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What are some luxury/sport cars that get good gas mileage?
EliteLamer
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I can't stand to drive a honda econo box so I am looking for older luxury cars such as the Infiniti G20. My price range is 10k and mileage needs to be under 100k if possible. If you guys can just throw some cars out there that might meet what I am looking for that would be great.
SEGA
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What do you need out of the luxury/sports car?
This will help narrow it down, or even see if what you're looking for exists.
I've never heard it called bro-raped before, but the name really fits. In the age/mileage range specified by the OP, most will either be decked out in cheap aftermarket crap, driven like it was an F1 car, or most likely both.
Not really a bad option for a more sporty, yet economical option, ONLY if you can get a decent one. Walk away if it has a single modification to it.
The newer successor to the Integra seems like a better choice, the RSX. Actually looking at a few things suggests that a few of the lower level Acuras might fit what you're looking for.
Go find one. They're amazing. I'm so serious right now, do it.
I've also owned an integra and while it was somewhat sporty it is very, very far from luxurious. Leather seats be damned the ride in that car (or at least in mine) was pretty rough. However it does get pretty good mileage and with basic maintenance can last a very, very long time. Keep in mind however it is still a honda. Just like the G20 is a Nissan Primera. They might throw their luxury division badge on there but luxurious these cars are not.
If you want a real luxury/sport sedan my recommendation is a Lexus IS300. Unless you find one with a salvaged title or you get crazy lucky you aren't going to find one that meets your requirements. Also this car gets bad mileage, requires premium fuel, costs more to insure, and costs a shitload more to upkeep.
I realize your image is important to you however my suggestion is to suck it up and live with something you know you can afford and manage. I have friends who pay $750 a month for their cadillac CTS and keep it parked 5/7 days a week. Also, gas is not going to go back down. Six months to a year and that honda is going to look a lot better when your luxury sedan has lost any value it had left. Good luck.
edit: Shazkar if you can find that car for $10k I will eat my own cock.
Shogun Streams Vidya
I lol'd.
I'm not saying the IS300 is a bad car, but it was just funny the way you phrased that.
Technically speaking any lexus, acura, infinity, etc is "just" a toyota, honda, nissan.
I think what you meant to say is that the lower end "luxury" cars are just minor step ups from the normal brand cars.
And that's true, to an extent.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Well yes and no. Lexus might be Toyota's luxury division, but the IS300 is an actual luxury sport sedan. That car is amazingly well engineered. It was built to compete with a BMW 3 series which it easily does. An acura integra or an infinity g20 will never be able to compete with something like a 3 series or an IS300. At least not without needing a lot of outside work.
Shogun Streams Vidya
Right, the point is until you start getting higher in price, you won't encounter true "luxury" (whatever the fuck that word means) from any of the premium japanese brands. You just get leather and power windows or whatever. And usually worse gas mileage.
And that doesn't single out Japanese cars either. The BMW 1 series is not that hot in terms of luxury, either.
Basically if you wanna go "luxury" you wanna go full out. If you get a super low end luxury car you might as well save some money and get a normal sedan tricked out.
Well in the case of our young blood OP the highest I think he could go is an Acura RSX. Can find a decent one for 10k probably. Spiritual successor to the integra (still is the integra in japan) and overall is a sound little car. Not sure on the mileage though.
Or better yet, mass transit.
Shogun Streams Vidya
I'll agree with that. The RSX is a neat little car. Gets about 21/31 if I remember correctly. If you really cruise you can get up into the mid 30s.
If you drive it like it begs to be driven you'll be happy to see 23 though.
City it's a bit higher. 12.0L/100km avg which works out to approx 20mpg.
Now, I also have my car chipped with an Audi Performance Racing chip, which gives it a noticeable hp and torque increase, so this affects the mileage a bit. You can watch it drink gas when the turbo kicks in also. It goes straight up to 40L/100km, hence the drop in milage with stop and go traffic in the city.
This is running 91 octane. So not cheap, but overall, gas milage is pretty decent for an all wheel drive lux car. If i retune the computer using the APR chip to support 94 octane, the performance is even better, and gas milage is almost the same.
On a 66L tank, it costs me about .. $88 to fill with 91 @ 1.34/L however, the last 6L are meant for reserve, so an average trip to the gas station costs me in the $60 - $70 range for about 600km average of driving.
It's a nice little car. I only got to drive one for about half a day, but from what I felt it handles pretty well. The V6 gets worse gas mileage and handles more sluggishly than the 4 cylinder, from what I hear. I drove the 1.8L and it was nice.
The seats are fairly comfortable but not amazing. The 4 cylinder model gets like 22/29 or something, and the V6 gets about 5 MPG worse.
