[SoulAssassin]

Alright, here's the deal: I've got a perfectly *knock on wood* good 2001 Wrangler and I love it. The problem is the gas prices, of course, and I drive it for work. A day may be 0 miles but it might be ~200 miles. I'm looking to buy a more efficient car for gas even though I get reimbursed for miles. A friend of mine is a mechanic but he's the only person I know that knows anything about cars, including me, so I'm looking for a variety of answers.

The Jeep is paid off, I get on avg $650 a month for mileage right now (doesn't include cost of gas which is about $400-$450). I'm debating the second car thing but how much should I put into a second car? He said no more than 8k but I also don't want to worry about reliability. After looking around online the best cars less than $8k in the honda/toyota sections seem to be cars with over 120k miles...some with 175k! Anyways, I'm really just looking for a variety in the feedback so I can get a better idea of what I should be searching for and if I should wait for a better deal if I find a decent car.

Also, just to include a bit more info, I can put a few k down if need be which is why i was originally looking at a $13k 2005 camry with 65k miles. Not sure if that's a good idea or not but hey that's why I'm here.

Edit: I guess another question I have: are there certain models I should stay away from? For example, are the DX civics crappy?

[Juballharshaw]

Unless Cincinnati is obscenely expensive on the used Honda scene you should be able to find some decent used cars with under 100k miles on them for the 8-13k range. The Accord's golden years are 98-02 (I love my '04 but the generation is very hit or miss), Civics as far as I know are decent throughout model years as far as Toyotas no clue. If you do get a Honda, don't get the base model because until the last couple years they didn't come with ABS.

[SoulAssassin]

Originally Posted by Juballharshaw

Unless Cincinnati is obscenely expensive on the used Honda scene you should be able to find some decent used cars with under 100k miles on them for the 8-13k range. The Accord's golden years are 98-02 (I love my '04 but the generation is very hit or miss), Civics as far as I know are decent throughout model years as far as Toyotas no clue. If you do get a Honda, don't get the base model because until the last couple years they didn't come with ABS.

Right now I'm looking on cars.com and autotrader.com for a few civics and see the EX coupes...Those aren't the base models are they? I'm pretty ignorant on anything other than Jeeps so bare with me.

Edit: Here's a car that originally caught my eye the other day:
Cars For Sale: Car Details - AutoTrader.com

[gB dAvId x]

I think they are, I think it goes, ex, lx, dx? I have a honda accord its a lx and I know for sure its the middle models, the higher end models not sure if it's ex or dx has the vtec engine

[Juballharshaw]

Honda from low to high is dx, lx, ex though in 06 or something they scrapped the dx for the vp for "value package" or some such none sense. (In Accords there's the EX-L which is their leather upgrade to ex.)

For Civics, the EX definitely has ABS, the LX might (really not sure), and the DX definitely doesn't. (Same for older Accords too)

If it helps, Carfax says that Camry was a private lease that was serviced every 3000 miles nearly religiously.

[Mr. Ali]

All I know is that the Civic LX model from 2006 and on has ABS for sure (but only front disk brakes vs 4 on the EX). The Civic DX is complete shit, it doesn't even have AC!

[SoulAssassin]

Originally Posted by Juballharshaw

Honda from low to high is dx, lx, ex though in 06 or something they scrapped the dx for the vp for "value package" or some such none sense. (In Accords there's the EX-L which is their leather upgrade to ex.)

For Civics, the EX definitely has ABS, the LX might (really not sure), and the DX definitely doesn't. (Same for older Accords too)

If it helps, Carfax says that Camry was a private lease that was serviced every 3000 miles nearly religiously.

Thanks! That's good info to have. The carfax link on the autotrader page just led me to an ordering form. I may go take a peek at that one today.

[sims]

You really can't go wrong with basically any 90's Honda or Toyota. These were the crowning years for both companies and the reason they have the reputations that they do today. Startng in the early 2000's low costs became a larger priority then sticking to the quality standards they once use to.

