Fuel Efficient Vehicles
People looking for oversized pickups, ridiculously large Russian Army trucks, even jet powered speedsters have it easy. But what about people who have some understanding of the Hubbert peak and don’t want SUVs? 50+ MPG cars have been available in Japan for 30 years now, and can be bought used in Canada for under$5000. But US law forbids importing them to the US! Heck, the Smart, the super-efficient line from DaimlerChrysler, has been available in Europe (and now Canada) for about ten years now, but it too can only be imported with a lot of restrictions. Don’t talk to me about Priuses, either. They’re selling on ebay for almost $30,000.
Face it, there just aren’t any affordable fuel efficient vehicles in the US.
8 Comments
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
I’ve been driving 20-year-old vans or motorhomes for years. Am currently driving an ‘84 Nisson RV, but am going to need something with better mileage. Can’t afford to gas-up. On a fixed income, just barely surviving. Need a good use K-car - if only they were allowed in the U.S.
I’ve been driving 20-year-old vans or motorhomes for years. Am currently driving an ‘84 Nisson RV, but am going to need something with better mileage. Can’t afford to gas-up. On a fixed income, just barely surviving. Need a good used K-car - if only they were allowed in the U.S.
No fuel efficient cars? VW has been selling the Golf, Jetta and Beetle TDI (turbodiesel) cars in the US for years. My 2001 Golf TDI gets real-world 48mpg and has 300K miles on it so far. Still runs like new. Find one, buy it, drive it, and stop complaining about no fuel efficient cars.
My 93 Geo Metro is my 50mpg (and it really does get 50 MPG routinely even with mostly city miles)sweet heart.The A/C works and the car is very reliable. You have to look for one, but even if the engine burns oil, you buy a Japanese Engine for it for %$400 if you install, or have it done for 1200 like I did (with a 6 month/6000 mile warranty). Best investment in a car I’ve ever made.I save the same money I bought it for (1500 US annually in gas).
[...] There are other cars, but, but the EPA’s list of the most efficient cars is pretty slim. The worst realization from that list, however, is that there’s really no super efficient, cheap economy box that we can point at any more (even considering the new EPA formula). In 1995 Honda offered a 50 MPG Civic hatchback and a 1990 Geo Metro scored 51 highway MPG (Pete comments that his 93 Metro is still getting 50 MPG). [...]
[...] response to my previous kvetching about the scarcity of cheap fuel efficient cars, JWK commented that his 2001 Golf TDI gets 48 MPG [...]
[...] hell with safety and power, I love this little thing. I want a small, fuel efficient car like this. Related:Second Annual West Texas Beautiful Burro and Mule [...]
wow, no fuel efficient cars huh? Is 50+ mpg not efficient enough for you. There were plenty of 4 cyl and 3 cyl cars in the early 90’s that got this. you can buy these cars for less than 4K with ~ 100K miles on them and get great mileage. WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT?