Which car to buy for long commutes?

[95avusblue]

Hi guys,
which car do you guys recomend for long commutes, 250 miles per day? My WRX wagon's mileage isn't cutting it anymore.

I would need it to be very comfortable. Can I find something other than VW tdi's that give me 45 mpgs driving at 65-70 mph? I am just tired of my expensive commutes.
The VW reliability has be a bit cautious.
Thanks

[SVOboy]

Buy Dan's VX, ultimate highway beast.

[95avusblue]

Is he selling it?

[95avusblue]

I see it, but too far for me.

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by 95avusblue

I see it, but too far for me.

How far is too far?

[SVOboy]

You can always buy the same model near to yourself, even Darin claims it as the highway beast. I'd suggest that or a crx hf/civic cx.

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by 95avusblue

Hi guys,
which car do you guys recomend for long commutes, 250 miles per day? My WRX wagon's mileage isn't cutting it anymore.

I would need it to be very comfortable. Can I find something other than VW tdi's that give me 45 mpgs driving at 65-70 mph? I am just tired of my expensive commutes.
The VW reliability has be a bit cautious.
Thanks

A Prius will deliver 50-55 MPG at 65-70 MPH.

[Lug_Nut]

How frequently do you wish to fill-up? A 500 mile range means at least every other day. A 96-97 Passat TDI would go all week.
Hybrids shine on shorter, more stop and go, commutes. Near constant highway use is not where they are at their best for fuel economy. A Yaris will also return nearly the same FE on steady state highway use as the Prius but at a far lower purchase price.
And the annual distance at 250 per day is 50,000 just in commuting. How frequently do you wish to replace the car? And the commute hours are close to 5 per day. I had 1/2 that as a daily commute for 6 years. The car was comfortable, I had car pool companionship (his Ram 1500 got 10 mpg so we almost always took mine), I filled up every other week, but the loss of time, three hours a day, was finally too much for me.
Now I'm 15 miles and 20 minutes from my new job, instead of 62 miles and 90 minutes.
Were I in the same situation as you with 125 miles one way I'd be looking at (used) Mercedes diesels. Expensive once, but durable, comfortable and relatively fuel efficient.

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by Lug_Nut

A Yaris will also return nearly the same FE on steady state highway use as the Prius but at a far lower purchase price.

Sorry, I will have to heartily disagree with that statement. A Prius will return 65 MPG at 55 MPH, 60 MPG at 60 MPH and 55 MPG at 65 MPG and 50+ MPG at 70 MPH. Please provide information where a Yaris will come within 10 MPG of a Prius at any speed.

[GasSavers_brick]

If I wanted to buy a new car for an obscenely long highway commute, I would look hard at a Civic Hybrid. The drivetrain is set up a little better than the Prius for those conditions due to its band-style CVT which transmits power directly. The Prius uses an eCVT, which requires that some engine power be converted to electrical in order to control the gear ratio. Of course, HSD is tailor made for the stop&go cycle which would be harder on the Civic.

5-speed Insight would absolutely dominate, but I don't know how you would feel about the comfort level. That and the fact that it would be kind of hard to get. But you could be looking at 70mpg+ with a little effort.