What cars to consider - with mileage > 40 mpg?

 

   My first car was a 1981 VW Rabbit Diesel, with manual transmission.
It only had a 50 horsepower engine, but I was spoiled as far as
efficiency - it got 40 miles per gallon on the highway.  I carried an
extra small can of Diesel in the back, and could go 500 miles before
having to fill up again at a station.  The car cost $900 (was about 5
years old), and I used it for 5 years before selling it.

   Of course, I gauge everything I see today by that 40 MPG standard.  I
see new cars getting 30 mpg highway, and think of them as fuel wasters.
  Of course, many of them are not Diesel, nor are they manual
transmission.  I realize that having a manual transmission adds about 3
mpg to your car's efficiency, and that having a Diesel adds roughly 30%.
(just because it has more energy per gallon of fuel)

   Anyway, I'm beginning the initial stages of looking for a new to us
used vehicle.  This is partly because we will likely be moving to the
country next year, and my wife will have a commute probably between 30
and 60 minutes total driving each day.  We already have a van, but would
like a smaller vehicle primarily for her to commute to work and back.


   I'd like it to get at least 40 mpg highway, be a Diesel, and have
manual transmission.  I think the 40 mpg should be a starting point -
I'm assuming they have improved efficiencies in the past 30 years, and
that they can probably do better than that now, but we'd be happy with 40+.

   Can anyone recommend a car that would make us happy?

 

OhioGuy wrote:

Don't know of a car offhand that will meet your criteria, but around
here, diesel is substantially more expensive than gasoline thirty or
forty cents per gallon.  Don't look at the just the mileage a particular
vehicle gets, consider the fuel cost to drive a mile.  It may be that a
lower mpg with regular gas ends up costing less to drive.

 

 >here, diesel is substantially more expensive than gasoline thirty or
 >forty cents per gallon.  Don't look at the just the mileage a
 >particular vehicle gets, consider the fuel cost to drive a mile.

   Ok, I've got to respond to that.  Yes, Diesel is often 30 or 40 cents
more than gasoline in the USA.  This is mostly artificial, due to higher
taxes that are levied on it - they assume that mostly huge rigs are
using Diesel, and putting most of the wear on the highways.

   Anyway, you are talking about maybe a 10% difference in price.
Diesel fuel has about 30% more energy in it per gallon, which is most of
what gives a Diesel more miles per gallon.  This greater miles per
gallon more than makes up for the difference in fuel price.

   When you add to the fact that Diesels often go 400,000 to 500,000
miles when given regular maintenance, it would seem obvious that a
Diesel would be a better long term investment.  My Uncle had a VW Rabbit
Diesel that had nearly 500,000 miles on the odometer.  Engine would
still start and run, but the floor finally rusted out.

 


Nope, thats true right thruout the first world now.


wear on the highways.

Have fun explaining how come diesel is higher priced right
thruout the first world now, even in countrys that dont do that.


gives a Diesel more miles per gallon.

price.


still start and run, but the floor finally

 

OhioGuy wrote:

It doesn't matter if the price is "artificial" or not, the differential
is still there at the moment.


According to http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.html  a
gallon of gas contains 115000 BTU and a gallon of diesel contains 130500
BTU.  That's a difference of around 12% - the usual figure I've seen
quoted is 11%.  On the face of it, in terms of energy content, diesel
and gas cost pretty much the same, if diesel is 10% more expensive per
gallon than gasoline.

I'm not really talking about a 10% difference in price - that was the
difference at the station where I generally fuel up last week.  Today,
at http://www.ohiogasprices.com/index.aspx?fuel=D  for the first station
on the list, the prices were diesel $3.79 and gas $3.19 - that's almost
a 19% premium for diesel over regular gas.  I have no idea what the
prices are in your area, or how they'd affect your perception of which
fuel cost less to drive per mile.

A diesel engine will give you more miles per gallon than a gas engine,
but you'd expect 11%-12% greater mileage simply based on the energy content.


I don't know if that lifetime is accurate or not, or whether it's a mean
time before failure estimate or just that some percentage of diesel cars
(not trucks) last that long (and what's the percentage?) Anecdotes don't
really prove anything - my mother-in-law drove the same Ford Granada for
23 years.  Would you believe me if I said Fords last a couple of decades?

In any case, all I was doing was mentioning that diesel costs more than
gas.  And the price of diesel has gone up faster than gas (not too many
years ago, diesel was cheaper than gas).  The recommendation is that you
consider not only mileage, but acquisition cost (diesels tend to cost
more), maintenance, longevity, etc. if you want to get the most for your
transportation dollar.