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Who else is thinking of buying a used econobox as a daily driver.

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Old 6/17/08, 08:58 PM
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Who else is thinking of buying a used econobox as a daily driver.

I am thinking of buying a used econobox for my daily driver. I want to buy it cash ,so I can drop the collision insurance on it. Anyone else thinking of doing this? Keep in mind that commute to work and home is 75 miles per. day. Of course I will still keep the Mustang.
Old 6/18/08, 08:20 AM
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Maybe Scion xB or xA? 34 mpg city ...
Old 6/18/08, 08:58 AM
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I stil have my 05 Cavalier which I decided to keep to get a better deal on the Mustang instead of trading it. I had to drive it daily for 3 weeks while waiting for the hail damage reapair on the Mustang to be completed. The Cavalier certainly gets much better gas mileage.
Old 6/18/08, 09:07 AM
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I've been debating on trading my 02 Accord V6 on something that gets better gas mileage, the AV6 only gets 2 mpg better than my Mustang.
Old 6/18/08, 10:47 AM
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I was looking to pay under $3000 cash. I did find a 2000 hyundai accent for $2000. If I drove the car 14,000 per.year my premium would be $340 every 6months. If I drop the collision it would drop to $153. I know fuel cost will vary, but with 19 MPG driving 18,000 per. year at $4.60 per. gal that comes is about $4358 per. year on gas. If I drive a car that gets 32 MPG for 14,000 per. year at $4.60 that comes to $2012. If I drive my mustang only 4,000 per. year that is around $1000 per. year. So used econbox driving 14,000 per. year=$2012 + Mustang at 4000 miles per.year=1000 That is about a 1300 a year savings... or about $108 per. month. In the long run, probably not worth it.
Old 6/18/08, 04:08 PM
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we are still looking. I drive for fence estimates appx 24,000 and my wife puts appx 20,000 a year. we live in the country and drive far jsut to go anywhere. Yeah im looking, but mnan there scarce , well the good cheap ones are. Lots of junk for 2-3k. we got to do something.
Old 6/18/08, 04:19 PM
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If I get anything to replace the GTO as a DD it would be one of those Can-Am bike things. I live 50 miles from work, so I have an hour to either enjoy my drive or drive a POS. The whole reason I got the GTO in the first place, mid 20's gas mileage is not stellar but not bad either. Plus I can actually enjoy my 2 hour daily drive. Ultimately for me the answer is no I did the opposite. Traded my raggedy ugly POS Tercel at 37 MPG for 500$ down on the GTO. I haven't looked back nor will I.

Last edited by Slims00ls1z28; 6/18/08 at 04:21 PM.
Old 6/19/08, 02:39 AM
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Originally Posted by gmantheman
I was looking to pay under $3000 cash. I did find a 2000 hyundai accent for $2000. If I drove the car 14,000 per.year my premium would be $340 every 6months. If I drop the collision it would drop to $153. I know fuel cost will vary, but with 19 MPG driving 18,000 per. year at $4.60 per. gal that comes is about $4358 per. year on gas. If I drive a car that gets 32 MPG for 14,000 per. year at $4.60 that comes to $2012. If I drive my mustang only 4,000 per. year that is around $1000 per. year. So used econbox driving 14,000 per. year=$2012 + Mustang at 4000 miles per.year=1000 That is about a 1300 a year savings... or about $108 per. month. In the long run, probably not worth it.
Definitely not worth it. You have to buy gas, plus insure and maintain the second car. How much extra gas will that buy for the Stang? Penny wise, pound foolish.

Just drop it into 5th and cruise at 1500 RPMs on the highway.

Last edited by Hollywood_North GT; 6/19/08 at 02:41 AM.
Old 6/19/08, 05:51 AM
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i have a 96 cavalier. the thing costs me 400 bucks to insure, the car cost me 250 bucks and i do almost no maintenance to it. so i think i am fortunate enough to come out on top pretty quickly with it
Old 6/19/08, 09:50 AM
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I just picked up an 08 Caliber SRT-4 as a daily driver. In town I get 25ish, and have gotten around 30 on the hwy.

