What do you look for in a commuter?

Comfy, quiet, ergonomics, options, mpg, reliability.

I was driving an 03 Jetta TDI for work for a while that was quite nice. It was a little shy on the ergonomics (not good places for coffee cups, phones, charger cords, etc) and a little shy on the reliability, but a fun car to drive and pretty quiet.

I like a commuter car to be like a wraparound cockpit. Right now I commute in an F150. Its fine, but changing the radio station means leaning forward and right. Dimming the dash lights means leaning forward and reaching around the turn signal stalk without bumping the squirter button.

One of my favorite commuters was a 91 Beretta GT. V6 had some pep. Getrag 5 speed was fun-ish. Everything was right at my fingertips.

Many of the newer import compacts have really upped their game on ergo and quiet, but not until about 08. Toyota compacts (to me) still have that hollow tin can door closing sound and road noise of yesteryear.

I commute in my zephyr all summer and enjoy every minute even with no ac or stereo. Winter is always whatevers cheap and i dont care about exsposing it too salt and snow. My ideal bad weather daily is a late 70s f150, i just need too find another one that isnt rusty!

Today I commuted in an FD, so I dunno how much you want to trust my opinion, but...

I don't really buy cars specifically for commuting, rather I tend to walk out to the garage in the morning and make a snap decision about which car to drive at that point. Most of the time I take the Audi, but the Miata figures more strongly when the weather is nicer, and the RX-7 is new to me so it gets a disproportionate share of my attention. I drive the truck less frequently because it's a PITA to park.

It does depend on the commute, so I'll answer with my thought process for something that's in the range of typical commutes, 5 to 45 miles. If my commute was under a mile, a car would probably play backup to my bicycle; something super long might have me rethinking my car criteria (if not having me consider moving or changing jobs). So, here are the rules I'd set down.

1. A commuter car would need to serve as either a primary or backup family car as well. So it has to have enough room for me, my wife, and two little mad scientists.

2. Reasonable reliability and maintenance costs.

3. Good driver comfort. This includes air conditioning, since I'm in the Atlanta area.

4. Reasonable gas mileage. 20 mpg on premium in-town might be acceptable, unless the commute is really long. A big block Suburban is best relegated to towing and hauling duty.

5. Not something that would absolutely bore me to tears. I'd like it to be able to have some aspect of driving that's fun, and preferably out of the box as I prefer not to put to many mods on a commuter car.

6. I would not want something that is patently unsafe - although it would take a lot of creativity to come up with something that fits all of the above rules and still falls into the patently unsafe category.

MadScientistMatt wrote: 1. A commuter car would need to serve as either a primary or backup family car as well. So it has to have enough room for me, my wife, and two little mad scientists.

That's one of the reasons I'm driving the truck around. With a family of six and driving back and forth across the country at least twice a year with the whole clan there is a size issue. The van had taken over this role for a bit but my confidence in it's reliability has recently plummeted. I've been very tempted to ditch the truck for a minivan with a trailer hitch, but then I own TWO vans and that seems silly.

curtis73 wrote: One of my favorite commuters was a 91 Beretta GT. V6 had some pep. Getrag 5 speed was fun-ish. Everything was right at my fingertips.

Now there's a throwback. Come to think of it, can't recall the last time I saw a Beretta in the wild. I drove them a lot back in the day. Never owned one, but rented them many times and valet parked cars when they were still being produced. I honestly can't say I hated them.

I do agree with you on having everything within easy reach. Not all that long ago, I didn't care about having controls on the steering wheel. Now I love it...I've got radio and Bluetooth at my fingers. The radio is especially important, because I tend to flip through XM stations during my long commute, so I don't have to take my eyes off the road of hands off the wheel. Even HVAC controls are very easy to use and easily accessible. On that same note, while I will admit that touch screens are cool looking and offer lots of functionality, there's something to be said for buttons and/or dials. I can easily adjust my HVAC in the Elantra either completely by feel or with a very quick glance at where I need to put my finger.

