Fuel efficient SUV/Car search

[NeetaT]

If you would like to go broke, buy the Nissan X-Terra. It is much worse than the 4-Runner for gas mileage.

[earlyretirement]

[quote=JohnAlt91941][quote=treehugger]
I want something that has plenty of room for my toys and dogs (bikes, stand up paddle boards, 2 75 pound dogs) and gets good gas mileage. I think I am going to go this weekend and test drive the Jetta sportwagon and AUDI A3 both TDI get great gas mileage, but is the extra cost of diesel worth it?
[/quote]

My 2009 Jetta TDI had a failure of the high pressure fuel pump. VW had to replace the entire fuel system due to metal shavings from the pump grenading. Mine wasn’t the only one for this generation of the TDI.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=299854

I think Audi diesels use the same fuel pump.

Additionally, the turbo failed on it twice and I kept getting a check engine light for the exhaust temperature sensor despite NUMEROUS attempts at repair by the dealership.

I also owned a 2003 Jetta TDI that was the best car I ever had. I wish I still did. 45 mpg, 650 miles to a tank. But the clean diesel I bought in 2009 was a mess.[/quote]

Yikes. I hope I don’t have any problems like that. This was my first Audi. The only problem I’ve had so far is that I just went in for a service visit and keep in mind my car is less than 2 years old. I only have 16,900 miles on it. Well, I just took it in a few weeks ago for a scheduled maintenance and they said the front brake pads already need to be changed! I was like huh? And it was something like $1,300 or something they quoted.

I was shocked as I’ve owned other cars before where I owned it for 4 or 5 years and never had to change the brake pads. Apparently with the Q7s they say EVERY 15,000 to 20,000 miles! And the back brakes they say every 25,000 to 30,000 miles.

I said thanks but no thanks and said I’ll wait until my “Check Brake” lights go on.

Other than that I’ve been really happy with the TDI. I always heard people complain before about Diesels being loud, fuel smelling, etc. But I really wouldn’t even know it was a diesel if it didn’t have the TDI on the back of my car.

I’d definitely get another TDI again in the future. I don’t change cars often. I’m not that type. I typically drive cars until they can’t drive any further. But this “change brake pads” after only 15,000 miles thing turns into other problems I’ll probably sing another tune.

But as BG mentioned, it really does feel like you’re in a protected tank. There is a LOT of room and it’s spacious and the third row is big enough for our kids. When the in laws come in town we actually put the 3rd row to good use.

Any of these SUV’s you can buy a roof rack really easily online for paddle boards, etc.

[treehugger]

Very interesting discussion, lots of good points and some not so….Excursion REALLY? I take no issue with the cargo capacity to carry dogs/kids/toys in my 4Runner other than the gas mileage I love it. I know we should not base our identity on a vehicle, so childish….but I just don’t feel like a sedan kinda person. I think I am very much a mid-size SUV kinda girl.

I would love a TDI SUV; however, the cost is crazy expensive! That is why I was considering the Jetta Wagon. I researched the Audi A3 and the Lexus hybrid and cost to purchase would not make sense over the 4Runner and as I said, overall driving experiance is lost on me, I love the big tank feel of my 4Runner.

Realistically, if I am doing it for gas mileage all roads point to a Prius. The Leaf is interesting theoretically, I just don’t feel society is there yet, maybe another few years, we are building more green technology infrastructure, then the plug in may take off once we are not afraid of running out of juice stuck in traffic with the A/C off on a hot summer day when all the fools are bound for the horse races….Anyway, I have a bunch of friends who own the Prius and they love them. I may justify buying a smaller stand up paddleboard to fit into a Prius. Putting a big 10 ft paddleboard on top of an SUV sucks! I am not sure what the interior dimension of a Prius are am going to reaearch and see if a 9 ft paddleboard would fit.

Thanks for all the input. If anyone knows the interior dimensions of a Prius I am listening (relative to a 9ft board assuming I am alone in the vehicle).

[spdrun]

Me, I *LOATHE!* SUVs and their tank-like feeling. Feels tippy and awkward to drive to me.

[desmond]

[quote=spdrun]Me, I *LOATHE!* SUVs and their tank-like feeling. Feels tippy and awkward to drive to me.[/quote]

You are not alone sp, my wife and daughter feel the same way………..

[spdrun]

I’d take a jeep or dunebuggy for hard-core off roading, but as a daily driver, no thx.

[kev374]

$1300 for brakes?? Oh my lord! This is the definition of insanity. This is the reason I say German cars are fantastic to drive but impractical to own. If you feel the itch to drive one just rent one but own a Japanese make.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]Me, I *LOATHE!* SUVs and their tank-like feeling. Feels tippy and awkward to drive to me.[/quote]

I would much prefer to be up high driving a 4WD “tank” (read Toy 4-Runner or Lexus LX) and wave to professional drivers than drive a Fiat 500 or Miata (with the gas/brake/clutch 6-8″ from the ground) and be at the mercy of ALL drivers out there.

Especially in snow and ice. Those cars have no place to even store sandbags in order to add a little weight to them.

