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What's the best DD car option

  • Ford Focus

    Votes: 3 9.1%
  • VW TDI

    Votes: 5 15.2%
  • Subaru

    Votes: 17 51.5%
  • Other options

    Votes: 8 24.2%

Boring commuter car options

10K views 111 replies 38 participants last post by  OnlyInMyXJ22 
#1 ·
As my current daily driver ZR2 Sonoma is nearing the end of its life I need to look into something else. My typical daily drive is from White Lake to Livonia, so a car is a logical decision :(

My current thoughts are as follows with the following requirements: 2000-2008 model year range, manual transmission.

1. Ford Focus: SVT or 3 Door hatch. Pretty simple, easy to fix, easy access parts...

2. VW TDI Golf/Jetta/bug: I like the idea of a Golf but have no experience with VW's; heard of wiring/electronic issues, replacement part cost?

3. Subaru Impreza/WRX: Only option with AWD & manual trans. That's about all I really know, heard of oil consumption & leaking issues, replacement part cost?

4. Some other option: HHR, Aveo...something else.

What does the greater audience say about options 2-4. Looking for first hand opinions.
 
#6 ·
no way I would touch a diesel with the price of fuels as they are.
 
#8 ·
I'm not sure why I'm even responding here, because you're an askhole who will do whatever you want despite recommendations, but I'll give it a go anyway.

I've had 2 of the cars on your list: a Focus and a Subaru.

The Focus was a 2001 ZX3 3 door hatch with a 5 speed. The 5 speed made it so I could at least pretend it was a fun car even though it was boring as could be. It handled ok so I could throw it around on curvy roads, but with 130hp I don't think anything other than a manual would be tolerable if you want to stay awake driving it. I got it with about 145k miles and sold it with about 175k. I didn't have to do much to it but it seemed above average to work on. Parts were cheap in both cost and quality; typical throwaway car. Good inexpensive beater, but certainly not a car built to last. Don't buy one with 200k miles and expect it to last indefinitely. Mine was awful in snow and rain, but that may have been due to crappy tires. Hydroplaning like mad, couldn't go up the slightest incline, etc.

I've had 2 different Subaru's, both 2.5RS Impreza's. Don't buy a WRX for an econobox. They're fun and powerful, but lifespan is shortened with the turbo, you'll have to run premium fuel, and you'll get worse mileage doing it. Better for a fun car, worse for a DD meant to save you money. A WRX will cost significantly more in maintenance, fuel, and insurance from day 1. Get a non-turbo 2.5L Subaru, whether it's an Impreza, Outback, Legacy, or Forester. They're all good, solid, reliable cars that still make plenty of power and torque for a commuter. Manual and auto are both good choices. Manual is obviously more fun but can suck in traffic. The 2.5L can run for 300k miles without much issue but will require typical maintenance like timing belt every 75-100k. Some have head gasket issues, which is a pretty easy job. I think they fixed the gasket design issue around 2003-2004. Subaru's are the most well thought out, easiest, non-frustrating vehicles to work on that I've ever touched. Everything just makes sense and is packaged correctly. Parts are fairly cheap too. They'll go anywhere in any weather. It's unreal how those things claw through deep snow. They're still small and light so will get pushed around at speed in deep rutted snow, but they'll go anywhere. I've had my fullsize 4WD truck with good tires struggle in deep snow that my Impreza didn't even seem to notice.
The downside: Subaru's all have crazy high resale value. It's very hard to find one for a decent price. Mine has a rebuilt title from a previous accident, and needed head gaskets, so I got it for a great price. Had I not found that kind of deal I'd still have the Focus.

I have no personal experience with TDIs, but they seem hit or miss depending on year. Some people I know with older ones love them and say they last forever, but it seems like the people with mid 2000s year range can't keep the damn things running for more than a week. Definitely do your homework if you go that route.


Cliff notes: If you can find a good deal on a 2.5 non-turbo Subaru, buy it.
 
#12 ·
I love the Shit out of my 13 Chevy Sonic Hatch 1.4 turbo.

