What do you look for in a commuter?

All I have to say is you guys all have what sounds like horrible commutes. My wife and I can ride our bikes to work on most days.

With that said, my commuter is a G37. It's quiet, quick, and comfy. Can fit co workers as needed. Wouldn't work for long distance commuting from a cost stand point but it's a nice driver.

For me, the perfect commuter has been sitting in my garage 4' off the ground for the last 3 years. My '03 VW Jetta TDI wagon. It's reliable, comfortable, useful and gets great mileage. Although it's a manual, the very light clutch and low RPM torque makes stop-and-go traffic almost fun at times. Or at least not knee-achingly painful. The reason it's been out of service for the last 3 years has less to do with the car than my own AADD issues.

Fortunately, my office is moving to a new building equipped with a gym and showers. I am hoping this means I can figure out how to commute by bicycle in some way. Although ~50 miles each way would be generally impractical, I'm hoping I can figure out an alternative that reduces my driving time some and allows me to ride more.

I'm also considering a motorcycle once in awhile.

mazdeuce wrote: Any thoughts about CUV's? I know, hatchbacks that aren't as good as hatchbacks in any way, but people like them a lot. I have to admit, when Mercedes loaned my the GLA250 I enjoyed it. Having my head a foot higher than in a regular hatch made seeing around and through other cars in traffic easier.

We're very happy with our CX-9, but it only tows 3500 pounds, so no better than a minivan in that regard. It's a 7-passenger CUV, but the 3rd row seats are pretty small.

mazdeuce wrote:

MadScientistMatt wrote: 1. A commuter car would need to serve as either a primary or backup family car as well. So it has to have enough room for me, my wife, and two little mad scientists.

That's one of the reasons I'm driving the truck around. With a family of six and driving back and forth across the country at least twice a year with the whole clan there is a size issue. The van had taken over this role for a bit but my confidence in it's reliability has recently plummeted. I've been very tempted to ditch the truck for a minivan with a trailer hitch, but then I own TWO vans and that seems silly.

So Ridgeline?

In reply to Advan046:

And I've thought about that. What would make me happier is an Odyssey that could tow the same 5k lbs.
My dad has one and I like it, but the advantages over a regular truck aren't great enough for me to switch. And they seat five.

Really I have had four very different commutes over about 6 years.

• 80 miles one way 60% open highway the rest stop and go and side streets. Commute alone. 05 Corolla auto.
• 10 miles 90% stop and go three days but two days of the week a twisty section, two person commute. CUV mostly due to double duty as family car.
• Then 10 mile commute only two days a week in 04 Evo alone.
• Then just started a 38 mile commute all reverse commute so open road on freeway 95% of the way. Currently in the Evo.

When I run the numbers I don't see much value in switching cars in pure dollars. Toyed with a highway capable scooter before my family reversed course and said no. Getting some quieter and comfy car is maybe doable. My list has evolved with options to sell the Evo versus just adding versus taking my Daughter's car and getting her something new. But I had.

• Scion now Toyota iA, made by Mazda as the Mazda 2 top list of added car or new car for daughter.

• Mazda 3 hatchback manual

• Mazda 6 manual

• Lincoln Zephyr/mkz Murcury Milan

• Buick Regal manual trans, most recent temptation was a $12k one on Craigslist

• Hyundai Genesis sedan 1st gen but mpg is terrible.

Odd balls would be Chrysler 300M or original Chrysler Pacifica I used to drive them and found them to be excellent. But again mpg isn't optimal.

I've owned a full size truck or van for most of the 35 years I've been driving. I've bought them as new as I could afford and driven them till they had a minimum of 200k miles on them. I used to own a commuter or beater car at the same time but as the trucks have gotten nicer the commuter car got less and less use. When I bought the truck before my current one I also owned a fairly late model Lincoln Town Car. The Cummins diesel in the truck got better mileage than the 302 in the Lincoln and the truck was almost as comfortable although not quite as quiet so the Lincoln just sat and I eventually sold it.

My current truck has 270k miles on it and I've been thinking about buying a commuter rather than replacing the truck. Probably I'll just buy a new truck though. I don't mind the size, I tend to get into trouble if I drive something too sporty and I can't bring myself to buy an appliance. The truck gives me reliability, power, comfort and if optioned well, all of the toys that I'd like. Plus, if I need a truck during the day I don't need to go home and get it.