What car for a 80 mile, 60mph average speed commute?

singleslammer said:

In reply to SVreX :

I drive about 22,000 miles for work. Then another 8-10j for personal use. So yeah the commute isn't much more than the average but that doesn't get me groceries and trips to harbor freight.

We hadly ever "go out to the store".  Everything we need is on my commute- hardware store, groceries, etc.  I do 99% of the grocery shopping, after work once a week.  Same with Home Depot runs, etc.  Why make special trips?  It takes more time and uses more gas.  The only time we drive anywhere not commute-related is to do stuff with the kids, usually.  

SVreX said:

I’m still confused. 

80 miles per day is about 20,000 miles per year. The national average is 15,000. Doesn’t seem like that long a commute to me. 

Do some of you guys live in the backyard of your office?

80 miles per day is a long commute.  The national average commute time is 26 minutes. 

I live 9.5 miles from work and I consider my commute long.  I think commuting is only 1/3 of my miles. 

Sometimes I have to run home during lunch to do house bullE36 M3.  Or I have to go to the doctor.  I take my son swimming often, which is not along my commute route.  We also go on road trips to visit family.  My son's daycare is out of the way for me.  Anytime I fly I have to go to an airport which ranges from ~35 to 100 miles away.  It all adds up. 

We are currently looking to take our combined commutes from ~36 total daily miles to 14. 

My commute is 60 miles each way, though thankfully I only do it 3 times a week (I work at home the other 2 days).  Plus, I also drive my kids everywhere for sports stuff.  I had a '13 Elantra for a few years, which did wonderful but was just plain.  Recently bought a '13 G37 and besides the fuel cost, I'm loving it.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

I do what I can on my commute but that isn’t always possible. Then there are trips. I just put 2k miles on my car going to Pikes peak. I pretty much plan to put another 10k miles on my car over my commute a year.

My commute is similar and it is a dream in my 01 740i sport. You could get a very nice example in your price range...

My commute was 96 miles round trip x 5 days x 48 weeks (vacation plus holidays) = a tick over 23K miles.  When I was doing this drive I averaged over 30K miles/year.  But my weekends often involve long drives to go to mtn bike spots - I'm about to do one today which will be about 90 miles each way.

My current commute is about 26 miles each way, but involves a 13 mile run across the PA Turnpike. Parts of it are "fun" but not enough to offset the hwy part. The MCS does the run somewhat adequately, but my Grand Caravan does it better. 

I'm curious what you ended up getting?

I just started a 100 mile, 50mph average speed commute. 1hr in the morning and 1.25hr in the evenings. Currently doing it in a Cobalt SS/TC getting 28mpg, but it works out to 24k/yr without any other driving. Gonna do groceries on the way home and such, but still the random trips on the weekends will add up to a lot of miles for a whooshy Cobalt with already high miles (156k).

Haven't driven a Volt yet. Do like how everybody talks about them. Are they really slow though for highway merging and such? Love the speed of the Cobalt, since about 60 miles of my commute is me doing 70-80mph.

Cobalt SS is a great commuter car

In reply to MINIzguy :

I still have the Subaru at the moment. I'm not going to do anything until I full contribute my Roth IRA for this year and next year. I keep going back and forth between and ND2 RF or just getting something like a mid 00's Lexus and a Volvo 240/740/960 for rallycross.

Also I rolled over 20k miles on the Subaru yesterday and will likely be at 21k miles on the 8th which would be the 1 year of ownership mark. I have also put 1500 miles on my NA in that time and 1000 miles on the 99 Land Cruiser I bought in June.

MrChaos said:

In reply to MINIzguy :

I still have the Subaru at the moment. I'm not going to do anything until I full contribute my Roth IRA for this year and next year. I keep going back and forth between and ND2 RF or just getting something like a mid 00's Lexus and a Volvo 240/740/960 for rallycross.

I don't mean to belabor points that have been made before, but if money is a concern (and you're doing the right thing here with Roth contribution), is there a reason why a Volt won't do the job for commuting purposes?  If the amount mentioned previously ($4k/year) is true, you'd be able to pay for a toy (or more) fairly quickly (or put toward savings or IRA or whatnot), no?  

Because there is only 1 2nd Gen within 100 miles that is cheaper than an ND2 RF.

The only thing I'll add to this conversation is to think about exactly how much time you'll spend in that car and if it'll truly make you happy. 

When I first moved here to Atlanta and started the 110 mile round trip commute, like many, I tried the Prius.  It was wonderful at its' intended mission.  But the driving experience was miserable.  I didn't enjoy spending 12-15 hours per week in it.  So I ditched it and bounced around a few different cars after that (HHR...which I loved, then FoST which I was mixed on).  Spent a few years in my '13 Elantra.  It was a much better driving experience than the Prius and I think it's a great little car.  I'd highly recommend one.  But again, being into cars and wanted to look forward to my drive, it just didn't cut it. 

I'm really enjoying driving my G37.  I look forward to getting in it and having fun.  By nature, I get bored with cars and doubt I'll keep this one super long, but I know for sure that whatever I replace it with will be something along the lines of another sports sedan.  When I'm spending as much time in the car as I do, I've decided it's worth the extra cost to enjoy the time.

Old Honda CRX Si.  Those things were fun to drive and could close to 40 mpg on the highway doing 80 mph. 

And they are surprisingly roomy inside.  

Newer Saab. Comfy, fun to drive, and has some power. With a tune could easily get over 30mpgs. My 9-5 gets 26ish and eats up the Hwy miles.

MrChaos said:

Because there is only 1 2nd Gen within 100 miles that is cheaper than an ND2 RF.

If within a 100 miles is a requirement then a lot of the replies here will just never apply.  Good luck finding a clean CRX Si nationwide!  Sounds like you're set on the RF -- it'll be a fun car, maybe a little tiring, but may be worth it.  :)

Golf TDi with GTI suspension and seats.

big volvos are good too

Kingkong said:

Newer Saab. Comfy, fun to drive, and has some power. With a tune could easily get over 30mpgs. My 9-5 gets 26ish and eats up the Hwy miles.

The 9-5 is probably fine but I don't enjoy this same basic commute in my 9-3. I have been wanting something with better seats and dampening.