Gets great mileage, its peppy and fun to drive, has great head and leg room for tall people (even if it looks like it doesn't from the outside).

Set of winter tires on some steelies and it is the best car Ive ever owned for the winter too.

Also you can pick them up low miles for pretty damn cheap and still have factory warranties.
 

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#23 ·
My 1.4l Cruze was a turbo lagging dog with a non responsive 6 speed auto that visited the dealer 6 times for engine issues and recalls. I traded it in for my Subaru after #6. Glad to hear you are having better luck than I did. I did test drive a Sonic before I made the mistake of buying a Cruze. I kind of liked the Sonic. Simple and cheap, plus manual transmission.
 
#14 ·
The only car I would consider of your options is a Subaru . Keep an eye on oil consumption.. My nephew is putting a new motor in his 09 turbo because he asummed he could go 4000 miles between changes, without checking it.

Worked in a vw audi shop for 15 yrs, wouldn't ever buy one that wasn't aircooled. They are over complex German engineered junk. Just one example...Most car makers use one or two control arms per corner. Vw and Audi use 4-6 per wheel so any suspension work costs 4-5 times as much as a normal car. They regularly blow timing belts way before the recommended service interval and when they do they bend every valve...

Also wouldn't touch a focus, or any Ford product. They are a complete pile of shit, same as an escape. They are underpowered, raffle, shake, they are just garbage. I would buy a kia before a ford...
Dodge neon is ten times the car a focus will ever be. And I hate dodges....

As a certified tech who works on all brands of cars I would be looking at a Hyundai for a cheap beater.. Better quality then Honda or Toyota imo, and cheaper to buy and maintain.
 
#15 ·
I had a 99 RS coupe that had 150k on it, manual trans, burned some oil but always ran good, want to say I was getting about 27mpg. 2.5 non turbo.

Wife currently has a 2015 impreza, 2.0 non turbo hatch back. Fun car to drive. Currently getting about 30-32mpg, but I am told it should get closer to rated mpg once it breaks in. We have less than 4k on it.

Head gaskets and oil consumption are hit or miss on the subaru's. Across all models and most years. The head gaskets are easy to do if you run into that, and the oil consumption is annoying, but not a problem if you keep an eye on oil levels.

Parts were not expensive when I bought them for my 1999. They were also very easy to remove/install.

I personally would not be too worried about having the turbo wrx, if you just want a reliable commuter the n/a cars do the trick, kinda slow off the line (both of ours behave the same), but once over 20 mph or so they seem "peppy" and are very fun when driven in a spirited manner. they corner well, brake well, etc.

if you want a little extra speed and are not concerned with the added reliability/cost concerns associated with the turbo, then of course the WRX is a more fun car than the ones I have owned thus far. I've driven both the WRX and the STi multiple times and they are a lot of fun in my opinion.

The subaru's hold their value well, so unless you are willing to pay for it, you're going to get a car that is either high miles, or beat on, but they seem to be pretty durable and easy to acquire parts for. Within reason.

Regarding the VW's, I've tried multiple times to buy one, but I have never been able to bring myself to do it due to horror stories about the electrical systems. Many seem to have good luck with the VW tdi's and getting good mileage, but I don't think they are worth the premium in cost (both vehicle and fuel) for the little bit of mileage advantage you're getting, unless gas goes up over $5.
I'm not sure why I'm even responding here, because you're an askhole who will do whatever you want despite recommendations, but I'll give it a go anyway.

I've had 2 of the cars on your list: a Focus and a Subaru.

The Focus was a 2001 ZX3 3 door hatch with a 5 speed. The 5 speed made it so I could at least pretend it was a fun car even though it was boring as could be. It handled ok so I could throw it around on curvy roads, but with 130hp I don't think anything other than a manual would be tolerable if you want to stay awake driving it. I got it with about 145k miles and sold it with about 175k. I didn't have to do much to it but it seemed above average to work on. Parts were cheap in both cost and quality; typical throwaway car. Good inexpensive beater, but certainly not a car built to last. Don't buy one with 200k miles and expect it to last indefinitely. Mine was awful in snow and rain, but that may have been due to crappy tires. Hydroplaning like mad, couldn't go up the slightest incline, etc.