Klayfish wrote: Now there's a throwback. Come to think of it, can't recall the last time I saw a Beretta in the wild.

I know, right? They disappeared. I don't recall them being rust buckets. They had the same GM drivetrain as the million other mid-size FWD cars from 80-00. Why did just the Beretta and Corsica disappear?

I always thought the Beretta was a great body style. Funny how it was futuristic and kitchy when it came out and now I think its kinda timeless. I had dreams of slamming it and putting flares on it with big wide BBS wheels.

This was her. 3.1L, 5 speed, factory sunroof, black cloth. It was kind of a "rare" combo with the black cloth and spoiler delete.

The sad thing is I've thought about this on and off recently. I think something like an IS250/350 or a GS350/430 would be my idea of a nice commuter.

Good seats, decent power, and decent fuel efficiency (28ish MPG). The bonus to something like that is it they're pretty well supported by the "VIP style" aftermarket so you can make things more comfortable with AirRide, seat upgrades, sound systems, and sound deadening.

I do about 65 mi round trip per day on 35-55mph back roads. My usual commuter car (actually my only "functional" 4 wheeled vehicle at the moment) is a lifted 96 Cherokee with no carpet, poor HVAC, terrible seats, mud tires, and, as of this week, a habit of dying on me without warning. It's loud, hot/cold (depending on season), and not very efficient nor very comfortable. Stereo sounds pretty good now at least

I'm clearly not the person to be asking this question, as I do not buy vehicles with commuting in mind (even though that makes up 90+% of my use.) I buy/build something for fun or for a purpose and make it work for commuting.

mazdeuce wrote: That's one of the reasons I'm driving the truck around. With a family of six and driving back and forth across the country at least twice a year with the whole clan there is a size issue. The van had taken over this role for a bit but my confidence in it's reliability has recently plummeted. I've been very tempted to ditch the truck for a minivan with a trailer hitch, but then I own TWO vans and that seems silly.

Plus minivans won't pull anything approaching as much as a real truck will.

If you want seating for six and towing, you want a Suburban. Not sure that really helps on the "good commuter" front though. :)

Comfy, a satellite radio, and decent mileage. When I drive my commute is 80 miles each way. I've used an Escort, Cavalier, Malibu and now a Buick. Now I'm spoiled. In 75,000 miles its got a lifetime average of 29 mpg and 39 mph. It would take a really nice E36 M3box to get me back into a tinny little car.

Here's my choice for a 90 mile one way commute currently:

Stellar 17 mpgs... 31 gal tank...

MPG's, enough space to be comfortable with a good seat/pedals/steering wheel position relationship, not too loud, not too slow. I'm sort of there, sort of not, with my SX4 Sportback.

To improve the car I really need a better radio antenna (Metra MTA-100 or whatever I put in is crap, factory is busted and I'm not pulling the headliner to replace it with new crap), better selected spring rates than what the factory did, the steering wheel should come towards the driver's seat about an inch, and I really wish it had a traditional cable operated throttle plate. So some of this is fixable, some really isn't.

Most days i do anywhere between 40-200 miles of everything from stop and go to twisty desolate country back roads.

Ive tried most options. The important and consistent things for me are good stereo, great headlight, killer ac, and comfortable seats. All else pales in comparison.

Recent good choices have been miata, proteg5s, subaru legacy wagon, neon acr, and a rental fiesta. Who knows what is next.

Bad has been 64 el camino, 85 chevy truck, ram 3500 megacab, mazda3, and tdi passat (more that particular machine)

80 mile roundtrip daily in '88 Suburban. 17 mpg. Comfortable and as cheap to operate as the '15 Golf TDI it replaced once you factor things like insurance and property taxes.

