MulletTruck
MulletTruck HalfDork
9/10/19 3:42 p.m.

Im in the market for a small car easy on gas compared to my Suburban. I have a couple cars on my radar and one is a 2008 Tiburon.

Are they reliable? Known problems?

John Welsh
John Welsh Mod Squad
9/10/19 3:53 p.m.

When I think "easy on gas" I do not think Tiburon. 

Fueleconomy.gov says the 2.7L V6 manual gets 17/20/24

There is a 4cyl manual and even that is just rated for 20/23/28

 

mtn
mtn MegaDork
9/10/19 4:03 p.m.

Everyone I know who has had one has enjoyed them, but they seemed to fall short of the competition in some way - there were sportier cars in the same price range, cars that got better mileage in the same price range, cars that did both... It was one of the best looking cars of the 90's and 00's, at least in its class. 

 

I'd take a look at the Scion TC, Toyota Celica, Civic Coupes, etc. Hell, depending on what your budget and overall goals are, maybe a CR-Z. Or a Cobalt - XFE for MPG's, SS for smiles.

MulletTruck
MulletTruck HalfDork
9/10/19 6:34 p.m.

Thanks fo the info. I do have a couple Scions And a civic I need to look at, Just didnt know much about the Tiburon.

This one is cheap with low miles so I was thinking about it. I did notice it got 10mpg less that the EXs Elantra even being a stick.

MazdaFace
MazdaFace Dork
9/10/19 6:39 p.m.

I can't recommend a Scion tc enough. The wife's has been relatively trouble free as a daily for many many years 

84FSP
84FSP SuperDork
9/10/19 8:44 p.m.

My complaint is the chassis made from either confetti or spagetti.  Wifee wanted one until I watched the whole chassis flex as one went over a mild speed bump.

mad_machine
mad_machine MegaDork
9/10/19 11:38 p.m.

I had an "RD1" from 1999. One of the last of the single headlight models before they went to that odd quad headlight look. It was fairly stiff, got 30mpg in mixed driving, and was comfy for long distance commutes.  Like said above, they were not the best at anything, except being a sporty commuter car. Most of them met their demise hitting something with the nose, mine included. While I put mine into a ditch to avoid centrepunching a minivan that pulled out in front of me, every one I saw in the junkyard looks like it ran into something harder than it

Jerry
Jerry UberDork
9/11/19 9:56 a.m.

My ex-wife had a 2007 I think, at the time.  And did a 5 year lease on her previous one, forget the year (2001-2-3?)  Both were fun and reliable, except the '07 went through a clutch very quickly.  She knew how to drive a manual, and there was a known recall on the models up to one year older than hers and they wouldn't take care of hers.

MulletTruck
MulletTruck HalfDork
9/19/19 6:46 p.m.

Thanks for the input. All of the Tiburons I looked at were either trashed, had a lot of miles or  lot of mods.

I ended up getting a 2012 Scion XD with lowish miles, 5 speed stick, zero mods and in my price range. It not perfect but it should be ok for what I need it for.

bobzilla
bobzilla MegaDork
9/19/19 6:56 p.m.

I love mine. 

You'll need to log in to post.

Our Preferred Partners
UQDNWXQidP7gUorj5hxtbDI9gydjbmX3KnzbAXiDZWjr6loVvTel65LQDbk0jicj