I've had 2 different Subaru's, both 2.5RS Impreza's. Don't buy a WRX for an econobox. They're fun and powerful, but lifespan is shortened with the turbo, you'll have to run premium fuel, and you'll get worse mileage doing it. Better for a fun car, worse for a DD meant to save you money. A WRX will cost significantly more in maintenance, fuel, and insurance from day 1. Get a non-turbo 2.5L Subaru, whether it's an Impreza, Outback, Legacy, or Forester. They're all good, solid, reliable cars that still make plenty of power and torque for a commuter. Manual and auto are both good choices. Manual is obviously more fun but can suck in traffic. The 2.5L can run for 300k miles without much issue but will require typical maintenance like timing belt every 75-100k. Some have head gasket issues, which is a pretty easy job. I think they fixed the gasket design issue around 2003-2004. Subaru's are the most well thought out, easiest, non-frustrating vehicles to work on that I've ever touched. Everything just makes sense and is packaged correctly. Parts are fairly cheap too. They'll go anywhere in any weather. It's unreal how those things claw through deep snow. They're still small and light so will get pushed around at speed in deep rutted snow, but they'll go anywhere. I've had my fullsize 4WD truck with good tires struggle in deep snow that my Impreza didn't even seem to notice.
The downside: Subaru's all have crazy high resale value. It's very hard to find one for a decent price. Mine has a rebuilt title from a previous accident, and needed head gaskets, so I got it for a great price. Had I not found that kind of deal I'd still have the Focus.

I have no personal experience with TDIs, but they seem hit or miss depending on year. Some people I know with older ones love them and say they last forever, but it seems like the people with mid 2000s year range can't keep the damn things running for more than a week. Definitely do your homework if you go that route.


Cliff notes: If you can find a good deal on a 2.5 non-turbo Subaru, buy it.
I love the Shit out of my 13 Chevy Sonic Hatch 1.4 turbo.

Gets great mileage, its peppy and fun to drive, has great head and leg room for tall people (even if it looks like it doesn't from the outside).

Set of winter tires on some steelies and it is the best car Ive ever owned for the winter too.

Also you can pick them up low miles for pretty damn cheap and still have factory warranties.
The only car I would consider of your options is a Subaru . Keep an eye on oil consumption.. My nephew is putting a new motor in his 09 turbo because he asummed he could go 4000 miles between changes, without checking it.

Worked in a vw audi shop for 15 yrs, wouldn't ever buy one that wasn't aircooled. They are over complex German engineered junk. Just one example...Most car makers use one or two control arms per corner. Vw and Audi use 4-6 per wheel so any suspension work costs 4-5 times as much as a normal car. They regularly blow timing belts way before the recommended service interval and when they do they bend every valve...

Also wouldn't touch a focus, or any Ford product. They are a complete pile of shit, same as an escape. They are underpowered, raffle, shake, they are just garbage. I would buy a kia before a ford...
Dodge neon is ten times the car a focus will ever be. And I hate dodges....

As a certified tech who works on all brands of cars I would be looking at a Hyundai for a cheap beater.. Better quality then Honda or Toyota imo, and cheaper to buy and maintain.
Just because all the quoted posts make it so long to scroll to the bottom.


I think $ vs repair costs vs cost to buy vs not caring what boring commuter you have, focus is hard to beat.

Buy them dirt cheap, maintain only safety concerned stuff, throw away when done.

Isn't their a $500 focus for sale on here right now?
 
#17 ·
As my current daily driver ZR2 Sonoma is nearing the end of its life I need to look into something else. My typical daily drive is from White Lake to Livonia, so a car is a logical decision :(

My current thoughts are as follows with the following requirements: 2000-2008 model year range, manual transmission.

