Commuter vehicle ideas

[Birdguy]

I will be looking for a different commuting vehicle in the near future. I have driven an 01 Accord (4 cyl) for the last 15+ years. It has been a great car for commuting and running kids to sports and such. It has almost 250k on it and it is getting tired, not dead by any means but tired. I would not be opposed to another car but smaller SUV or pick up that get decent mileage would suit the next phase of my life better I think. I notice as I get older the seat in the Accord has gotten a lot closer to the ground as I enter and exit the vehicle. I have roughly 13 years of commuting left so I figure one more good vehicle will see me into retirement. I usually drive the diesel truck on road trips and hauling. I would prefer 4x4 but not a deal breaker.  80% of the time it will just be me but occasionally the Mrs. and I may take it someplace. So hope that is enough to get some ideas out  of you folks that have different rigs. Thank you.

[Crunchy]

Little Toyota Rav4 or I hate to say it but a Subaru?

[3boys]

Little Toyota Rav4 or I hate to say it but a Subaru?

I would never own another Subaru. Worst car I have ever owned. I would look hard at Kia. Have a couple as company cars. Comfortable and affordable. Great warranty. Toyota’s are great but pricey.

[Barbarossa13]

I've been driving an 01 4runner for a year since we had our first kid.  Not as roomy as I thought they'd be on the inside, but one car seat behind the passenger seat is ok for now.  Only gets around 18 mpg but tows my boat on the weekends, and did awesome with all the snow we had a few months ago.  Never chained up and only put it in 4wd to get off our gravel road.  Biggest piece of advice I could give is to bring the kids with you when you test drive something.  If I had the car seat with me when I looked at the 4runner I may have passed on it, but it works for now.  Good luck with the purchase! 

[Birdguy]

We have talked about a Rav 4 but being a Toyota I assumed 20mpg? And yes, I feel the same way about a Subaru. They run forever but have always seemed gutless and as many times as I have been caught swearing about being "Subar Screwed" on Blewett pass I am not sure I could drive one 

Barbarossa, had a 90 4runner the wife drove for 20 years and almost 300K then bought her a new one. Fantastic rigs but mpg is not good. Not far off the top of the list (still have studded tires and chains for one) and if all SUVs get 20 that is where I will likely end up cause they are great in every other way.

[Dan-o]

Never thought we'd own a Subaru.

My wife got one 2 years ago.

We love it.

I love AWD.

[Westside88]

Are you looking for a new vehicle? We just bought a Honda Pilot and it’s getting 26 on the highway,very happy with it. If I was looking to commute in a smaller suv I’d take a serious look at the Honda CRV

[Pnwrider]

What is your budget? How far is your commute? Are you most concerned with fuel efficiency? Do you want a car or suv? Need more details on what you like/want.

[hollymaster]

Ford Escape hybrid. 185,000 and ticking. 26-28mpg 4 wheel drive when I need it.

[Fl0und3rz]

Never thought we'd own a Subaru.

My wife got one 2 years ago.

We love it.

I love AWD.

We are selling our 2005 Forester after getting a Highlander for something bigger.  The subaru is one of the best cars I've ever owned.  Good ground clearance, easy maintenance, sure-footed, top safety pick.  No regrets.

[dwils233]

I drive an 06 Lexus RX and love it for commuting around. I can drop the seats if needed for more storage room, but it rides real comfy, good gas mileage, AWD, and there are plenty on the market that we're lightly used by soccer mom's.
It's just a fancy Toyota at the end of the day so mechanically it's been great and I expect to go over 200k miles with it. Parts can be slightly more expensive, but if you've got a good mechanic it ain't bad at all.

[swanny]

Depending on what you want (car or suv), budget, and mileage you are driving, you might look at Electric. The new Leaf, Bolt, a variety of others, and of course Tesla. The get up and go in Electric is amazing and you'd be shocked at the gas savings.

[teanawayslayer]

How many miles a day do you drive? From and to? I’ve commuted from Cle Elum for 12 years. My go to is Toyota Tacoma 4x4. Change oil and go. 300k on one only major issue was wheel bearings at 200k. Pretty cheap fix. I have 4 of them. You also will have a good off road hunting rig. You can’t go wrong imo.

[greenhead_killer]

ive been commuting the last 11 years and cross the pass twice a day. def subaru for me. im on my third one. i run them to about 250k then get another. i get about 31 mpg in this new one. most of the newer ones have chain timing belts and the head gasket issue was fixed in 08. awd, throw a set of studs on for half the year and youre good to go. a car is a car to me, i get what i need to fulfill the purpose i have for it. not having to chain up ever was one of the key reasons i went subaru, and the gas mileage. good luck in your search.

