? lots of room to
carry luggage, nice fit and finish... your getrag tranny will
feel like junk after you drive the honda's cable shifter.

only down side is that the fuel tank is small (10gal?) so if you punch
the gas a lot you will visit the gas station often. but for the
price no car can beat it.

 

beater = new car? uhh, no, not unless you're driving something mid engine and Italian.

If you need a commuter car, you won't find much better for the money than an EG....92-95 Civic, particularly the VX model with lean-burn VTEC. 52mpg on reg unleaded. About $3k used and miles don't matter much. Here was the one I got my wife for her 110mile round trip commute:



bought for $2k, spent $500 on maintenance (new exhaust midpipe, plugs, cap/rotor and $$$ O2 sensor - $300 by itself), drove it for 18 months, sold for $3500. Got to like that

 

I'd say check out some well maintained Subaru's. I worked at a dealer for maybe 6 months and its not uncommon to see older Legacy's and Forrester's with 150k+ and still going strong. That, and although they are a little harder to find in a schtick, Volvos don't know when to die. My vote goes Turbo Forrester. Easy to get in stick, AWD, easy to maintain, plenty of room for junk, respectable power, great for modding down the road. The only downsides I've seen is the trannies show weakness when beaten hard and some parts are either expensive or dealer specific. Which means expensive.

 

only issue with hi-mile Suby's is head gaskets...got to pull the motor to do them and it's $1200

 

I have a Subaru outback with 120K on it. It runs like it was brand new. Only thing it was ever in the shop for was a new throttle position sensor under warranty. That was way back. No problems. Feel like the brakes wear out too soon. Maybe it is the way I drive. Also, very surefooted in the rain and snow, pulls my flat bottom boat or hauls two kayaks to the river. Love it.

 

I forgot about head gaskets. Very common especially this time of year. It was not uncommon to see 2 or 3 head gaskets done in 1 week. But, it was mostly Legacy's. A few Forresters here and there and maybe 1 or 2 Imprezas. But the upside being, never did I see 1 turbo car need them. Actually, looking back, I saw turbo cars getting less major maintenance then the NA cars. And, it is possible to do head gaskets in the car. It's just a RPITA. If both go, then the motor comes out which fortunately only takes 2 or 3 people and maybe an hour worth of work. To pull the motor that is.

 

A friend of mine just bought a used Miata for his beater. Great handling!!

 

I'd buy another MINI! There's a fella selling a great looking '04 from Georgia here on NAM.

 

I agree. If you are dropping that much you couldget the absolute base mini. They had them herefor exactly $18k (NC)

 

Get a 90s Jag XK8. Should be about $15k-$20k. Gas mileage won't be too good, but you'll be driving in style!

Matt

 

Get another Mini and be done with it! It's the perfect DD, imo.

 

A few years ago I kept getting Hyundai Accents as rental cars for work... and I actually liked them! They are relatively cheap, and I think Hyundai has a good warranty & maintenance plan. You won't feel cool driving it , but you can save $ for more fun MINI stuff.

 

for a high mileage commute I am all about the civics and the hatchbacks. You cant beat them. 96+ had less rust issues though but not as stellar fuel economy.

 

I work for Hyundai-Kia. Our cars are actually pretty good, especially for the price. Even a 1.6L Rio or Accent with a manual tranny is a little fun to drive. The warranty will last you a couple years, it sounds, but it's better than most. If I wanted/needed a beater I'd look at a Spectra 5 or something like that. They all come with a manual trans, but AC is extra on the base models.
PM me if you think you might want one and I can get you an employee price (which isn't that great of a deal, but you don't have to fight with a dealer over it).

 

A beater? Is that like a fluffer?



/sorry, couldn't resist.

 

I once knew a guy that was kind of into that...

 

oh. You meant a car.

Get a Kia. They're like the Bic lighter of automobiles

Hey, and Isuzu is bailing on North America, so they'll be giving them away!!

 

Get another MINI either S or non-s for those prices that way you get the smile

 

I brought this thread back from the dead because I got a beater!

I picked up a leftover 2007 Honda Civic LX Coupe with a 5 speed. It is white with tan cloth interior. Not an altogether bad ride, and I'm getting 35.5-37.5 mpg out of it. Got it for $16,700 out the door tax and all. ($15.1K pre-tax). I think I got a decent deal. It has A/C, cd, and a clutch pedal. I was surprised to learn that it also has power windows and locks, tilt and telescoping steering, fold-down rear seat, power mirrors, rear defogger, and cruise control. I was expecting a plain vinyl seat and power nothing... I've never had a Japanese car before, so I had no idea what to expect.

I have already done a few mods to it. (Can't resist....) I got the black rubber floormats and the black rubber boot mat. I also picked up the Honda Accessory Electrochromatic self dimming rearview mirror with digital compass. Since I did the installation myself, the labor cost was an inflation fighting $0. I have it in my MINI and my Impala SS, so I wanted it in the Honda too.

The best mod (hopefully) is in the mail. I picked up a set of Civic Si swaybars off eBay. With luck, they'll be here before the long Easter weekend.

I'm trying to like the Honda, but it certainly ain't a MINI!

Good Points:
It's very quiet.
Great mileage.
Tires are cheap.
It has a spare tire.
It has more features/amenities than I expected
Lots of interior storage compartments
Decent sound system, but wierd looking.
Very smooth ride. (This is liable to go away in favor of Si springs and struts if the swaybars don't do enough to help the handling.)
Decent headlights. Not outstanding, but usable enough.

Bad Points:
Slow acceleration. You'd need a calender to time this thing 0-60. It supposedly has 140 HP, but it has no guts in the lower rpm band. I've had it for one week, and I've logged 1150 miles. I did see 4000 rpm once while passing a transfer truck, but other than that, I've been very gentile with it.

Spongy Brakes, and it has rear drum brakes. I didn't know they still made those...

Leans in corners. It leans, and it leans a LOT. It leans enough that I ordered some Si swaybars after the 2nd day of my commute. I'm praying that they help.

Cheapass plastic hubcaps. Looking for some cheap takeoff Civic EX alloy rims.

Cheap looking blockoff plate where the foglight switch goes. Looking for Driving Lights that I can mount in the foglight location and use the factory foglight switch wired like MINI driving lights.

I know it looks like a bad gripe list, but the car is actually pretty nice....but my loyalties remain with the MINI. After living with it for a week, I can see the merits of a Civic as a daily driver, but I can't figure out why teenagers want them so badly. It's like a miniature Buick that doesn't stay in the shop all the time. Nothing even remotely sporty about it.

Any advice for a MINI addict to transition to one of these? I'm driving it like granny on sedatives because it's such an unfamiliar beast.Rawhyde

 

If you want a little bit more oomph, try revving it up higher. I've heard that Honda's don't really get anywhere unless you are in the upper rpm range. But who cares, it's your beater right?