1. Ford Focus: SVT or 3 Door hatch. Pretty simple, easy to fix, easy access parts...

2. VW TDI Golf/Jetta/bug: I like the idea of a Golf but have no experience with VW's; heard of wiring/electronic issues, replacement part cost?
Tdi's are harder to come by, making them a little more expensive. Michigan cancer didn't help. Great for fuel economy

3. Subaru Impreza/WRX: Only option with AWD & manual trans. That's about all I really know, heard of oil consumption & leaking issues, replacement part cost?
Replacement parts weren't really any worse than anything else. I had an 05 legacy. Head gasket and oil pickup tubes cracking were the two main ones.

4. Some other option: HHR, Aveo...something else.

What does the greater audience say about options 2-4. Looking for first hand opinions.

See above for answers. I like the sonic we got for the wife most recently. Parts are cheap, 1.4t can be made quite peppy, and murica.
 
#21 ·
Cobalts/G5 are damn near free at this point.

4 cylinder epsilon (Malibu or G6 or Aura) aren't far behind.

4 cylinder Fusion, if it still has a transmission in it.

Then you have the normal shitboxes that nobody cares about.

Older Fucus, they're pretty easy to work on. Most of them are getting crispy now. New ones are too much Mazda.

The only thing on your list you might be happy with is a 2.5RS Lezbaru. Easy to work on, fairly reliable, fairly cheap to fix.

If I had to drive a shitty commuter car because it was too expensive to drive something nice I'd probably either find a different job that is closer to home, move, or ask for a raise and buy something that doesn't suck to drive.
 
#63 ·
Ah the usual passive-aggressive, quasi insulting Wrath "advice". Some things never change.
I probably put more thought into it than you did.

Some people live where they want and work where they have to. I don't want to live where the good engineering jobs are cuz that's where everybody else lives. I'll gladly drive a bit to do so. I could afford to drive a nice truck daily just fine, but why pay more to drive an expensive purpose-built vehicle into the ground when I don't have to? I'd rather keep my nice truck nice and save money driving a decent car that I don't mind racking up miles on. Parking is easier, every day it's putting $20 in my pocket, and the little 5 speed "Lezbaru" is fun in all weather. I daily drove a truck long enough, whether I can afford it or not it's still no fun spending a small mortgage payment to drive around in a 3/4 ton truck with an empty bed and no trailer. There are better things to do with the money for most of us.
Do you drive a Subaru or something? I wasn't paying attention. I thought you had something else.

And I wouldn't compare driving a lifted diesel truck on a long commute. That's just crazy talk.

Anyway...
Let's say you have a car that costs $120 to plate. $100/month to insure. You're at $1300 a year to have it sit in the driveway. That's $1300 that can go into the fuel tank of your non-commuter vehicle. That's a lot of fuel. At today's prices, that's about 600 gallons. If you have a vehicle that only gets 15mpg then that is 9,000 miles. I drive about 20k a year.

With the exception of wear on tires of a truck or high-performance car (think BMW 7 series) vs a shitbox, pretty much everything else costs the same to maintain on a vehicle. Maybe if you drive a diesel truck that takes 3 gallons of oil and a fuel filter every oil change that isn't the case. But let's say you're comparing a mediocre BMW 3-series vs a strip model Chrysler 200. Same cost to maintain.

The depreciation on a BMW 3-series is about the same as a Chrysler 200 when comparing mileage per dollar. It's just that the 3-series goes from $35k to $25k and the Chrysler 200 goes from $20k to $10k.

Now let's go back to the more important part... where you live in relation to your work. Every minute you're driving on your own time is on your own dime. That means you're paying to go to work in both vehicle maintenance/consumables and fixed dollars... plus lost time at home. So if there is no compelling reason to live far from work then why do it? Let's say you live an hour from work and you work 5 days on premises. That means you work "for free" for 250 hours per year versus someone that commutes half an hour.

What I'm getting at is why would you want to spend two hours per day in a shitbox if it doesn't cost much more to have something quiet and enjoyable like a used CTS or MKX or BMW 5-series if it costs about the same per mile? Further, why not consider moving closer to work or bringing work closer to home?

