Totaled my truck today. Economy car suggestions (vehicles, hybrid, buy)

[Regajohn]

My sister has a 2006 Passat wagon and I a friend has a 2007 4 door. Both automatics with 2.0 low pressure turbo. Great road cars, love to go fast, and comfortable seats (for me anyway). But they tend to have minor expensive problems ... electrical, air conditioner, windows, etc. I wouldn't get one unless it it was under VW warranty.

[Checkered24]

An older VW in that price range strikes me as asking for major expensive repair bills.

[Philosophizer]

Originally Posted by wankel7

Ford Focus around the 2004 year mark. Try to find a 2.3L Duratech with the manual transmission.

Found an 05 with 80k miles for $6500. Gunna take a look at it this afternoon. 4 door ST trim with manual tranny

[wankel7]

Originally Posted by Philosophizer

Found an 05 with 80k miles for $6500. Gunna take a look at it this afternoon. 4 door ST trim with manual tranny

Sounds like a pretty good deal. If you wanted to retain some of the carrying you had with the truck take a look at the Focus Wagons.

I had a 2004 Focus wagon with the 2.3L and manual. Got a solid 30mpg.

[Rynldsbr]

Originally Posted by Regajohn

My sister has a 2006 Passat wagon and I a friend has a 2007 4 door. Both automatics with 2.0 low pressure turbo. Great road cars, love to go fast, and comfortable seats (for me anyway). But they tend to have minor expensive problems ... electrical, air conditioner, windows, etc. I wouldn't get one unless it it was under VW warranty.

Agree with the smaller issues that add up quickly when parts have VW branding. Not the most economical total cost of ownership for a commuter car.

Focus is a good option or Nissan Sentra, they seem to stay a little less expensive than the Corolla counterpart and are a reliable car. Altima is also a vailable in that price but mileage will be higher. Mitsubishi Lancer (base) also fits the billing but will not have the same comfort level as a Sentra or a Focus, but probably can get a little newer for same price.

Mazda Protege was a great car for reliability and was the precursor to the Mazda3. It was also shared platform with the Escort and Mercury Tracer of the same era.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by Drover

The Protege did not "slot between" the 3 and the 6. The the Protege was the predecessor of the 3 and was smaller than the 3.

In other markets it was the Mazda 3 already.

[whiteboyslo]

Originally Posted by Philosophizer

Found an 05 with 80k miles for $6500. Gunna take a look at it this afternoon. 4 door ST trim with manual tranny

Good car. When Ford re-designed the Focus in 05, the ST was their attempt at 'replacing' the SVT model. It came with the 2.3L, while all other 05 models only came with the 2.0. It came with other goodies like leather interior, rear sway bar, some body pieces unique to the ST, and some other items I'm surely forgetting. I owned one for a brief time. Good low-end torque for a 4-banger and an overall easy car to live with. I just found myself missing the extra passenger space, so I got rid of it for a 09 Scion xB.

Mike

[himain]

I would not do a VW. Find a civic or a toyota

[itsMeFred]

So did you get it?

Originally Posted by wankel7

Ford Focus around the 2004 year mark. Try to find a 2.3L Duratech with the manual transmission.

My vote, too, though I've been perfectly happy with the 2.0
Your price range should put you in the 2004-2007 range.

I have 2, '03s-- one a manual and one auto. Super reliable cars with good features.

[MrGompers]

Originally Posted by Rynldsbr

. Altima is also a vailable in that price but mileage will be higher.

Avoid Nissan models from years 2004 2005 2006 with V6 engines. They have an issue with the timing chain guide becoming dislodged, thus making the chain tensioner fully extend in an effort to compensate. The chain will rattle like crazy. There is a class action lawsuit VS Nissan about this issue, but hasn't been settled yet.

Altimas and Sentras with the V4 engine are unaffected AFAIK.