[bobcat]

Sounds like a Subaru is what you need. I've had mine for five years now. 65,000 miles and I've done absolutely nothing to it except change the oil and the air filters. Never owned such a trouble free car. The AWD is awesome. Only downside is the gas mileage. Used to get right around 30, but then I put Yokohama all terrain tires on it and now average about 26.

[Dhoey07]

Subaru Forester. We bought ours new in 2011. 107k miles and zero problems. I take it hunting and fishing all the time.

[Birdguy]

Thanks guys! Commute is about 20 or so miles each way. I have only had one day I could not get home in that accord and it was the rain and flash freeze day we had 10 years ago or so I say I could have but did not try the last three hills. AWD would be a big perk but not a requirement, would allow me to take it to the place on the east side. I park in a lot with a bunch of careless door bashing people so I do not need the nicest looking thing. Dependability is probably #1, gas mileage #2 as even with my truck I seem to put about 15-17K a year on my driver. Kids are grown so do not care about them, lol. Dogs may become kids so SUV would be cool but not a requirement. Over the years I have warmed up a bit to the Subaru but not there just yet, lol. Budget could upwards of $15K but of course less is preferred, this will be what I drive until I retire and move to the country!

Thanks again for the help. We have owned a few Toyotas (2 4 runners, and a 4x4 pickup) s-10, 1500 and 3500 chevys, 3 Accords. They have all been great cars. I am just thinking it would be nice to not get in and out off the ground every time I get in and out of the car. Getting older and fatter is not helping but that is another issue  .

 

[Alchase]

Any of the newer small SUVs will work well. All have an AWD option. I would definitely get an AWD version if I was buying. If you drive one with AWD you will immediately feel the difference. They have much better handling and control even in normal every day driving.
And the MPG difference is minimal.

[Grit dog]

When you pencil out the numbers on a commuter car, you’re talking about 10kmiles a year in your case. Rarely does it pencil out for a commuter (there could be other reasons, cramped parking, etc) unless you go used, good deal, best fuel mileage.
If you already have a diesel 4x4 which is the ultimate suv, stick with a little 30mpg plus rice burner, or American car.
Bought a 50k mile Versa a couple years ago for my sister. $5k deal and they appear to go 150k plus before major issues are eminent.
I’d be thinking comfort over utility. New enough car to have Bluetooth and good creature comforts and small enough to get 30 mpg. Still can’t go wrong with the big 3 jap cars imo.

[rasbo]

Subaru crosstrek ,4 winters here on the east side does awesome,also it'll go damn near anywhere. Great milage,plus one of the safest cars on the road

[Boss .300 winmag]

Here it is.👍

https://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,238274.msg3186936/topicseen.html#new

[Jonathan_S]

Subaru Forester. We bought ours new in 2011. 107k miles and zero problems. I take it hunting and fishing all the time.

Based on a dozen or so well known vehicles to me, Subaru is a ticking time bomb with headgaskets. Glad yours is working out so far

[Fl0und3rz]

It can be, which is why it is good to see that head gaskets have been addressed in a used Subaru.

[Jonathan_S]

It can be, which is why it is good to see that head gaskets have been addressed in a used Subaru.

  Subaru Stealership, "see you in 100k miles..."

[Fl0und3rz]

I'd have few maintenance items done at a stealership, and you can have a competent shop do them at a fraction of the cost, or they are not too hard to do yourself.  Nice thing about Subarus (or at least the vintage I am familiar with) is the ease of actually getting to the engine to do the work.  Honda, same vintage, sucks, by comparison, almost like maintenance was an afterthought.

Now add a turbo, intercooler, all the piping, etc., and that may be a different story.

[wadu1]

I was in the same boat in 2009, my commute was 26 miles each way. I ended up with a Hundi Accent with a manual and cranky windows. After retiring and 230, 000 later the little car one issue one relay, 3 sets of tires and 4 headlights. I got about 32 MPG with the Put's mobile, 3 trips to Canada and 6 or so to Spokane. Well worth the 8.5K I payed for it well that's my 

[Dhoey07]

Subaru Forester. We bought ours new in 2011. 107k miles and zero problems. I take it hunting and fishing all the time.