Lastly, consider asking to work from home.
 
#22 ·
Take a look at the Impreza sport (hatchback) or the Crosstrek. We have an Impreza and it is 10X better than the POS Cruze we had. Better drivetrain (No oil issues after redisign) wayyyy more legroom, no mechanical problems, AWD, and assembled in Indiana.
 
#31 ·
What's your price range?

Cars I would consider:
Mercury grand marquis
Anything gm with ecotec and manual trans, cavalier, ion, cobalt, G5, vue, Malibu, etc.
Then obvious choices of Camry or accord civic Corolla with 3 pedals
I'm an Oldsmobile man, so I'd find anything with velour seats that isn't rusty and whistle big band music music out my ass with a smile on my face.

I was also looking at tracker and vitara prices the other day and they didn't look too bad.
 
#32 ·
I drive a shitbox 02 sunfire, paid 1500 bones for it. Put a clutch in it and have driven it for 70k miles with very minimal maintenance.
Still averages 32mpg at 195k
 
#36 ·
I daily drive my truck because I don't have the want, need or room to put another vehicle in my driveway. I don't consider there to be a right or wrong on what a person dd's. It's personal choice.

RE American made, I'm also a big 3 supporter. World market for manufacturing? Yes. Similar content? Probably very similar. I've seen charts in the past that show the big 3 to be a little more but not a big difference. (no idea on the current contents) But I like the fact that the engineering, R&D and profits are primarily here for the big 3.
 
#37 ·
I daily drive my truck because I don't have the want, need or room to put another vehicle in my driveway. I don't consider there to be a right or wrong on what a person dd's. It's personal choice.AGREE....IT'S WHAT YOU LIKE AND FEEL COMPFORTABLE WITH. what do you LIKE to drive , what can you afford to drive [including ins., maintenance (especially parts and oil changes if it's foreign) and misc. costs and how long is the trip? if you don't have a lot of open road, don't make a sports car your dd.

RE American made, I'm also a big 3 supporter. World market for manufacturing? Yes. Similar content? Probably very similar. I've seen charts in the past that show the big 3 to be a little more but not a big difference. (no idea on the current contents) But I like the fact that the engineering, R&D and profits are primarily here for the big 3.also a Detroit supporter. BUT I think Fiat/Chrysler's profits are going to Italy to prop up Fiat in Europe. BooHoo. FIAT did the same thing DAIMLER did.. they took Chrysler's large cash reserves and moved them to Europe to prop up an ailing local business.:whiz:
:confused::beerbang:
 
#40 ·
Well, a vote for option 4

The HHR never let me down, but be prepared to replace struts and LCA bushings often if you live on a dirt road. Fortunately, they are easy to do- like 15 minute job easy. It will also carry a surprising amount of parts for other projects, and you won't be tempted to turn it into a project car.

Only reason I traded mine in was Camaro.
 
#49 · (Edited)
I had two VW rabbits. One diesel, one gas.
Both were snow warriors on winter Sierra roads with studded snow tires. Like it was on rails.
On dry, those cars handle twistys better than a Porsche. Impressive.

The diesel I heard had 400k miles on when it's next owner wrecked it. That car sold me on diesel cars.

The gas was another story. I liked everything about it and preferred it to the diesel. Then one morning at -20° it would not start. I could not figure out why.
After a couple months of pulling brain cells I took it to a VW mechanic. He could find nothing wrong with it. But could not make it run. Took it to the dealer and got the same story.

I've always been of the mindset commuter cars should be fun cars, ESPECIALLY because you are trapped in them for so much time.
 
#50 ·
I should add that I drive a lot for work, carry some work items with me and am expected to be able to go where needed on the spur of the moment. Many times a phone call comes in and I'm headed out the door. So, leaving my truck at home doesn't work.

Oh, and my truck was built in Flint and my wife's Jeep was built in Toledo so I feel we are supporting as good as we can.
 
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