From your price range I assume you're thinking of one a good 7 or 8 years back. Be warned: I've heard stories about reliability of Audis. Getting an older car from a brand not known for their stellar lifetimes may not prove wise.
The RSX is also out of his price range
You can get a used RSX for around 10K if you look around. It'll have some miles on it, though.
Well. Yes and No. This is my first audi, and knock on wood, i havent had any major problems. Some normal stuff is expensive, eg. the 02 has stupid wipers that I can't buy anywhere except a mechanic. But I chalk that up to driving a nice car.
And I smoked a deer down in maryland last year, and the damage was outrageous ($10,000), luckily my insurance covered it all. But that was a new front bumper, grill, hood, windshield, etc.
As long as you do your research it should be fine. (for example, some audi's have a problem with coil packs going, $12 part, but scary when it goes and you don't know what it is)
But coming from driving a 94 civic si, this is a much MUCH nicer car.
Because something like a Subaru WRX or STI would fit the latter, and maybe a Mazda something or other.
http://webhome.idirect.com/~dougcoll/car/
ah nm..
The Audi's great. The build quality is unmatched in it's class, it's pretty comfortable, not a lot of road noise, not badly tuned stock and plenty of aftermarket ECU upgrades to make it more aggressive. As for the repairs, I think you'll find that all "sports car" class cars are going to see about the same amount of service given an attentive owner. The A4 *does* have one of the most sensitive diagnostic computers, so I think a lot of people end up more frequently in the shop because smaller problems tend to get pointed out by the computer before much bigger problems come rumbling along.
That said, I probably wouldn't buy an A4 if I was living in a dry climate. It shows it's strength in the snow and as I think about moving to the west coast, I also think about selling the car.
edit: After doing a quick search you can certainly find one for 10k but they all had high mileage. A lot of them had salvage titles as well. Weren't these like $50,000 cars when they were new? Or am I thinking of something else? I hope I am because if I'm not they haven't held their value for shit. Either way I hope you know what you're getting yourself into.
edit 2: Also if you get a 1999/2000 model make bloody sure it has been back to the dealer for its recalls.
Shogun Streams Vidya
I have always got my cars for about 2-4k cheaper then what they are worth. You just have to wait around to find one. Only problem is TT's roadsters seem to be rare...
My current car with 12mpg, 26k miles 00 SS Camaro hardtop...
...so is this just to impress people? Because if so (and from your latest post, it does seem to be), then you might want to wait until you have a better budget for it.
And a 2000 Audi TT with 80k miles is at the very least 11k. If you can find one for less, more power to you. My dad had one and the engine gave up at 96k, but that's just one person's experience.
Here's the thing. Luxury cars and sports cars are money pits (if you own an SS, I don't have to tell you this, but it bears repeating). Especially the Euro brands.
You're NOT going to find an Audi TT roadster for 10k, nor will you find an RSX-S for 10k. Reason being, people put premiums on these cars (the Audi would break before you can begin to enjoy it), especially the RSX though, since they are no longer produced. If you want a cheap sports car with a fuel-sipping motor, buy a Miata. You'll get lots of drop-top fun, you can customize the piss out of them, and there are spare parts for them practically STREWN around the country. If you want a luxury car though, my advice would be to re-think the decision and buy yourself an Accord V6 or maybe a first-gen WRX. You'll get better mileage than you're used to with that Camaro, and you'll still get a little power out of it.
here is one for 10k
http://www.audiforums.com/m_865168/tm.htm
For what it's worth, I just bought a 2005 Infiniti G35, and I can attest to the less than stellar gas mileage. Personally, it's not too much of a big deal for me, as my commute is under 20 miles a day, but I'm not sure I'd feel the same way if I were driving more. I've also found that being a little less, shall we say, "enthusiastic" on the throttle helps the mileage a good deal. But it's a great daily driver, and a hell of a lot of fun when I get a chance to attack the windy roads.
I don't know how far back in time you're looking to go, but prior to my acquisition of the Infiniti, I drove a 1984 BMW 325i for many, many years. And it was awesome. Granted, it would most likely be hard to find one which won't require a good deal of fixin', but who knows. I'm actually hanging on to mine with the batshit insane notion of "restoring" it one day.
If you're looking for a sports car, might I suggest a Mazda MX-5? I've heard they get pretty good mileage, and are quite fun to drive. I skipped over them because of safety/practicality/insurance issues, but there's something there to be sure.
What about an RX-7? Might be hard to find, depending on your area, but they're pretty damn cool cars.
I'm not sure what the etiquette is for doing something like this is, but I made a thread on here awhile ago which was very helpful and full of good advice, which helped me a great deal in my search for a car, which can be found here. If linking like this is a faux pas, please let me know, and I'll edit it out.