Simple problem, 85 mile one way trip for work, best vehicle is 26 mpg, I drove it today to see. At the current $3.69/gal, that is a lot of money to spend for $10-12/hr.
Proof via the factory lie-o-meter:
So, I can sell my diesel for 5-6k, so that is my limit on what I can buy. I would still like to shift for myself.
Possibilities? Thoughts? Besides that I am an idiot. 
CRX HF or 1st-gen Insight, best hypermilers around. Both can be modded for 3-digit MPG.
$5K should get you a decent Mk IV TDI 5 spd off tdiclub.com It'll likely have over 200K miles, but if properly serviced that shouldn't be an issue. Of course, the "properly serviced" bit can be tricky. A couple of the vendors/tdi gurus get cars they sort out and flip.
I'm still puttering along at 314K... last three tanks were over 50 mpg with no hypermiling techniques used and occasional hwy runs over 80.
Even a 1st gen CRX Si like mine gets ~40mpg highway.
Ian F wrote: $5K should get you a decent Mk IV TDI 5 spd off tdiclub.com It'll likely have over 200K miles, but if properly serviced that shouldn't be an issue. Of course, the "properly serviced" bit can be tricky. A couple of the vendors/tdi gurus get cars they sort out and flip. I'm still puttering along at 314K... last three tanks were over 50 mpg with no hypermiling techniques used and occasional hwy runs over 80.
How are these things besides the seemingly indestructible drivetrain? Do they suffer from CELs and VAG product electrical nightmares? Or are these the hidden gems in the VAG lineup?
Man i really like typing "VAG."
Swank Force One wrote: How are these things besides the seemingly indestructible drivetrain? Do they suffer from CELs and VAG product electrical nightmares? Or are these the hidden gems in the VAG lineup? Man i really like typing "VAG."
To be honest, I think it depends. My own car has basically been dead-nuts reliable. However, you can go on tdiclub and read typical VAG horror stories. I often joke my car was built on a Weds. There seems to be no strong evidence to suggest German cars like my wagon (all wagons were German) are any less problem-prone than Mexican built cars.
FWIW, Tdiclub.com is the only place to really research these cars. The good thing is many of those guys are diesel fans moreso than VW fans, so they're realistic about the cars' strengths and weaknesses. The FAQ section is required reading, although it's mainly geared towards Mk IV and earlier cars. My personal opinion is to stick to ALH engine cars like mine - 1997 thru 2003. The newer cars had to make compromises for emissions which seemed to hurt reliablity some.
For the frist 150K or so it threw CEL's for the glow plugs, but since I replaced the harness it's been fine.
I can count on replacing the coolant temp sensor with every timing belt change @ 100K. It can throw a CEL and will also make the guage read wonky. But unlike a bad CTS in other cars, it seems to have zero affect on how the engine runs, so I've always waited until I'm draining the coolant for the timing belt to change it.
The cars are pcky about coolant and oil. ONLY VW coolant and distilled water. Period. No exceptions. I've stuck to this religiously and the coolant passages in my car still looked new when I replaced the water pump and t-stat (preventive) during the 300K timing belt. For oil I use 0w-40 Mobil 1 Euro formula (previously various types of 5w-40 from the dealer at first until it became more widely available). At 300K, the cam followers still looked new. $9.50/qt, but only changed every 10K miles.
Other electrical oddities:
For the first couple of years the turn signal would randomly 'click' like crazy with no input from the lever or light activation. Drove me nuts for awhile but hasn't recurred in years.
The sunroof would randomly tilt open and close without switch activation. I eventually "fixed" this problem by pulling the fuse since I have a wagon with roof rails and never opened the sunroof anyway due to the wind noise.
Everything else in the car is original.
To be honest, my biggest electrical complaint is the Monsoon sounds system. While the sound quality is good (better than the Harmon-Kardon system in our MINI's), the radio reception is horrendous. Doesn't matter to a lot of people, but I mainly listen to the radio so it bugs me. CD sound is great with decent bass for a system w/o a sub-woofer. Replacing the head unit can be tricky due to the integration with the body control computer (especially if you want to keep the steering wheel controls), but I understand Crutchfield sells and adapter.
Oh... and the left front fender has started to rust at the top of the wheel arch, which is rather surprising and doesnt' appear to be common. I've been on a search for a replacement indigo blue fender along with some other body parts damaged through various mishaps with trash cans and deer.
Amusingly enough, one of my potential post-E30, 2nd car ideas is to find a indigo blue Jetta 1.8t sedan, swap over the good body parts to the wagon and build up the 1.8t car for DSP/rally-cross/TT.
My car is a mk4 jetta bought for 6k with 125k miles on it. Have had no issues. I intentionally bought a no sunroof, roll up windows car with a 5 speed. And this was in LA so diesel tends to hold a premium on car sale values compared to what bluebook says. Also diesel has averaged about 10% more than gas but often like now is cheaper. There is a lot to be said for the convenience factor of 600+ mile fillups
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/jaynen/jetta
I got lazy tracking every tank but I did it initially for over 2years. I redid the stock suspension with oem+ spec parts. All the bushings etc replaced did the audi TT steering upgrade. It rides nice, handles pretty well. And I get 43mpg even with 225/45/17 goodyear eagle GTs on 17inch rims doing on average 75-80mph
If you do 70 you gain 2mpg over 75 in my testing If you use a cetane additive you also gain about 2mpg but cost wise it washes out. I average 620-630 miles between fillups
At a 65 cruising speed you should easily get 45+ and actually its rather easy to swap the 5th gear on these cars to lower the cruising revs for higher than 65 speed limits
As a note on maintenance the only thing I HAD to do was replace two little vacuum hoses on the turbo solenoid that rotted out and gave me no boost.
