Beater commuter: Another what car thread

I may be trying to justify my own bias here, but I wanted to run it by the hive.

I'm going to be driving 120+ miles a day for a while, and using the Forester XT for it isn't high on my list of desires. My first thought was a Miata, but I'm also going to have to arrive dry and presentable at the client site every day, so a drippy roof might be a bad idea.

The requirements:

2000 or later model year (read as modern crash safety)

30 MPG or more on regular octane

$3500 or so purchase price (which also kills lots of Miata options)

Highway Commuting

Ease of repair and low consumables

Given those requirements, I started thinking about the Mazda3 or a pre-2012 Ford Focus in hatchback guise.

.

The advantages to the Mazda3 are:

• I can keep my Mazdaspeed Membership current if I autocross twice a year

• I've owned two in the past. I know some of the weaknesses and I'm fond of the package overall.

• common bolt pattern for wheels

The advantages of the Focus:

• Generally cheaper used

• Slightly better on gasoline with the 2.0 in the hatchback

• Apparently easier to find without a dang sunroof

I'm looking at both for the "best example at price point X I can find" but I just wanted to tap the hive mind to see if there is anything I'm missing. I know there are other choices (Civic, Hyundai) and they are not off the table if a good deal turns up. I'm primarily trying to compare between a Focus and a Mazda3, though.

I'd be careful of the civics, the 02-03 (?) are subject to the "don't drive these or you'll die" takata recall... and a surprising number of them from 04 up to 09 are subject to the "sorry, no replacement available yet" takata recall.

03+ LX Accord?

plus, there seems to be a growing affinity for gen2 Prius around here

For those kinds of miles I would for go the MPG and go with a Panther platform. The mercury version would present well to clients but the P71 option would not be bad either. A nice dark grey one with tinted windows. Yep that would be my option if I was going to be putting those kinds of miles.

All the cars you mention are buzzy on the highway and I just can not tolerate that for long periods of time. I am willing to spend a little bit more $$$ on gas to arrive fresh and relaxed.

Fly and drive a Miata Hardtop in Florida.

With a goal price of under $3,500, I have learned here on GRM that '11 Ford Fiestas with manual transmission and a trunk are depreciating rapidly and can be found in the $4k range.
That's pretty new and pretty respectable for cheap.

Edit

I then went looking in your neighborhood and found these real examples.

Sample 1

Sample 2

As an owner of an '05 civic, they are REALLY buzzy at highway speeds. I cross shopped a mazda 3 and the 3 was way nicer on the highway. The 1st gen 3 I found was just a really nice place to be, shifter felt good in typical mazda fashion and could carve apexes way better than your standard DD built to a price point. 3.5-4k should get a decent example these days.

http://www.funcarsforsale.com/inventory/view/9548453/1995-Honda-Accord-Cpe-2dr-Coupe-EX-Manual-Cresson-TX

I'd rock something like this all day long till it dies which may be a long time. Simple, easy, will be around as long as the cockroaches.

Here are some bonus points for the Focus.

-Slightly cheaper to insure.

-Doesn't rust as badly.

-You can buy full SVT suspension brand new for $300.

-Fox body wheels have the same bolt pattern so replacements in a variety of sizes are available. Stock fox body wheels have a hub bore that's only 0.1 mm larger (0.0039") and have a lower offset that typically fills the arches nicely with no or minimal rolling required.

-Body parts are typically easier to come by, should there be a surprise pop-out deer or something of the like.

-You could also get the 2.0 Zetec motor in the wagon, if you'd be interested in a little extra carrying capacity.

dean1484 wrote: For those kinds of miles I would for go the MPG and go with a Panther platform.

My Toyota 4Runner is also a possible commuter tool if I decide that $3500 can buy a lot of gasoline. Which it can.

dean1484 wrote: For those kinds of miles I would for go the MPG and go with a Panther platform. The mercury version would present well to clients but the P71 option would not be bad either. A nice dark grey one with tinted windows. Yep that would be my option if I was going to be putting those kinds of miles. All the cars you mention are buzzy on the highway and I just can not tolerate that for long periods of time. I am willing to spend a little bit more $$$ on gas to arrive fresh and relaxed.

Funny you mention that. I'm currently averaging around 28 in highway driving with my Aerobody with 2.73 rear gears. The multiple levels of door seals help keep it very serene. I've currently upgraded the head unit and speakers, and I'm sure with a little extra sound deadening in the doors and inner fenders, it could really eat up the miles in complete comfort.

I found a pretty nice Miata within your budget. Wasn't quite new enough though. Oh wait....

For those sorts of miles I'd move up a level from the B cars (Fit, Fiesta) to the Civics and Focus's and Mazda3's of the world.
Or maybe something bigger? I see Ford Fusion Hybrids on my CL searches for $5k or less. 35+ mpg highway, better than that in the city, wheelbase that makes highways melt away and they're under the radar, so cheap.

cmcgregor wrote: I found a pretty nice Miata within your budget. Wasn't quite new enough though. Oh wait....

Funny you should mention that.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

Funny! Too bad that's a repaint. Price is good though considering the matching hardtop.

dean1484 wrote: For those kinds of miles I would for go the MPG and go with a Panther platform. The mercury version would present well to clients but the P71 option would not be bad either. A nice dark grey one with tinted windows. Yep that would be my option if I was going to be putting those kinds of miles. All the cars you mention are buzzy on the highway and I just can not tolerate that for long periods of time. I am willing to spend a little bit more $$$ on gas to arrive fresh and relaxed.

My first thought was similar to this^

an '03 and up Town Car.

At 120 miles I'd take a hit on the mpg for more comfort. You could probably get away with a bigger car if it's all highway driving.

Oh, and in terms of actually being helpful - I agree that you probably want to stay away from the fit/fiesta/Aveo(the horror!) side of things. The mazda3 is a nice place to spend time. I really enjoy my Focus ST, and my SVT Focus was not a horrible highway beast, and was still fun. I think that the non-SVT Zetec focus can use regular gas and still has most of the fun factor, especially if you upgrade the suspension.

Another vote for the Mazda3, fiancé has one and we both really like it.

https://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/5957007119.html

It's a red Prius with 140,000 miles.

As someone who drives 120 miles a day, I can tell you that you don't need to buy a barge. You simply don't. Not sure I'd want to do it in a Fiesta (I'd have to try it out), but one size up is just fine. My '13 Elantra is more than comfy enough for the long haul, and I get 36mpg including stop and go traffic.

If the Focus and Mazda3 are your only two candidates, then it's a no contest win for the Mazda3, IMHO. Ford let the previous gen Focus go stale. Accord would also fit the bill quite nice, as would the Civic. Elantra, Sonata too.

I'm mainly interested in the Focus and Mazda3 because they're available in hatchback form in my price range. There are Golfs available there, too, but I'll probably skip the Golf.

W210 mercedes e320? They get nearly 30 mpg highway, aren't too hard to work on, and there are so many of them that junkyard parts are easy to get. Main bad thing is that they are not safe to drive if they are rusty due to suspension issues.

I've decided to not buy a beater car for commuting at this time. There remain too many other demands on the finances at the moment.

I was faced with a similar problem recently and bought a '99 Civic Si. Maybe an LX/EX would be better for such a long commute.