2nd Commuter Car?

[gizmo]

I think I'm going to take a new job offer and the commute is a bit longer than I'm willing to drive the 1. 60miles/round trip

Requirements:
-Reliable
-Economical(25mpg+)
-Under $4k

Could care less what it looks like, or any stigmas attached to the car/brand.

Is under 4k and reliable even plausible?

Civic?

GO!

[atr_hugo]

Yes - there are a number of cars that'll fit that need.

My favorite - an older indestructible 3800 V6/automatic mid-sized Buick. Crappy interior, but bullet-proof engine/tranny. The car will rust out before the drivetrain gives up. And if you choose wisely you'll find a Buick that was driven by an OF at about 5 to 10 MPH under the prevailing speed limit its entire life!

[gizmo]

Crap, haha -- you just completely shoved this comment down my throat... "Could care less what it looks like, or any stigmas attached to the car/brand."

I can handle old civics, geos, ect.. But I'm not sure about an old buick.

[atr_hugo]

Hey - you said it! ; -)

But really - you can find them in decent shape and for a great price. The $4K limit may preclude some of the more popular choices, like Civic's, etc.

[atr_hugo]

[darthvadervoice]Come to the dorky side.[/darthvadervoice]

Check out this one - less than 45K miles and no reserve.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-...m260244036215&

The previous had a 3.1L V6 - this has 22K miles, the reliable 3.8L and a buy-it now of ~ $4K. Case closed! ; -)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-...m180245878455&

[gizmo]

Thanks, I'll check them out.

[gizmo]

Originally Posted by atr_hugo

[darthvadervoice]Come to the dorky side.[/darthvadervoice]

Check out this one - less than 45K miles and no reserve.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-...m260244036215&

WOW... thats not so bad, other than being 2500 miles away... Why so cheap?

[atr_hugo]

Because they're OF cars - the 'stigma'. They float on the higway - they get decent gas mileage - their brakes don't stop, but they don't squeal. They're just transportation.

Just make sure you get a license plate frame that says 'My Other Car is a Lexus'. You wouldn't want folks to think that BMW owners would drive a Buick, would you? ; -) <VBG and of course, j/k>

[gizmo]

Haha, I'll just get some stereotypical OF bumper stickers and a blow up doll that looks like my grandmother. That way it will look like I'm taking grandma out for a Sunday drive in HER buick. + bonus of being able to use the carpool lane.

[atr_hugo]

All you need is a 'See Rock City' sticker and a AAA sticker off-center and askew on the back bumper.

And you'll need one of these bad boys for the windshield:

[gizmo]

Perfect!

[PA135i]

Hey those Buicks are not far from my house. You got me thinking.
I just read up on them a bit. Intake manifiold gasket tends to crap out around 80,000 miles. Good mpg.. 20 - 29. Sounds like a good car for the commute and Winter. hmmmm... Atr what kind of mpg have you got with that car?

[atr_hugo]

I don't own one - but I've heard that 30 MPG on the highway has been done with the base 3800.

I've been exposed to a lot of GM cars over the years with the Buick V6. Those engiens are G-R-E-A-T. They're a 90 degree V6 and have an uneven firing pulse (which explains why they sound like industrial sewing machines) but they are stinking bullet-proof internally.

Here's a bit of a writeup, it jives with what I know about the enigne (especially its roots as a V8 - the Buick V8 spawned the Rover V8, BTW):

The venerable Buick 3.8 V6 has had a long and fairly illustrious career, powering many Buicks, and other GM vehicles over the past 30 years. The original design for the V6 started in the early 60s when Buick created a V6 based on the all aluminum 215 V8. The very first "Fireball" V6 displaced a whopping 198 cubic inches and shared tooling with the 215 aluminum V8 in 1962. In late 1963, the bore was increased to be the same as the 300 V8, which made displacement 225 cubic inches, where it stayed until 1967. Since the V6 had the same bore as the 1966 340 V8 it could be produced on the same assembly line. This made it cheap and easy to produce for the "compact" cars in GM's car lines. The demand for the V6 was never very great and the design resulted in an uneven firing order that produced a rough idling engine, so the design was sold to Jeep in 1967.

In the 70s, with the advent of the gas crisis and the demand for a versatile, lightweight, and inexpensive engine, Buick bought the design back from Jeep in 1974. The little V6 was reworked so that it could be made on the same assembly line as the Buick 350, which entailed making the bore 3.800". Using this bore size, it could share pistons and other parts with the V6. This engine retained the original designs "odd-fire" design.

In 1977, Buick redesigned the firing order to make it a smoother running engine by revising the crank throws. This was a mid-year change, so some odd-fire and some even-fire V6s were made during 1977. The new even-fire engine still retained the same bore spacing as the odd-fire version, so the bores were no longer centered over the rods and the engine had to be under balanced and soft motor mounts were used. The balancing took care of the vertical component of the vibrations and the motor mounts took care of the horizontal component.

Several variations of the 231" V6 were made over the years, including the 3.0 liter in some of the early 80s front wheel drive cars, the 4.1 liter used in some of the larger rear wheel drive cars, and of course, the turbo 3.8 variations used in the various Sport Coupes, turbo Regals, some early '80-81 Monte Carlos, and some of the Riviera's.

Stolen from this site: http://www.gnttype.org/general/v6hist.html

[atr_hugo]

BTW, they say with crank journal offsets it's even-firing. Well close, but no ceegar. It's virtually even-firing (which means, "almost, but not quite" ; -).

Take the number of cylinders, times the degrees of separation in the V and divide that by 360, if you get a whole number it's an even-firing engine. Crank off-sets help but don't cure the uneveness of the engine. The formula does not work for in-line engines of course.

So (6 * 90)/360 = 1.5

That's one of the reason a lot of V6s are 60 degree V6s.

(If I'm way far off base with this info someone here will keep me honest - but I'm pretty sure it's accurate.)

[PA135i]

Yeah, I read that.

I have to decide if getting a second car makes sense for me. Dont mind this car if the mpg and relieabilty are good. Would be good in snow even with all-seasons coz FWD. And no worries driving through bad weather.

[Heinzftw]

Well if you want value, reliability, and massive MPG. Honda crx, prelude, accord, civic, or del sol if you can find one. If you want the best of both worlds get the crx. 105 ponies with a 4 speed manual bundled with a car that weighs 1800lbs. You will average around 35+mpg!

[mtla4]

depends a honda or an a good old mk2 vw

[BMW Dreamer]

My dad has a 1999 Buick Park Ave. with the 3800 and he gets great mpg. Never had any engine/trans problems. Very reliable car/engine.

[akak1997]

you want MPG, go for a VW TDI
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-...m190224606647&

with a TDI and if you don't drive like a mad man, 60miles round trip, you probably have to fill up every 2 weeks or so.

[backtoreality15]

Fear!



98-99 Nissan Sentra. These things will refuse to give you any power-train problems. About 30MPG Highway. Perfect beater.

[BMW Dreamer]

I don't think an old used VW would be a good idea.

How about a 4 cyl Camry, Accord.

[HardTech]

Ford Focus, or a Ford Contour.

My dad has the focus, and I had the contour. The only thing that killed the contour was a f150 doing 55mph in its side I know the transmission and the engine where pulled out of that heap because they where still good and in running order.

Never knew why people got DD when they got a brand new car. Your not helping the value as the 1 while more rare bmw its still a factory mass produced machine. Used to be on the 350Z forum and I never understood how people could have 3500 miles on a car from 2003.

I buy my cars and enjoy the heck out of it every min I can, even if its sitting in traffic. It may end up getting more wear in 3 years compared to the garage queens. But I can say I enjoy the 50+ miles every day I put on mine. Weekends I drive maybe 10 miles total... how fun is that. 10 miles vs 250. Hmm that’s a hard one.

The 135 gets what 27 mpg if your not seeing how quick to 60 you can get, how is a 8 mpg improvement going to help you? Add in the extra insurance, maintenance, reg, and fees and I don’t think you save money in the long run.

All the power to ya, ill love paying an extra 1k more of your car with the low miles when you go to sell it. To me that extra 1k is so worth the grin I get every day.

Although if your doing 100-200 miles a day, then by all means get another car quick :P