Some of the magazines have been somewhat down on it, as it isn't faster than the old Neon SRT-4, and I think it's a little behind to the old Neon in handling, but there's more to a good car than raw performance.

The CSRT4 is much more refined than the old Neon, 5 star crash rated, and more practical. I like it a bunch, and it satisfies my "fun craving" while the Mustang is in the garage.
Old 6/19/08, 10:45 AM
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Yup - $2600 - 1991, 60K mi, 4cyl, 5spd, 30+ mpg

Old 6/19/08, 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Hollywood_North GT
Definitely not worth it. You have to buy gas, plus insure and maintain the second car. How much extra gas will that buy for the Stang? Penny wise, pound foolish.

Just drop it into 5th and cruise at 1500 RPMs on the highway.
I have been using cruise control alot on the hwy. Even with 4.10s 25MPG on the HWY is not bad. I think even If I did buy an econobox, I probably would not drive it 14-15,000 miles per year as I would hate driving it.
Old 6/19/08, 08:04 PM
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I've got a 2003 BMW Z4 that I drive on erands. it never gets below 31 mpg and I just got 35.6 on a long trip!! Oh yeah and it goes 0-60 in about 5.5 sec and runs a 14flat @100 in the quarter!!!
Old 6/19/08, 09:55 PM
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attempting to do that right now.. something lil more d/d than my Cobra
Old 6/20/08, 06:28 AM
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I should get me a Yugo.

Here is Serbia gas is over $8.00/gallon and it costs me around $25 to fill up the tank in a Yugo that I've been driving. It's been 6 days since I've filled the tank, I drove pretty much every day and there is still about 1/4 of the tank left.

Like I have said before, the USA might have cheaper gas than Europe, but it doesn't do any good since there are barely any economical cars in the USA (and believe me, even 30 mpg is not that economical). I spent a lot more money driving a Fusion and paying $4.00/gallon in the USA than driving a Yugo and paying $8.00/gallon in Serbia.

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Old 6/20/08, 08:17 AM
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I just bought a 2004 Focus last week. 40k miles, picked it up for $4,500. I did 75 highway miles on 1.9 gallons. Not a bad deal. Pretty good in the city too. Did 50 miles and the needle barely moved. I have been driving it since. The Mustang has been collecting dust in the garage since last Friday , except today! I am taking a trip to my parents house this weekend in the Poconos and I had all my new mods delivered up there so I am going to have fun ripping it apart up there!!!!
Old 6/20/08, 10:14 AM
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iv`e got 7 vehicles .. once a month i fill them all up .. about 300 bucks .. a good car payment .. i use each one till it goes dry then get another .. halfway thru this month i have three full cars to go
Old 6/20/08, 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Red Star
I should get me a Yugo.
Funny you say that. Just yesterday I saw one and thought that car was ahead of it's time. We can't even get the Yugo here anymore (if it's still around). If it were available, it'd probably sell well at this time in our country's economy.
Old 6/20/08, 07:46 PM
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Nope....I sold my Expedition and bought my Mustang in September. My other option is to drive my husband's F350 Powerstroke Diesel and I know I don't want to gas that thing up. He has a company truck, so they pay for his commute. I only commute 10 miles each way to work and I'm having way more fun driving it than anything else I've owned in a long, long time.
Old 6/21/08, 01:22 PM
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Originally Posted by 08GTCandyApple
Nope....I sold my Expedition and bought my Mustang in September. My other option is to drive my husband's F350 Powerstroke Diesel and I know I don't want to gas that thing up. He has a company truck, so they pay for his commute. I only commute 10 miles each way to work and I'm having way more fun driving it than anything else I've owned in a long, long time.
****, I would love if my commute was only 10 miles.


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