I've never been able to live with the stereotypical "good commuter" for very long. They get too boring - even stuck in traffic, I'd rather have something with SOME character. I have a 25 mile commute directly into Cambridge, MA (our fair city), with miserable traffic, and that gets shared among my Focus ST (best "traditional" commuter, quietest, best stereo, etc etc), a 92 Miata with questionable A/C, and a motorcycle. But maybe I'm a masochist.

If I didn't live in the city and parking the damn thing wasn't an issue - Town Car hands down. I'll gladly take the headache of the air suspension in exchange for the nicer interior vs. the Crown Vic and Grand Marquis.

But I do live in the city, and parking is an issue, so I think the next commuter will be a CX5.

If it was just myself and I had to deal with snow a lot - I would also highly consider a 328i xDrive.

I'll be possibly going through this very shortly... My Mazda2 was recently wrecked, waiting to find out if frame damage totals it... if it does I'll be looking for something for my 85mi round trip commute(along with an NA/NB Miata for track stuff! ) If it's not totaled... will still buy a Miata and return the 2 to near-stock for comfort... as opposed to 550/450lb coilovers it has now. I owe more than it's worth so gap insurance will come through.

Back on topic...

For MY commute it is all highway... if there is almost zero traffic(such as government holidays or when all the planets align), it takes roughly 45min to get to work or 50min to get home.

Most of the time it takes ~50-55min to get to work, and 60-70min to get home due to traffic.

During the summer it's absolutely stupid. Nobody knows how to drive through the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel... so massive backups are very common. Commuting TO work is normally not affected, but getting home takes 80-100min many days.

The Mazda2 is great, I can get 35-37mph consistently, it has very good visibility, is fun/engaging to drive, and has dirt cheap consumables, on top of being dead nuts reliable. A bit plain, but if I keep it I'll buy an arm rest and tint the windows and be happy. It's like a new 90s hatchback, almost bare bones.

BUT... I can bypass about 60% of the traffic I encounter both ways IF I buy a hybrid. In VA on 264/64 you can get special tags for $25 through the DMV and you can use the HOV lane at all times even alone if you have a hybrid with the "clean emissions" tag or whatever.

For outright reliability and frugality... It would have to be a regular Prius. Doesn't matter what year or kind, you can get what you want for your budget. My problem with them is they are so insanely numb and appliance-like. I'm not so sure how long I could drive one every day and not fall asleep at the wheel of boredom.

Honda Insights I like the interior 100x better. It's much nicer IMO, the seats feel better, and the dash is set up without a giant blank space in front of you. My problem with them is they're pretty much hideous. I could probably get over it but I really need to reserve judgement until I drive one, it's been a while since I've worked on one(I'm a technician BTW).

Honda Civic Hybrids I think are my favorite hybrid in my price range... the 2012+ ones specifically. Looks like a normal car, useful, reliable, and not Prius-level numb.

CR-Zs are pretty cool(and available in a manual!) but 2 doors and 2 seaters are a non-starter. This is a requirement since it'll be a daily/family vehicle.

If I had 20k or so to spend... a Toyota Avalon Hybrid all the way. Super comfortable, grown up, not a futuristic toaster appliance hypermiler thing. But it's not an option for me... they are insanely nice though for anyone looking.

I don't trust VW quality so the Jetta Hybrid is a no-go.

The other option I have... since I'll (potentially) be without a car payment again... is to buy a cheap sub-$2000 beater with cash that gets at least 30mpg highway, and sit miserable in traffic, but with more money in my pocket. I've been sitting in traffic like this for the last 40k miles I've put on my car... so it won't be a lot different... but MAN would it be nice to take the HOV lanes every day!

My cheap beater potential candidates are some of the normal suspects: Civics, Accords, Proteges, maybe a Ford Focus, etc

A someone in-between compromise is to finance something that is super cheap... I can find a few 08-09 Mazda3s in the 6-8k range. So would save a noticeable amount of money per month, and still have a simple reliable car to drive. I owned a 2009 Mazda3 i-touring 5spd several years ago(was not commuting like this then), and it was probably the most comfortable car I've ever had for long trips... I drove 10hrs from OH to VA and then back 2 days later with zero back problems/pains.