My brush with death was going downhill on southbound 805 in heavy rain in my Honda Prelude when a triple tractor trailer (MX plates) lost its brakes and was furiously trying to downshift carrying 80 tons of large concrete pipe no doubt on its way to the Tijuana Estuary project being constructed at the time. When its headlights were within 2′ of me shining in my rear view mirror and it was honking loudly, I managed to jump over one lane without looking and safely got off the next exit. This vehicle could have run right over me :=0

This was in 1991 during evening rush hour and I will never, ever forget it. I had PTSD regarding this incident for a couple of years afterwards dreaming of bright lights engulfing me. That Prelude was my last “little fun sports car with a clutch.” I drove tank sedans and a 4X4 after that and will continue to do so.

[spdrun]

That’s why overweight SUVs lugging around 5500 lb of pigfat and with 400 hp so a soccer mooooomy can plaster her ill-behaved sprogs to the leather seats by pressing the loud pedal are impractical to own. Yep, the 5500 lb is CURB weight, not GVWR. 1500lb heavier than your average 70s or 80s American land barge. Fail.

Q7? Just call it the Audi Suburban, Canyonero, or Power Wagon. Every time I see one of those things on the road, and think back to when Audi made light, innovative, fun-to-drive cars, I want to burst into tears.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]I’d take a jeep or dunebuggy for hard-core off roading, but as a daily driver, no thx.[/quote]

I love the Jeep Cherokee, even for everyday driving, but with all the optons these vehicles have had since the late nineties, they are almost as expensive as a Lexus LX.

A dunebuggy is okay out in the sand near the CA/AZ border or out in the Mojave Desert but is NOT okay to take off road on high mtn trails with no guardrails with switchbacks crossing streams and rocks. That’s what a Jeep and Toy Tacoma 4WD are for. The Jeep Wrangler and Cherokee are the very best vehicles for this purpose.

[spdrun]

Had he hit you, you’d have been just as dead in an SUV. At least you could jump the Quaalude out of the way without rolling it over. G-d may have been with you that you didn’t have an SUV that day.

If I were buying new, my poison of choice these days would probably be a small wagon. Fit, Prius, Jetta, or whatever else happens to be out there.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=kev374]$1300 for brakes?? Oh my lord! This is the definition of insanity. This is the reason I say German cars are fantastic to drive but impractical to own. If you feel the itch to drive one just rent one but own a Japanese make.[/quote]

Lexus brakes are $800-$900 all around (with machining, if needed). Toyota brakes are about $750-$800. I’ve also heard the Volvo needs brakes every 10-12K miles. I think that’s ridiculous.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]That’s why overweight SUVs lugging around 5500 lb of pigfat and with 400 hp so a soccer mooooomy can plaster her ill-behaved sprogs to the leather seats by pressing the loud pedal are impractical to own. Yep, the 5500 lb is CURB weight, not GVWR. 1500lb heavier than your average 70s or 80s American land barge. Fail.

Q7? Just call it the Audi Suburban, Canyonero, or Power Wagon. Every time I see one of those things on the road, and think back to when Audi made light, innovative, fun-to-drive cars, I want to burst into tears.[/quote]

spdrun, most of my family members in those “flyover states” still insist on driving American-made barges today. Unlike, living on the east or west coast, they have to drive daily with a LOT of comm’l trucks and it just feels safer to be surrounded by all that metal and padding. Besides, unlike those ’70’s and ’80’s barges, the *newer* models have an annoying “personality” in that they talk incessantly about EVERYTHING :-0

The Lincoln Towncar is the preferred barge of choice of my brethren back in flyover America with the Chrysler New Yorker coming in at a close second 🙂

[spdrun]

Totally understood, actually:

Frankly, I *wish* that GM would release the police Caprice with a diesel engine (rather than a gas-guzzling piggie V-8) when it comes out for civilian use in 2014. I’d love a 30+ mpg “land barge” — I drove a Caprice wagon in college before some fool stole it and exported it to Saudi Arabia(*), and it had awesome carrying capacity, got high-mid 20s highway MPG, and handled better than any SUV.

(*) – no joke.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=spdrun]Totally understood, actually:

Frankly, I *wish* that GM would release the police Caprice with a diesel engine (rather than a gas-guzzling piggie V-8) when it comes out for civilian use in 2014. I’d love a 30+ mpg “land barge” — I drove a Caprice wagon in college before some fool stole it and exported it to Saudi Arabia(*), and it had awesome carrying capacity, got high-mid 20s highway MPG, and handled better than any SUV.

(*) – no joke.[/quote]

I believe you, spdrun. Ask yourself why this happened.

I have another 3 relatives who have enjoyed driving their loudmouthed-blabbering Cadillac Northstars for years. One drives her white one 8 miles thru the mud at least once a month to her “vacation home.” We must keep in mind that gas is usually .80 – $1.00 cheaper per gallon in flyover America than it costs on the coasts. I don’t have ONE SINGLE RELATIVE who has ever cared about gas prices. They are from all walks of life but drive ONLY land barges and full-sized and duelly pickups, some with full back seats. NONE of them will sacrifice comfort and safety for gas mileage.

Their younger Gen X/Gen Y kids (my second cousins) drive more Japanese vehicles but not my aunts, uncles and cousins.

German vehicles are sold in those parts but are not preferred by the masses. It is rare to see a locally tagged one on the street.

I think vehicle preference in the US is culturally-based, depending on region.

[Author]

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