[Hehe]

Asking for a friend/wife's ex-coworker.

She works with children with special needs and needs to travel around the GVR pretty much every day (easily 70~100KM/day, sometimes 150+) and she needs it for taking her kids out too (so trunk space can't be too small for strollers and kid stuff)

What would be an ideal vehicle that's comfortable with a bit of luxury while being very fuel efficient on city driving? She's coming from a Civic and she's finding it too basic of a car.

Budget is under 50k tax-in ideally... can push a bit if there is an absolute better option

I thought about few options:

Lexus CT200h - all the whistle and bells technology-wise and great for city-driving. The negative is that it could be a little small. Why not choose Prius? Because Lexus... :fuckthatshit:

VW TDIs - they are greats and all and almost the first thing that came to mind when she asked. But the reliability history I've had with VAG wasn't all that great when you start adding tech options on it (electrical problem). Has it improved the last few years?

Second-hand diesels?

Any thoughts?

[Qmx323]

New Golf Wagon. Well under 50k, and looks great. Lots of room, TDI has plenty of power and torque, and can be rather well equipped

[T4RAWR]

prius or prius v

[mb_]

Mazda 5

[OGCStrike]

kia rondo

[Timpo]

GT-R

[ancient_510]

GT-R

Stagea

[Jmac]

Asking for a friend/wife's ex-coworker.

She works with children with special needs and needs to travel around the GVR pretty much every day (easily 70~100KM/day, sometimes 150+) and she needs it for taking her kids out too (so trunk space can't be too small for strollers and kid stuff)

What would be an ideal vehicle that's comfortable with a bit of luxury while being very fuel efficient on city driving? She's coming from a Civic and she's finding it too basic of a car.

Budget is under 50k tax-in ideally... can push a bit if there is an absolute better option

I thought about few options:

Lexus CT200h - all the whistle and bells technology-wise and great for city-driving. The negative is that it could be a little small. Why not choose Prius? Because Lexus... :fuckthatshit:

VW TDIs - they are greats and all and almost the first thing that came to mind when she asked. But the reliability history I've had with VAG wasn't all that great when you start adding tech options on it (electrical problem). Has it improved the last few years?

Second-hand diesels?

Any thoughts?
GT-R

Stagea

:seriously::fulloffuck:

I'd lean more towards electric/hybrid if it's all city driving.

Diesels are great for the highway, but not great for city. You want to run diesels hot, not constantly starting and stopping them.

[SpeedStars]

http://srv2.betterparts.org/images/volvo-v60-t5-07.jpg
Volvo V60 T5.
Spacious, full of tech, and Volvo safety

leather seats standard/reverse camera/sensors EVERYWHERE (automatically reads speed limit signs, lane departure warning, collision warning) and....an ergonomic heated steering wheel. I kid you not

[noclue]

Diesel is a bad idea for just city driving.

She needs some form of a hybrid or an efficient gas engine. Prius V, passat is a good place to start. Personally I like the ford C-Max, good on gas, lots of tech and trunk space and good price. But if she wants status I cant think of any lol. $45K for a fully loaded CT200H including tax is a waste IMO

[Ronin]

I also think diesels aren't great for city driving. I drove the Golf TDI and it feels...sluggish in stop/start traffic. I guess if you're not an aggressive driver, then that's probably fine but I don't know how much of a fuel usage benefit there is in the city...and fuel economy is the only real reason to buy a diesel.

I hate Prius' so I can't make that recommendation but how much city driving will she be doing? Maybe something fully electric? Volt?

[BBMme]

I would go with the volt, it also looks the best

[godwin]

If it is under 50k.. get the BMW i3.. especially in Vancouver under Mayor Robertson.. can park at all the EV spots.

[twitchyzero]

hauling kids w/ large cargo space = sienna aka swagger wagon

just make sure you buy it in beige/champagne exterior

[Hehe]

New Golf Wagon. Well under 50k, and looks great. Lots of room, TDI has plenty of power and torque, and can be rather well equipped

prius or prius v

Mazda 5

kia rondo

She's trying to find a bit more refinement. I don't have personal exp. with these cars, but wouldn't their interior be plastic-y a la Civic?

Stagea

GT-R

:rukidding:

http://srv2.betterparts.org/images/volvo-v60-t5-07.jpg
Volvo V60 T5.
Spacious, full of tech, and Volvo safety

leather seats standard/reverse camera/sensors EVERYWHERE (automatically reads speed limit signs, lane departure warning, collision warning) and....an ergonomic heated steering wheel. I kid you not

A co-worker of mine has one... but he thinks the gas mileage isn't that great and trunk is quite small because of the shape. Volvo sacrificed space for style.

Diesel is a bad idea for just city driving.

She needs some form of a hybrid or an efficient gas engine. Prius V, passat is a good place to start. Personally I like the ford C-Max, good on gas, lots of tech and trunk space and good price. But if she wants status I cant think of any lol. $45K for a fully loaded CT200H including tax is a waste IMO

Thanks... then I guess Diesel is out.

