So is now the time to buy an economy car?

With the continuing low gas prices I'm seeing more and more huge gas-guzzlers on the road, both old and new. I've been looking for a DD with 3 pedals for a while and used Saturns keep popping up at shockingly low prices. A lot of them seem to be in good shape, yet have been for sale for quite a while.

I read the other day that Chrysler (or whatever they're calling themselves these days) is killing off the 200 and the Dart because buyers are only interested in big 4wd things. This seems like the perfect time to snap up a fuel sipper.

Anybody else shopping for econoboxes even more so now that they seem to be out of vogue?

Not sure if people are more interested in big 4wd things or just not interested in the 200 and Dart specifically.

I know you can get really good deals on new Prii right now.

Better now than when its $4/gallon.

After driving both the 200 and the dart, I would say that they are doing buyers a favor.

I mean people are buying the HRV more than the Fit even though it's the same mechanics and the HRV is 5K more. I don't think it's an economy car thing, I think it's the I have to have an SUV to be safe thing.

the real problem is there aren't a lot of exciting economy car options outside the Fiesta ST and maybe the Abarth.

Too bad for all of the Fiat dealers that made the big bet to expand their sales capacity only to see the car demand go dead flat.

Sonic/Cruze 1.4t

Im pulling down a lifetime 33mpg average (based on the on board computer, my real world math is within several tenths of a mpg typically) in my 1.4t/6spd manual 2014 Cruze LT. The ride is pretty great, handling is crisp, and the seats feel really pretty good, even for multi-state trips. I got a pretty good deal on mine in the early part of 2015. Im not sure what used prices look like, but theres probably low mileage CPOs out there for a good price. Aftermarket is alive and well, and people are doing good things with the 1.4 mill.

Yes. Specifically this economy car:

The_Jed wrote: I read the other day that Chrysler (or whatever they're calling themselves these days) is killing off the 200 and the Dart because buyers are only interested in big 4wd things.

This is really freaking sad. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Apparently our collective memories are pretty berking short.

Gee, ya think gas prices might go back up?

In reply to ¯_(ツ)_/¯:

YES!

In reply to 1988RedT2:

My thoughts exactly.

As Warren Buffett once famously said, “I snatch up four bangers when gas is cheap and I rock American muscle when gas is expensive”. Admittedly, I’m paraphrasing a bit but given his general philosophy, he would say something like this if he were a gearhead.

On the flip side, I got my RX-8 for $1,800 below invoice by grabbing it during a big spike in gas prices. Basically, I noticed a matrix in the dealership’s breakroom that listed how many of each type of Mazda each salesman had sold in the previous month. I divided the total number of RX-8’s that were sold by how many the dealership had on the front lot + the holding area + the commitments that were in the supply chain and found that they were sitting on 4.2 months of inventory.

So yes, I look for opportunities to exploit the public’s overreaction to short term conditions.

If that's what you want, absolutely buy an economy car. Heck, buy a couple and stash them away for the next fuel crisis. BTW, I suspect that the prices are going to stay low for a while, due to many current geopolitical reasons.

Just my .02¢ I am not a political scientist, economist, prognosticator or prophet.

The_Jed wrote: I've been looking for a DD with 3 pedals for a while and used Saturns keep popping up at shockingly low prices. A lot of them seem to be in good shape, yet have been for sale for quite a while.

There's also the fact that not many people want a car that they have to shift themselves these days. More cheap beaters for me! It's the same here. Two more decent looking DOHC/5speed Saturns just popped up on my local CL yesterday. Both for less than $1,500.

I like my Saturn. It's a bit quirky but out of all the cars I've owned it's been the easiest to work on. I almost look forward to wrenching on it.

In reply to BlueInGreen44:

And they make great chumpcars!

Definitely yes. Now is the time to get a deal on an econobox if you want one. I can't imagine gas prices will stay this low for a really long time. People have already forgotten what happened to economy car and huge SUV prices during the fuel price spike several years back. Economy cars, even used, were bringing high dollars. SUVs were just sitting on lots and CL ads.

I'm hoping prices stay low long enough for the Chevy Bolt to flop, so that I can snag one super cheap.

If we're talking cheap used cars, buy 3. One to drive. One to use as backup. One to store and sell to SUV driving chumps (at a handsome profit) when gas goes back up.

I got swmbo 2.0 into a nissan versa note on nye 2015 for next to nothing. Its a surprisingly good littlr car. 5speed, crank windows, no power anything. Its not.....fast, but its not nearly as anemic as youd expect. Dealers are giving the damn things away.

i love that i'm driving a E36 M3ty little Saturn that gets almost 40mpg in the winter as gas is falling down past the $1.50 mark in this area... i spend like $20 every 3 weeks in that thing... i drive my truck (97 Chevy K1500 extended cab long box with the 350) that gets 14mpg to work once a week just because it was my daily until i got the Saturn..

I paid $9988 for a 30k mile '13 Sonic. That's about 40% off MSRP.

I paid $11,800 for 23k '13 Focus, 5 speed with leather interior. About the same discount as EvanR. I'm loving the cheap fill-ups. The deals are out there.

STM317 wrote: If we're talking cheap used cars, buy 3. One to drive. One to use as backup. One to store and sell to SUV driving chumps (at a handsome profit) when gas goes back up.

Or sell all three, and buy that bad ass muscle car broski needs to sell because he bought 4 gas chugging bro trucks.

bmw88rider wrote: the real problem is there aren't a lot of exciting economy car options outside the Fiesta ST and maybe the Abarth.

keep in mind that we are a tiny % of the market

most people that buy small econo box cars, are doing so for the economy ... not "exciting" part ...

sorta what I did when I bought my '14 1.4l T 6MT Sonic ... I've got my CRX, I wanted fuel milage ... and high 30's low 40's is what I was after ... not 0 - 60 times

I say do it.

Hell, $15 full tanks of gas in the Focus have been fan-berkeleying-tastic.

HappyAndy wrote: If that's what you want, absolutely Just my .02¢ I am not a political scientist, economist, prognosticator or prophet.

Nor all that good with decimals, unless you meant to type "my two hundreths of a cent".

Snatch it up now because it gets good gas mileage.

I just stumbled onto a 1.0 EcoBoost Fiesta. If I have time I'll scope it out later today.