ABCar

My wife and I did that this year...bought a plain Jane Mini (07) and just love it. It does not have a lot of power but it is well balanced and very pleasant to drive. about 32-38 mpg, depending on who is on the go pedal. I had an 08 GTI when I tried to go "Porsche-less" for a while and liked that too. On balance, I think I enjoy the Cooper more, albeit for different reasons.

fiz140

The Fiat 500 is supposed to be arrive sometime in February......

mcipseric

We got a '11 mini. adv 30 mpg. Too much fun! Lots of room.
Lease is only $240/mo. No maintenance or repair costs.
The Mini costs less than the gas in the E55 a month!

993/907

+1 for the MINI Cooper S.
Wife has a 2006; she knows cars and says it is the best car she has ever had.
Mileage gizmo says about 22mpg average.....all her trips are short, 10 miles or less.
30k miles and ONLY problem was a small leak in cooling expansion tank, cheap and easy replacement.

I love driving it and sneak it away whenever I get the chance.

Did not like the run-flats at all.....replaced them right away with Nokian Haks and drive them year round.

Stealth 993

You can't beat the MINI! We love out 08 Cooper S. Nothing wrong with a sterol Civic, but they are one of the most stolen cars, & are so boring. You might also find that if you do get one, you will have a hard time finding it, & keep putting your key in some one else's cars, as there are a 100 in each parking lot.

They can get expensive, almost $40k if you option the hell out of it. Ours has a little over 50kmi on it (40mi one way commute), & returns over 40mpg on the freeway, & around 30mpg in town. Now if we are having fun with the turbo, it does go gown to around 33mpg FW & 20mpg city.

The cars are super fun to drive, they are quick (more then you would expect), & ours has had 0 issues. Well we did have a loose bracket on the alarm sensor that would trip the alarm at the slightest vibration. But that was fixed. Parts are cheap, the car is super easy to work on, & we just did the front brake pads, & it was around $75 for the parts.

Yea, the runflats SUCK! They are also SUPER expensive, like $1400 from TR. But ours lasted over 30kmi, & when we switched to fun summer rubber, the car was quieter, smoother, & softer on bumps.

We also added a couple of upgrades, it really woke the car up!!

vincer77

I have an '03 Civic Coupe DD and it is an amazingly boring car - that is it requires almost no maintenance and runs like an appliance. It gets ok mileage - 23 around town and 34 on the highway. It is pretty boring to drive and have thought alot about replacing it, but with what - an e36 M3 is top choice. I bought it used for about $10k in '05 and could probably still get $6.5k for it. It is a beautiful red color and am surprised how many people comment on it being a nice car.

Friend just bought a Golf TDI and really loves it. He looked at the Jetta but found the Golf to be a nicer finished car. Loves the VW branded PDK - can't remember what they call it. His other car is a Z06.

Minis seem like alot of money, so if saving fuel is the point, not sure iif that is the way to go.

Also, I learned this awhile back - the cheapest car to drive is the one you own. Depreciation is a far larger cost than fuel. Especially if you buy new.

Aircooled Dave

Agree on the Mini Cooper or VW GTI suggestions. Both are very entertaining to drive and get great mileage. Mini is great if you only need to drive yourself, but if you need room for kids and such a GTI 4dr is a better choice IMO. I would get the standard 6spd instead of DSG though. DSG is great, but can be a little jerky at takeoff and I wouldn't want to see what the repair bill will look like if somethign goes wrong. It's important to have a good warranty with the VW/Audi and I would recommend keeping the car simple to keep costs down. Even with just a sunroof option, the VW is very nicely equipped at ~$25K.

You can't beat a TDI though if you really need the mileage. 50mpg hwy isn't unheard of in those cars, but you need to drive enough miles to justify the higher intiial cost (~$1500). Wife has a Q7 TDI and she loves it. Gets 20mpg on average with 50/50 hwy/city. We've seen up to 27mpg average on long hwy trips to Tahoe/Mammoth mountain with a 5 passengers and a full load of cargo in back. Definitely impressive and the torque is just phenomenal. Makes driving so easy. It's like having a V8 without the gas penalty. Very refined and quiet too. Most people are amazed to find out it's a diesel.

dcdude

Do you need 4 seats and 4 doors? Very pleased with my CPO '08 Jetta. 36K miles for under $14K. Warranty to the end of 2013.

I get about 24 MPG mostly city and drive maybe 7K per year. 5 speed is fun. I like it almost as much as my E46 with more space on regular gas! If your annual mileage is low, this option probably represents a lower cost of ownership than the TDI. Do your own math and decide.

Other thing to keep in mind is that the Jetta/GTI is a top safety pick: http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=231

Mini is more "average" http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=1034

tdiferrari

+10 for diesels. Had a 2003 Jetta TDi several years ago. Best I eeked out of it was 56 MPG at a steady 67mph for 4 hours. It was just geeting broken in at 125k miles. 5 speed tranny is the way to go, and they hold value real well.

Mini Coopers, although great cars, have issues, especially the autobox.

Present daily driver is a Mercedes diesel, built like a tank, but not so much fun.

cosmic_993

Get an MK6 Golf or GTI.... you wont regret.... I have the TDI

Magdaddy

How about a Mazda Speed 3...the best of both worlds, a small hatch that gets horrible mileage under boost. Loads of fun to drive


https://rennlist.com/forums/for-sale...peed-3-gt.html

Al Z

I have a 2dr civic in silver with black interior, 5speed, moonroof, electric window, cruise, cd stereo with the upgraded speakers/subwoofer, 16 alloy wheels with new tires and 65K miles. I average between 37 and 42 MPG every tankfull. Have all the maint records, window stickers, keys and books from new.
PM me if you have any interest.
Thanks,
AL Z

yumyum1667

I had an 07 Speed 3 for a few years and loved it. I switched jobs and my commute went from all freeway to all bumper to bumper. I sold it because the 6 speed tranny was no fun in Atlanta traffic. I am not sure if I would pick it as a DD again. It was very raw and noisy which is cool for fun but not so much when you are trying to talk on the phone on the road. The gas mileage was just so so and it required premium fuel.

Performance wise it handled great and was fast as hell.

TheBen

I just leased a prius and its perfect for running around in. Its a bit plasticky but its comfortable, and gets great mileage. Cheap to lease as well.

98_993_cab

Attention dimwits at Audi: bring the new A4 Avant TDI (with Quattro) over to North America. I will buy one now that it's nearly as large as the old A6 Avant.

A3 TDI - toooooooo small.
Q7 TDI - what, was the Q5 designer busy that day?