Suspension was old but was optional, tires wheels optional, I got the AC fixed and recharged, still drove it without it for a couple years but its nice to have. And I have had every kind of car seat in the car, infant carrier, convertible front, rear facing etc
@Ian lol I have the glowplug CEL. Even my mechanic doesn't bother with it. I might replace it just because.
Find a "guru" from the TDI club forums or a recommended non dealer shop. Never ever take one to a dealership. So mine has been trouble free ever 10k miles I order an oil change kit and replace it myself with the specific full synthetic
Another nice bonus is resale wise I am pretty sure I could get more for my car than I bought it for and at the very least break even
You can't beat a first Gen 5 speed insight. Even with shot batteries it will trump any of these. A 1 liter, 3 cylinder in an aluminum chassis have that effect.
Hmm can you pull the batteries from them and still get good mpg?
Bridge ported rotary?
I'm consistently getting 27-29mpg with mine.
Surprised nobody has brought up the ultimate..... Geo Metro xfi. Lighter than the honda offerings and came with lots of cool gas mileage gimmicks:
differently tuned ecu
different profile camshaft
higher final drive
one less compression ring on the pistons
1st gen Insight for sure. I almost bought one. From what I read, a car with a fully functioning battery pack can achieve 70mpg with little trouble. Even one with a dead battery supposedly can do 50+mpg on the highway. Do the math on the money you'd save in fuel. Couple hundred bucks per month.
We have discussed these before so where are the good info sources on the easy 70 mpg. Is this at 70+ mph speeds?
I had a 2007 Mazda 3 2.0 5 speed that averaged 35 on my long drives. Didn't suck to drive either.
Since sold and picked up a Civic vx. Maybe a Civic hx would be easier to find in decent shape.
The problem (for me at least) with the insight is that it is a 2-seater. It is a no compromises mpg machine. Cool pieces of tech for sure. Rated at 61/68 mpg city/highway before the revised epa number in 2008. Then it was changed to 48/59 mpg city/highway.
This will only use 25 gallons @ way 
Jaynen wrote: Hmm can you pull the batteries from them and still get good mpg?
I think Vigo on here has one that has dead batteries that he disconnected and he was still in the 50+ mpg range.
No hybrids, no 2 seaters, and needs to be 40+mpg. I forgot to say that, as I was pressed for time.
LOL@aussie.
Civic sedan and aforementioned TDIs
Ranger50 wrote: No hybrids, no 2 seaters, and needs to be 40+mpg.
To plug once again, a friend of mine has a manual trans base model '13 Focus 4-door and gets 39-42mpg highway. The new Focus is not a small car, it looks and feels like a first generation Taurus in size.
Another friend has a manual trans '12 Fiesta 4-door and reports similar mileage.
Yes, these are a little out of your price range, but the nice thing about them is that they can run on $3.50 87-octane swill instead of $4.10 Number 2.
I think if he had modern car money he wouldn't have started with the $5-6,000 number
PHeller wrote: I think if he had modern car money he wouldn't have started with the $5-6,000 number
Correct. I still have another year of school left and if I can not have a payment, full coverage insurance, and all the stuff associated with those ideas at this point.
If i did have that kind of money, I would have a Fiesta/Focus/1.6L Fusion/Cruze/Dart. But I am just sitting idly by for school to end to really get something of that nature, meaning payments attached.
I have a 99 MKIV golf. I drive it normally and get 50 mgs all day long. It's as manual as you can get so my chance for the VW virus is better than some. I paid 3500 for mine with 230K o
DrBoost wrote: I have a 99 MKIV golf. I drive it normally and get 50 mgs all day long. It's as manual as you can get so my chance for the VW virus is better than some. I paid 3500 for mine with 230K o
50 mpg's around here won't happen unless you can find a way to make the terrain flat. If you aren't going up and down a mountain, you are in a turn going around it instead. 
airwerks wrote: Surprised nobody has brought up the ultimate..... Geo Metro xfi. Lighter than the honda offerings and came with lots of cool gas mileage gimmicks:
Don't waste your time. If the fuel economy was that important, Metro would be the answer, but it never is.
The worst tank of mpg I have ever gotten is 39. That was Las Vegas all city driving with the AC on because it was stinking hot.
If you have lots of hills and corners you will like the torque of the diesel over a metro or civic. My car stock pulls 5th gear at 70+ mph over the grapevine
"From Caltrans, "Most travelers think the portion of I-5 called the Grapevine begins at the north end of Castaic in the Santa Clarita Valley where the freeway begins a northerly climb at Parker Road -- and where the California Highway Patrol closes the freeway when snow or icy conditions northward prohibit safe travel. But this is not where the actual Grapevine is located. What they would be traveling on, instead, is what is most commonly known as the beginning of the five-mile grade where I-5 sharply rises to the north at a grade of 5% -- and the beginning of a 40 mile journey over the Tehachapi Mountains from northern Los Angeles County to the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County.
After the five mile grade, comes Templin Highway at about the 3,000-feet level. Proceeding north one encounters 22.5 more miles north on a rolling, meandering drive by Frazier Mountain through the Gorman area and the highest point of the drive at an altitude of 4,183 feet, and the summit of this famous drive.
Continuing northerly from the summit is a slight drop in altitude and in six more miles one reaches Fort Tejon, a state historic monument. Fort Tejon was established in 1854 to suppress stock rustling, which was rampant at that time, and to protect the Native Americans in the San Joaquin Valley. It is here where the actual portion of freeway known as the Grapevine actually begins." "
Metro is probably the best/cheapest option. But even with the bad VAG press the refinement in my TDI and quality of most things is way better. I just wish my cruise control worked but I have not looked into it
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