mooty

#1 mini
#2 fit
#3 civic
wife wanted prius. i bought her a bmw instead. i drove the prius. made mental note to self: when gas hits $10/gallon, i'll just kill myself so i dont have to drive prius.

her commute is 90 miles a day round trip. east bay to south bay. you mentioned 80mph+..... where and when can you hit those speed anywhere near the SF bay area?

roberga

MINI S

Mooty: must work the midnight shift. That or it is a reverse commute and on 280. We have an office in RWC and the folks that come down from the city fly down that road in the morning.

Tone

This is funny. My wife has a Prius and we both really like it.

I'd have the same commute as your wife: N. East bay to S. Bay: hwy-680---speeds here are among the fastest I've seen in the bay area or anywhere in the US. 80+ is very normal - of course when you hit traffic on parts then yes...that's why automatic tranny is a reqmt.

Would love a Mini...but am starting to think (and with help of this board) that I wouldn't do smaller than a mid-size car - so Fit, Mini, Yaris likely out. Fun, handling, image is not important for this commute. Appliance, economy, comfort, resale are...so I'm leaning towards Prius, Camry, Accord - maybe a Civicc or Mazda3 if it's not too noisy.

I've enjoyed all the posts and insight though.

roberga

get her a use elise;-).
base camry is still better ROI than Prius. The delta in price takes years to even out. When we looked at the Lexus SUV we figured it would take 7 years to even out.
Of course when Obama and his team (Maxine Walters) Nationalize the oil industry all will be fixed

sclemmons

Ever since the last time I got a sedan to Heathrow in London, I have wanted a BMW diesel. I don't know which car they come in, but the driver could not quit talking about his. I think is was a 745d, and got over 30 miles per gallon in traffic. Gallons are bigger there, but still, I would seek one out. I think they are coming to the US soon. They have been in Europe for years. See if you can find a biturbo.

Or a Camry if you want to cheap out. I know the feeling.

andre5

[QUOTE=mooty;5508225
her commute is 90 miles a day round trip. east bay to south bay. you mentioned 80mph+..... where and when can you hit those speed anywhere near the SF bay area?[/QUOTE]

My wife has an East Bay to North Bay commute. 80+mph is doable on the stretch between hiway 80 and the Richmond Bridge

mooty

680 is terrible from walnut creek all the way to fremont and beyond the entire morning and after 4pm. i be lucky to hit 60mph. the other way taking 880 is even worse, that's assuming you survive the 238 connector at 2mph.

mooty

?? what time?
how do you do that. dont you get stuck near berkeley/emeryville nightmare?

KeninBlaine

Interesting discussion here. I have been thinking about an errand and people moving car, and many of the choices mentioned here have been on my radar screen.

For a highway commute I don't think a hybrid is best choice, as they perform best in city conditions. Have to admit you can't beat the Hondas, Toyotas etc. for practicality in these situations. I love the Mazda3 hatchback. Slightly used ones can be had for around $15k. Great quality interior, nice ride, economical without being bland. For more money, I still like the Audi 3 with DSG. I've been monitoring used ones for 2 years and haven't seen much change in prices. Low to mid $20k range for models without excess miles. Minis are cute, and I almost got one 2 years ago, but heard too many stories of people growing weary of the rough ride. A Rabbit would be better choice than a Mini I think. (But the new 5 cyl Rabbit doesn't get very good city gas mileage).

roberga

motorcycle!!!!!!!! she can then split the lanes when traffic sucks. You could buy her some leather chaps :-)

blake

+1 for the Mini. I commute 100+ miles per day AND do it with 400 inches of snow in the winter. The Mini S rocks (need the extra hp and turbo). I conduct plenty of Bluetooth conference calls in the car, and have yet to have a problem. I looked at Civics, but wanted something sportier. As far as interior room, for two it provided plenty of space. For 3, it is a bit tight.

And I drive it very hard, and still get 31 mpg....

-Blake

andre5

580 off of 80 to and from the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge. 80 thru Berkeley/Emeryville is definitely a parking lot.

9974G

#1 Civic sedan (new), automatic
#2 Prius

The Civic will save you money when you buy. Also, gets excellent MPG (should average over 30MPG on mostly HW commutes).
Prius is a very strong contender too, I'm just not a big fan of how it looks.
Mini is cool, but imo, is more fit for the younger crowd (<25yo).

BTW, I was in a similar situation last december and was looking for a new DD to replace my trusty old Integra. Eventually, I bought a new 2008 BMW 328i sedan/automatic. Fairly comfortable and quite. Also fun to drive. But the 21MPG I'm averaging really sucks (so far the only negative thing about the car).

rmillnj

I have retired my 996 to just limited duty and now carpool with the wife in a 2007 Honda Civic EX. The daily commute is 130 miles round trip split between 2 lane country roads and interstate. There a stretches where we are able to do 75mph to 80mph on the interstate. The country roads are mostly 50-60mph. We average about 35mpg and that is without babying the car. When it is time to hit the gas we hit it.

I have only had my Civic for 18 months and we already up to 54,000 miles. In that time I have done nothing to the car but change the oil, 1 air filter and a set of tires. For $1200 I got the extended new car warranty from Honda so I am totally covered up to 120,000 miles, but I have a feeling nothing is going to break on this car.

Everyone I spoke to including the selling dealer, told me that for this type of use, they would not recommend a hybrid. Hybrids are really meant for city driving and then the issue of what the resale for 100,000+ mile hybrids will be in the future. Would you buy a hybrid at 100,000 on the original batteries? Also my independent service shop told me he can do anything major on a hybrid since his guys are not trained on them.


The Civic seems to have enough power to handle the interstate adequately, but after doing that commute for 2 years in the Porsche you notice the differences.

jjv

We love our '08 Scion xB as a commuter/utility car. There is a lot more space inside than you would guess.

http://www.clubxb.com/forums/f65/bla...lic-20917.html