Calling all commuters. What car for 100 miles a day?

Vigo wrote:

Some people might call me crazy (or blame it on me being young) but I love driving my miata. I just don't think I could stand driving a boring car all the time. If I'm going to be in the car for 2+ hours a day I want something I can enjoy.

In your defense, i would probably really like an NC as an all around car and the only reason i don't look at them is because they compete in price with things i find WAY more interesting. Im sure it's a far better highway commuter than na or nb miatas were. But on the highway, going straight, a Miata IS boring. I've autocrossed a lightened NA on rcomps and yeah, that was fun. That's what it's good at. I've got a local friend with a turbo miata that traps 119mph in a 1/4 mile. That one is fun! But every near-stock NA or NB ive driven has been a fairly terrible car for going straight and/or fast in. And that's 99% of what i do on a highway commute.

My dad drives an 06 NC miata about the same amount of miles as me or more. He loves it! I can't decide which I like better seat comfort-wise, but his definitely has more power and better gas milage. They are just a little out of my price range for now, and also I don't like the look of the NC's as much. I would like to get an ND eventually though.

The miata is definitely more fun on back roads and autocross. I had it on the autocross in Carlisle a few weeks ago. That was a blast!

I will say though that almost anything going straight on the highway is boring... Even a fast car, because traffic and cops are very limiting to the fun you can have. You know what they always say, it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

And you know being able to put the top down for a boring commute makes things a little better. :)

Yeah, that's me. ~30k miles/year in an NC Miata. I've had two now, before that, a '98 Passat 1.8t, a '91 Miata, '95 Civic, '86 Prelude, 91 CRX HF, and an '84 Accord. All have been manual. I sometimes mix in an automatic Crown Vic or family minivan.

I've had the long commute for 23 years.

My commute is in the greater DC area (locations vary) and includes stop-and-go, highway, and rural highway driving. I try to mix up routes to keep things interesting and Waze / Google Maps helps with looking for 'best route' changes every so often.

For me, top down / sunroof has been important since the first Miata. Before that, it was 'cheap to run', nimble in traffic, decent stereo.

Now, my priorities are:

• convertible / targa / sunroof. Sunshine is good for you, and if you're spending time in an office during the day, then getting your Vitamin D in transit is not a bad thing at all. The option to open / close in transit is a plus. This morning, i slowed to 45 behind a semi so I could put the manual top up to make a conference call. It just works. The NC's top design is stellar, best I've seen to date. ND is effectively the same.

• fun / interesting to drive. Getting bored/complacent on the road is not good.

• comfortable for up to 2 hours at a shot. My legs do start getting stiff in the Miata after about that point

• decent stereo. You need something for those hours...

• sufficient storage. The NC can carry me and all of my gear, or me, 1 rider, and light gear for the day. If you haul a lot, it's not a great choice. But you'd be surprised how much I can fit in the car when stopping at Sam's club on the way home!

Yes, I could sit in something that gets better mileage, but the ability to drop the top and hit some twisty roads on the last part of my drive home keeps me sane.

Well. Mostly sane, at least ;)

Oh, and out of all of them, the Passat was the most soul-suckingly boring. I played with hypermiling in it, hit 37MPG one time. Generally in the low 30's. It was a great car for long commutes, but I can't stand the boring factor.

I forgot the additional qualification of low / reasonable total cost of ownership. I moved from $5000 cars to ~$12000 cars and got lower mileage units and "better" cars for pretty much the same cost per mile for the first 3-4 years. Then the lower-mileage ones really shine.

I did buy a commuter yesterday! After driving 1000 miles a week for the last month in my Subaru (23mpg avg) I found a good on a 2006 Prius that I could not pass up.

It has 201k miles on it. I've driven it 230 miles since I picked it up yesterday and have averaged 48.8 mpg since then. Purchase price was $2600 and I feel like I did ok.

It does have some issues:

1. Main center display does not respond to touch. Does not look too tough or expensive to replace.

2. Speedometer display went black when I started it up yesterday. the seller said it happens every once and a while. Unplugging the 12v battery seems to remedy this issue temporarily, but I'm on the hunt for a new display.

3. When I flog it in left hand on ramps, a scary looking red triangle illuminates on the dash. No idea what that is yet. I have only been able to duplicate on hard left turns.

4. The interior needs some cleaning, but is not very worn.

1, 2, and 3, are all symptoms of electrical system issues, which makes me wonder if you just have a E36 M3ty ground somewhere.

The triangle of doom indicates a problem with the hybrid system.

Actually the big red triangle most likely means loss of oil pressure. I know that symptom due to the Prius engine's known predilection for burning oil at high miles.

$2600 sounds good if it's clean. I paid $4500 for my 07 with 217k when most of them were trading for 8k. I just ran it through my state's 'taxable value calculator' and years later at 251k they think it is worth 1900. I dont think i could get a good one much below 3 so your price seems good.

Low oil pressure in a hard corner would make sense. I'll double check the level. The driving experience if very interesting. It's much quicker off the line than the average econobox.

The car didn't come with an owner's manual?

Might be worth downloading...

Cotton wrote:

Tom Suddard wrote: Been there, done that. W126 ALL THE WAY

I have to agree here. I have just over a 100 mile commute and split it between my bmw k1300s and a very nice 85 300sd. I like something with a little personality, so would never go the Prius etc route. However, I think the ultimate commuter, gas mileage be damned, would be a nice v12tt Benz. A buddy of mine just bought an s600 and that car really eats up the miles. I think when my 300sd kicks the bucket I'll look for another 300sd, 560sel, 560sec, or go all in and step up to a v12 coupe or sedan.

Quoting myself here. I see the op bought a Prius, but I put my money where my mouth is and bought an 03 s600 with the twin turbo v12. So far I'm averaging 18mpg and climbing and am very pleased with it. I pretty much split the weekly commute between this and my k1300s, which gets around 48mpg.

I have a similar commute. I opted for a 2008 MB E320 Bluetec. Quiet, comfortable, and great fuel mileage. I'm averaging about 33MPG, and regularily hit 37mpg.

I commute in a 10 Mazda 5 60 miles each day. Mostly highway and I average usually 28-32 mpg.