Comments on: Car Saga is done (hopefully!)

By: Bujiatang

Bujiatang — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:07:41 +0000

At least you didn”t buy a minivan.

Our Silouette RIP, made it into the mid 20s on the highway, but I had to drive like a granny to make 21 in the city.

By: Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:05:29 +0000

The Forester is a good choice…not great on gas mileage, but not as bad as LOTS of other vehicles out there.

We have a 2002 model, and it has been dead reliable.

By: Jun

Jun — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:44:10 +0000

Hope you enjoy your Forester. We have a 2000, still running strong. The mileage is bad, but the 4wd means that we don”t worry when we get plowed in at the curb. The small wagon form factor is ideal for us. Like you guys, we don”t do much mileage anyway (one tank of gas a month). Been putting lots of mileage on the Xtracycle, though

By: Nelson Ralls

Nelson Ralls — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:39:24 +0000

Another EPA mpg change is due to a fundamental change in the ratings last year. As a whole ratings of similar cars went down, as the new rating is more real world. However since I drive easy the old rating was closer to what I actually get. The other things are true too though, cars are heavier and bigger engined for the same model. The Civics now are bigger and heavier than my old 88 Accord.

Take Care,
Nelson.

By: Rory

Rory — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 23:10:33 +0000

I agree that it’’s a combination of things that lead to worse MPG, but my point was that it is all market driven. when the VX was replaced with the HX, it was because people wanted a larger, peppier car, and honda responed. the drop in fuel economy seemed to not be that much of an issue.

I would go ahead and wager that things will be better in 7 years, as the economy is going to more or less demand something that doesn”t cost that much to maintain and operate.

By: Jimmy Livengood

Jimmy Livengood — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:33:27 +0000

Nice! At least you avoided the Forester Alivio, with all it’’s crappy plastic instead of the nicer aluminum parts.

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:36:07 +0000

Rory — Compare the 1994 Honda Civic VX (1.5 liter engine) with the 2006 (just to pick a year for one that I”d find used) Honda Civic Hybrid or Honda Civic.

The 1994 VX gets 39/50, 2006 Hybrid gets 40/45, and the 2006 non-Hybrid civic gets 26/34 mpg. That is a huge drop in 12 years of car technology!

I don”t think it is just engine size or just weight or just modern emissions standards. I think it is a combo of all of these things. I hope things are better whenever we next need a car (in 7 years at our current rate).

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:13:38 +0000

We did get the XT model. That was because we got a very good deal on a XT model. The fuel economy differences seemed to be marginal (a couple of percent). It is the same engine as the WRX. I wasn”t intentionally trying to buy a XT, but I”m not unhappy that we got one either. If the fuel economy is going to suck I”d rather have a fun car.

The Forester isn”t that much heavier than my VW Golf was.

I”m glad that you liked yours. The one thing about them is that there seem to be very few unhappy owners.

alex

By: Rory

Rory — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:29:03 +0000

I”m going to take a stab at the lower MPG reasoning of now versus 15 years ago. the first reason is the engines are larger because the american public is demanding more pep. the geo metro’’s engine was a 3 cylinder 1.0 liter, versus the Yaris” 1.5 liter.

however, to compare toyota’’s fuel efficiency, since that’’s more apple’’s and apple’’s, they”ve had the same size engine for a while now. in 1990 1995 they had the tercel as their budget car, which had a 1.5 liter engine, and it got 28 and 30 mpg average respectively versus today’’s yaris of 32 mpg, meanwhile the yaris produces a little bit more HP while meeting tougher EPA ratings. something right happened there.

however, looking at fueleconomy.gov’’s compar-arator, the 1995 honda civic was rated as the same as today’’s Yaris, and much lower then today’’s civic Hybrid. The Yaris and the Civic both have a 1.5 liter engine.

so, if we want more MPG, we need less engine.

By: chiggins

chiggins — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 18:41:09 +0000

We have a Forester as well, 2005 that we bought when we lived in SoCal, but we”re selling it now.

The thing about the mileage is that it’’s a much heavier car than the Hondas I grew up with (the cost of airbags, side impact protection, etc), and it’’s also driving all the wheels all the time. In your case, if that’’s a picture of your car and if I remember correctly from when I was shopping, the scoop indicates you got the XT model, which features what’’s basically a detuned STI engine, that right? More fun, worse mileage.

I will say this though, this car’’s been very, very good to my family, and the sentimental part of me is heartbroken to be getting rid of it. At this point, we only ever use it for longer trips, so we can”t justify the expense of keeping it anymore than we need our own airplane. But it’’s been one of the big ticket items in my life that hasn”t disappointed in design or build quality.

Cheers!