Lots of potential options... will probably make my own thread if/when the time comes. If it's not totaled out I'll just drive my little 2 into the ground.

I ended up with a 42 mile trip to class every other day. I used the D350 for it until the diff blew up.

• no insulation
• no ac
• no radio
• no lumbar support
• no ability to safely/comfortably drive at 70mph
• no way of keeping wind from coming around the doors

NO PROBLEM!

(I'm lying, all of those things, and may more are problems)

This is why I finally bought a $600 beater Malibu and decided to let the D350 just be a big Tonka toy and rare use tow rig for the rest of it's life.

cmcgregor wrote: I've never been able to live with the stereotypical "good commuter" for very long. They get too boring - even stuck in traffic, I'd rather have something with SOME character. I have a 25 mile commute directly into Cambridge, MA (our fair city), with miserable traffic, and that gets shared among my Focus ST (best "traditional" commuter, quietest, best stereo, etc etc), a 92 Miata with questionable A/C, and a motorcycle. But maybe I'm a masochist.

I thought the FoST was going to be the perfect compromise of commuter and fun car. I even had the Ford Racing ECU tune done. There were so many things I loved about the car, but a number of things that drove me nuts. One of them was it's "behavior" in stop and go traffic. The car feels very, very high strung and just wasn't a fun car to creep along in stop and go. It was awesome at squeezing into small holes in traffic because of the torque, but other than that it just wasn't fun. My wife called the car a "squirrel on caffeine", and that about sums it up.

Like for everything- what you want is very personal.

For my commute, getting something fun and exciting is a total waste of money and the compromise that sporty cars brings.

But some cars are easier to live with than others- I loved commuting with my Miata- as it was soft enough to not beat you up, and I could take the top down when I wanted to.

Recently- I had a Fiesta- which was ok. But replacing it with a Focus is so much better, it's not even funny. Ride is more stable, it's quieter, and even gets better gas mileage.

curtis73 wrote:

Klayfish wrote: Now there's a throwback. Come to think of it, can't recall the last time I saw a Beretta in the wild.

I know, right? They disappeared. I don't recall them being rust buckets.

I do. They not only suffered from general '80s GM rot, but because of the way the firewall was shaped, they had a tendency for the rack and pinion to just sort of fall off.

They were also giant steaming turds and a poster child for the notion that good cars can't be built in the US. (Never mind that they were just stretched J-bodies, which were a North American translation of an Opel...)

I suspect that all of the good ones got turned into circle track racers.

In reply to codrus:

100% don't want a Suburban. To me they are the worst of all worlds. I know a lot of people like them but I don't. I'd much rather drive a full size van. But I don't like driving a full size day to day.
Any thoughts about CUV's? I know, hatchbacks that aren't as good as hatchbacks in any way, but people like them a lot. I have to admit, when Mercedes loaned my the GLA250 I enjoyed it. Having my head a foot higher than in a regular hatch made seeing around and through other cars in traffic easier.

In reply to mazdeuce:

We have an Escape- love it. I've commuted with it a few times, and it was a great vehicle. IMHO, small CUV's and SUV's are great.

In many respects they are better hatchback than hatchbacks.

We've also had Edge's- also great vehicles- a bigger version of the Escape.

I think it's a great sized vehicle to check out.

Commuting is why appliances exist. For stop and go traffic I want quiet, comfortable, economic, automatic. My wife's 14 Accord gets an honest 37mph on the highway, is a great appliance.

I also like the Skyactiv Mazdas because they sip cheap gas. I don't want to pay an extra fifty cents a gallon to drive an appliance. If it's interesting to drive away from the stop and go.. all the better.

But don't listen to me. I drive 1.6 miles then ride a bus and train to work from the Atlanta suburbs.