Largest (Reasonably Priced Passenger) Vehicle Relative to MPG

A 30mpg van with 300hp? A RWD station wagon that gets 35mpg? A hybrid sedan that gets 50mpg? 

Our Honda Fit has been a trusty people mover for years, and my truck can carry everything and the kitchen sink, but we end up choosing the Fit when we're covering miles, or the truck when camping or offroading. This "either/or" vehicle selection has left us in a bind where we're either uncomfortably crammed into the Fit, or we're spending a lot of money on gas to drive a few hundred highway miles that doesn't warrant at truck.

It'd be nice to combine these two vehicles into something that gets great gas mileage relative to it's size, while not being a complete dog in terms of power. Something still fun, that could handle a mild lift or occasional gravel road, haul 5 adults and their luggage comfortably, or we could fold down some seats and sleep in it. It either needs to be more fun (while getting better MPG and hauling more stuff) than the Fit, or go offroad as well as the truck. 

Some ideas:

2015+ Outback, not fast, but more fun than most vans. Already designed for unpaved travel. 30+ MPG possible with right engine/trans combo. 

2017+ Chrysler Pacifica - 28mpg highway, 3 rows of seats, pretty for a minivan, perhaps surprising fun? Dunno about gravel road driving, though.

2014+ Mazda 6 - 35mpg highway and subframe issues

2017+ Buick Regal TourX? 

Kia Niro? These get like 50mpg highway mileage.

Mercedes Metris - a RWD van that'll get 28mpg highway (lift kits available too!)

Assuming it falls into your definition of reasonably priced, the Pacifica hybrid has to take this one easily. Especially if most trips are less than 15 miles and only twice a day (i.e. to/from work). Maybe not the most fun to drive, but IME nothing that large really is.

I have a 2014 tsx wagon. Way higher quality product than my previous Outback 

AWD Sienna?

Hybrid Lexus RX?

You can get the outback with a 3.6 rather than the 2.5, so that may be worth research and a test drive.  I have no experience with newer subarus though. The AWD systems on the older ones I had worked really well for the light off road stuff I did with them. 

PHEVs seem like the best available option to me. They offer fully electric range for short trips, but don't have any range anxiety for long trips.

There aren't many PHEVs that would meet your needs, but the Pacifica PHEV and Kia Niro PHEV would probably be the closest to your sweet spot.

The Pacifica is the choice if you haul a bunch of people/stuff more than you off road. It has 33 miles of all electric range and tons of storage. It starts at $40k new, and doesn't get Stow and Go seats for all 3 rows though.

The Niro is the choice if you off road more than you haul a bunch of people/stuff. It's smaller than the Pacifica, and only has a 25 mile electric range. But it's got more ground clearance and starts in the upper $20ks.

Either option would be eligible for a partial federal tax credit as far as I know. And I think they're both FWD only.

I still haven't had a chance to write a review on my 2019 Mazda CX-9, but I'll chime in here and say that its a roomy, comfortable vehicle that is fun to drive and pulls down 25 mpg in mixed driving.  The turbo 4 delivers 300+ lb-ft of torques down low where you need it.   Can be had with AWD.  IMO, hands down the best compromise between fuel economy, interior space, and driving dynamics. 

Edit:  And it looks sexy too!

Edit Edit:  I wouldn't wish an FCA product on anyone.  Do your research.

I think this boils down to the 1 new/newish car with good MPG vs multiple older cars.  

Sure, a 2015+ Outback or 2014+ Ram Ecodiesel (28 mpg maybe?  but certainly competent for offroading and truck things, if you ignore some of the reliability concerns) will get better MPG.  But will the purchase price and more expensive insurance/tags, make up for the lower MPG of the older truck?  

I've taken the multiple cars approach, and just use the 4wd or truck vehicles when necessary, and accept the higher running costs as a first world problem   In your case, I'd probably upgrade the Fit to something larger but with decent MPG (Mazda 3 wagon, TSX wagon, etc) and use the truck when needed. 

The Niro is pretty small, smaller than the Rondo as far as I can tell.  

The Honda CR-V may be your answer.  Yes, it is an appliance, but a damn good one.  It has more space inside than you can believe, the packaging is amazing.  It can handle mild off-roading, and it is surprisingly fun to drive, in the way that all Hondas are fun to drive. Mileage is pretty darn good too.  

