Commuter vehicle ideas

[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.