As big of a toyota fanboy as I once was, over time toyota's production quality has gone down hill. all car manufactures have, they're all making cheaper cars to keep costs down. at this point if you were buying new I would certainly suggest Honda, IMO they are the company who's quality has suffered the least. That said even they've had there lemons over the years. I really disliked everything about like the previous to now generation Civic.

if your looking for something as cheap as possible and as good on gas as possible i'd suggest a civic/CRX/Intega or Tercel,corolla or passeo. Any Accord,Camry, prelude or celica would be fine to, but they are larger cars and therefor not as good on gas.

whats crucial when your shopping used is to spend some time looking around and finding the best condition car possible. A car in crappy running order won't get great mileage regardless of the brand and replacement parts on imports can get expensive so it would be conterproductive to buy something and then find you need to drop a few grand into it to get it into great running shape.

Theirs nothing wrong with that Camry. They arn't built like the old ones but its still a good car and the lower mileage you can find the better. Well built or not cars deteriorate with use.

[sanitarium16]

DODGE ARIES 2.2L. K car. One of the best engines ever built and gets great gas mileage. We have a 88 with under 20,000 miles (grandmas barely drove it)

[gB dAvId x]

My dad found me a 1997 honda accord with 83000 miles on it for 4250...

[sims]

Originally Posted by gB dAvId x

My dad found me a 1997 honda accord with 83000 miles on it for 4250...

if its in good condition an accord is a spectacular car. Gas mileage isn't amazing on them though. it certainly would be a big improvement from the jeep.

[SoulAssassin]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'm looking around now on various sites to get an idea of miles and pricing. If I find anything worthwhile I'll post it to get an idea of it's value.

[nidex]

I would not even be worried about 120,000 miles on a Civic. Everybody here has heard me preach before, but they'll go forever unless you don't take care of it. A friend of mine just sold a '93 Civic DX 4 door automatic for $2000, with 265,000 miles. Original motor/tranny.

[MSP]

As said above, buy a Honda. My Mom was bitching to the Ford dealer about all of the repairs on her Ford Fuckus and the repair guy pulled her aside and said "Next time buy a Honda..." True story.

[Juballharshaw]

Originally Posted by sims

if its in good condition an accord is a spectacular car. Gas mileage isn't amazing on them though. it certainly would be a big improvement from the jeep.

What are you talking about? They're not going to get the 40 some-odd miles to gallon that compacts like civics and corollas get but their gas mileage is certainly above average.

My 1996 Accord (pretty much the same as the 97) consistently got 32/33 on the highway and going across country at 85 mph or so got 36. My current '04 Accord with a v6 with mid-200s horsepower gets 32 on the highway as an automatic and those who got the 6 speed report getting up to 38 highway. Both of which out of a car weighing two tons is pretty impressive in my mind.

[integra00]

The money you save by switching to a less gas consuming vehicle will be burned up on the price of buying a 2nd car wont it ?

[Juballharshaw]

He mentions in the OP that he gets monthly mileage so I assume that would go towards the purchase of the car.

[sims]

its very impressive for a bigger car, My dad has a 94 accord and an 03 accord and they good good gas mileage but my sister has a civic, and it still gets a fair bit better.

Ideally speaking if you allready own a jeep and don't need something roomy but you want to get the best mileage possible I'd try and find a civic/corolla over an accord/camry.

a smaller lighter car is going to be better in every way from a cost effectiveness standpoint, sure maybe not by much but again if I was getting a second car solely for the purpose of saving money these things would matter to me. Not only is mileage worse on a larger car but more wear is going to be applied to the brakes and suspension over time and parts will wear out quicker. you can't beat physics. parts are also more expensive. Insurance might be cheaper on a civic and an accord aswell.

[SoulAssassin]

Originally Posted by integra00

The money you save by switching to a less gas consuming vehicle will be burned up on the price of buying a 2nd car wont it ?

I'm trying to find the break-even point right now. First, though, I've got to find a decent car in the area and then do the monthly math to see if it makes sense. To be honest, I've found a few decent civics but they're being sold by shady looking dealers. I need to go check out that Camry I listed above...

On a side note I'm going to wait a bit longer and hypermile my jeep and see what kind of results I get. So far this week I'm doing well and if I average out my fill-up on Wednesday I'm going to avg 22mpg somehow...I know the average doesn't mean much (now with only one-half of a tank) but hell it's worth keeping track of for the math.

[Jishory]

swap a diesel into the jeep

[ThatHideousStrength]

Diesel is like 4+ bucks a gallon. I don't know how much more mileage you'll get out of it though.