I haven't driven one, but I like the looks of the outside, especially in R-Line trim.  The VW Atlas can get 26mpg on the highway, and it is HUGE. 

OH, the Cayenne Diesel gets 29mpg, have older ones dropped to achievable prices yet?  

The new CRV has some weird stuff going on with a oil smell? 

A TSX Wagon would probably be cheaper than a same year/mileage Subaru, although not as offroady. 

My only issue with multiple vehicles is that we just don't have the space. 

Oh, we forgot another PHEV that makes sense for this, and could likely be had for huge discounts: 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/new-cars/2018-169-outlander-phev/  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/what-do-we-think-about-the-outlander-phev/146076/page1/

I'll just leave this here....

mr2s2000elise said:

I have a 2014 tsx wagon. Way higher quality product than my previous Outback 

A very nice car, but a squeeze for 5 adults.

I have a feeling due to how new the Outlander PHEV is I probably can't afford it. 

Looking for something that is either cheapish new, or a few years old at this point. 

Older Outlanders are pretty cheap, though, and relatively unchanged in 9 years. 

mtn said:

Oh, we forgot another PHEV that makes sense for this, and could likely be had for huge discounts: 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/new-cars/2018-169-outlander-phev/  

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/what-do-we-think-about-the-outlander-phev/146076/page1/

Some Mitsubishi deals also do some really wild trade-in deals too. My friend bought a Mirage last year and they gave him $4000 trade-in on a dying rusty Cobalt that he paid $7800 for 5 years ago, And the sticker on the Mirage was $16k (its as fully-loaded as a Mirage can get) and they financed for $13k, so they really did give him $4k on trade-in. 

pinchvalve said:

The Niro is pretty small, smaller than the Rondo as far as I can tell.  

The Honda CR-V may be your answer.  Yes, it is an appliance, but a damn good one.  It has more space inside than you can believe, the packaging is amazing.  It can handle mild off-roading, and it is surprisingly fun to drive, in the way that all Hondas are fun to drive. Mileage is pretty darn good too.  

 

 

 

I haven't driven one, but I like the looks of the outside, especially in R-Line trim.  The VW Atlas can get 26mpg on the highway, and it is HUGE. 

I had an Atlas as a rental recently and it was actually really nice.  Pretty quick and fun to drive.  Yes it was huge.

Ford Transit Connect. 7 passenger 29 mpg highway

Strange.  I looked pretty hard at the Atlas before buying the CX-9, but the gas mileage was what steered me away from it.   Pretty sure the combined number was 19.

Related article:  https://www.cars.com/articles/hate-stopping-for-gas-the-2018-volkswagen-atlas-isnt-for-you-1420700441245/

It's pretty nice and just the right size, and I'm sure the V6 doesn't lack for power, but it's thirsty.

How about the Ford Flex? I’m not normally a Ford fan but they tick a lot of boxes.

bearmtnmartin said:

Ford Transit Connect. 7 passenger 29 mpg highway

Yep, that is my suggestion as well. Comes in 2 flavors - Van and wagon both short and long wheelbase. The Van has 2 trim levels, XL and XLT. The Wagon comes in XL, XLT and Titanium. Two engines were available, the 2.5L Duratec and the 1.6L Ecoboost. The Ecoboost went away in 2017, which sucks because it worked really well in these vans. People convert these into micro campers pretty successfully. The LWB Van has the most cargo room but the Wagon is just a couple of inches shorter due to the interior panels. They weren't very heavily promoted by Ford so they don't sell in huge numbers but there are quite a few out there for really good prices.

Transit Connect (2013+)

Autotrader has a whole slew of them

So this is pretty simple IMHO. If you care about city mileage, something hybrid, like a Prius V, Sonata Hybrid or Avalon Hybrid, etc. Or, a used Model S. Those things are big! The Pacifica Hybrid is impressive tech, but it has no stow n go in back and it suffers from that famous Chrysler reliability.

If you care about highway mileage, something with a diesel in it, like a Golf Sportwagen. Or really, most any wagon/sedan - highway mpg is aerodynamics-dependent.

Came in to say the base model, non-hybrid Pacifica we rented last year was really impressive. Great power, brakes, and handling - and with fantastic highway mileage, as well.

Tour x are being discounted pretty strongly around here but have only 5 passenger capacity.  Have you considered Ford Flex?