Based on a dozen or so well known vehicles to me, Subaru is a ticking time bomb with headgaskets. Glad yours is working out so far

Supposedly Subaru fixed that in 2010 but if I have to pay $1500 dollars for a headgasket job, so be it. The thing has been problem free for over 100k

[deerlick]

Hyundai santé fe is a good one to look at. fits your needs very well and are very quality vehicles

[Fl0und3rz]

Subaru Forester. We bought ours new in 2011. 107k miles and zero problems. I take it hunting and fishing all the time.

Based on a dozen or so well known vehicles to me, Subaru is a ticking time bomb with headgaskets. Glad yours is working out so far

Supposedly Subaru fixed that in 2010 but if I have to pay $1500 dollars for a headgasket job, so be it. The thing has been problem free for over 100k

In-laws have a 2012 with 200K+ on it with no head gasket issues.  But I am skeptical that this is representative of the entirety of Subaru experience, post fix.

[HikerHunter]

Another vote for Subaru. I have a '02 Forester that I've put 150k miles on, which puts it at 250k miles total. Its a manual and I've averaged 27 mpg with it over that life. Its hard to beat that with an AWD with limited slip differential. Its more than just my commuter though. I don't have a truck so I've put deer, canoes, lumber, paddle boat, etc. on the roof without any issues.
I did have to do the head gasket, but was able to wait until the next timing belt, water pump, clutch job. The more recent ones don't have the head gasket issue.

[BULLBLASTER]

My wife’s 2010 forester had head gaskets go at 95k. Also had some suspension bushing around the same time.

I will say that genera maintenance is easy to do and fairly low cost on our Subaru.

[Bofire]

I am retired so I never drive in traffic and I live in the county so I drive between 35-50 most the time. I bought a 18 4Runner about 18 months ago, 25000 miles, average 20 MPG
Carl

[Birdguy]

Thanks again guys. I will have to do some test driving in the near future. I will look at the Subaru, likely a couple Toyota hybrids, smaller standard SUVs from Toyota and Honda and perhaps Kia. Some great advice here and I certainly appreciate it coming for guys who do what I do and do not work on a car lot  .

[time2hunt]

Rav 4 best little rig I’ve owned. I average 26 in the summer and about 22-23 in the winter and I commute over snoqualmie pass. It’s so nice not to have to throw chain on those crappy days. There’s plenty of room in the back and even more if you lay the back seats down.


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[dreadi]

If I had to commute to work, I'd be looking for 45mpg vehicles. The price of fuel here is hard to swallow.

[BigGoonTuna]

i bought a '13 mazda 3 for a work commuter about 2 years ago.  paid way too much, but my wife prodded me into it as she didn't like me driving my slowly dying pontiac vibe any more.  it's been a reliable car but the drive by wire is a little weird to get used to.  i did have to do the front wheel bearings at 60k.  gets around 38mpg combined, and even with the econo 2.0l motor, it can throw you back in your seat if you really stomp on it.  i'd get myself in trouble if i had the 2.5 or the 2.3l turbo.

time will tell if this thing will be as reliable and cheap to own as my '95 corolla(that i put about $200 into aside from tires and oil changes in 7 years of ownership), but so far so good.

[buglebuster]

5.9 L Cummins 

[mountainman]

Prius AWD. 50+ mpg and get you through most all mother nature can dish out

[throwingsticks]

Thanks guys! Commute is about 20 or so miles each way. I have only had one day I could not get home in that accord and it was the rain and flash freeze day we had 10 years ago or so I say I could have but did not try the last three hills. AWD would be a big perk but not a requirement, would allow me to take it to the place on the east side. I park in a lot with a bunch of careless door bashing people so I do not need the nicest looking thing. Dependability is probably #1, gas mileage #2 as even with my truck I seem to put about 15-17K a year on my driver. Kids are grown so do not care about them, lol. Dogs may become kids so SUV would be cool but not a requirement. Over the years I have warmed up a bit to the Subaru but not there just yet, lol. Budget could upwards of $15K but of course less is preferred, this will be what I drive until I retire and move to the country!

Thanks again for the help. We have owned a few Toyotas (2 4 runners, and a 4x4 pickup) s-10, 1500 and 3500 chevys, 3 Accords. They have all been great cars. I am just thinking it would be nice to not get in and out off the ground every time I get in and out of the car. Getting older and fatter is not helping but that is another issue  .

Assuming $3.50 a gallon for gas and 17,000 miles annually, at 20 MPG you would spend $2,975 on gas and at 50 mpg you would spend $1,150.  For $15k you can buy are nice used Prius and a new gun EVERY YEAR with the $1,785 you save... Plus the maintenance on a Prius is dirt cheap, no belts and brakes last forever....