I am going to ask her to check out the C-Max.

[Hehe]

hauling kids w/ large cargo space = sienna aka swagger wagon

just make sure you buy it in beige/champagne exterior

But she doesn't need that much space all the time. Most often she'd be driving by herself.

If it is under 50k.. get the BMW i3.. especially in Vancouver under Mayor Robertson.. can park at all the EV spots.

i3 has little to none cargo space. Grocery maybe ok... but it won't fit much else after a full size stroller.


I hate Prius' so I can't make that recommendation but how much city driving will she be doing? Maybe something fully electric? Volt?
Volt is supposedly coming with a new version. The problem is that they are so damn expensive. With BC's rebate program done. It's not very attractive.

[T4RAWR]

the prius with the technology package is pretty good.

i'd get her to test drive it first then see how she feels about it.

[noclue]

Prius with tech package is almost 40K including taxes....

Chevy Volt is a 4 seater and since she drives 150Km a day I don't think the electric savings are worth it. Plus the next gen is coming out september.

Ford C-max hybrid (not the partial EV one) is $28K + tax fully loaded right now due to employee pricing sale. If she has 100 Ford shares she can get a discount too. The interior is nice too for a car of that class. It's on of the best value and Ford cars came along way in quality from the old days unlike GM

[Port Man]

Toyota Camry hybrid?! They start at less than half the budget, and its very large all around. Good enough trunk space even w/ the large battery pack.

[tiger_handheld]

Nissan Leaf - has 150k range I believe.

[knight604]

50k is more than enough for a daily commute car...

[white rocket]

How about a Highlander Hybrid? Maybe too big? The new ones are pimp as fuck. I'm driving around in a 2009 right now and loving it. Hybrids are great for the city and get better mileage there rather than the highway. I'd say the Prius as well but I guess that's been covered.

[J.C]

GT-R

expected this but still lol'ed when i saw it

[Ronin]

I just read that again and if she's hauling gear or passengers, a diesel usually has more torque than a gas engine so it'll do better when loaded.

Of course, electric engines make all their torque from 0 so maybe that's an even better option?

[sdubfid]

Diesels are fine in the city. Keep in mind that outside of warranty a newer tdi can bring engine repair bills of $10000+ at a shop/dealer (much cheaper just to buy new engine). They also get worse mileage than tdis from 10 years ago. I'm biased towards diesel but wouldn't touch a STOCK newer tdi with a 10 foot pole.

[GotRice?]

Accord Hybrid is sweet... 50MPG City!!!... or wait for 2015 Camry Hybrid...
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Up Close and Personal Review - YouTube

[Marshall Placid]

May I suggest the new Audi Q3?

Available very soon, in a month I believe.

Base price $35k, or with Quattro is $38k.

With options, taxes, freight, PDI, probably looking at $45k.

Good headroom (at least a little better than a sedan).

Comfortable interior (though this is subjective, test drive one).

Just missed the Q3 driving event to test drive the Q3 just took place just recently, unfortunately.

Good trunk space for a small SUV at 16.2 cubic feet.

Fold down rear seats to get 48.2 cubic feet.

11.9L/100km City which is quite good (compare it to an A4 Sedan which gets 10.9L/100km City).

Good luck!

[MG1]

Subaru Outback?

[Ronin]

Accord Hybrid is sweet... 50MPG City!!!... or wait for 2015 Camry Hybrid...
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Up Close and Personal Review - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7hpKIMKwkI)

That seems pretty good actually.

On a more REVscene note, though, fucking...UGH. I watched about a minute in and they already said "gas motor that generates electricity". Fuck, we need cheaper consumer cars to do the "gas engine and/or electric engine powers the wheels". We don't need more Priuses. We need BMW i8s and Golf GTEs.

[westopher]

e36 with 302 T5 swap.
Beat you to it Jason.
But seriously and this isn't even fanboi talking, what about the X1?

[Lomac]

Definitely repeating others here, but diesel would be out if it's mainly city driving. Something like that Accord Hybrid would definitely be a good choice to consider.


Regarding the Prius and size constraints... Let's put it this way: My dad bought a '13 Prius C, the smallest one in the range, and can fit his entire 10 piece drum kit (in hard shells cases) into the back of it. Plus all the hardware needed to keep it all standing.

How's that for compact packing?



*Disclaimer: I still hate the Prius range... :lol

[Ronin]

If you buy a Prius, that makes you a Prius owner and by default, you'll have to save whales, eat organic quinoa and wear only clothes that you made yourself or bartered for.

[bcrdukes]

Prius

[SpeedStars]

e36 with 302 T5 swap.
Beat you to it Jason.
But seriously and this isn't even fanboi talking, what about the X1?

The x1 :ohgodwhy: test drive it...its pretty bland for a BMW :okay:

[muteki]

The x1 :ohgodwhy: test drive it...its pretty bland for a BMW :okay:
Hands down the worse BMWs ever.

[Manic!]

x1 also has very little cargo space in the back.

[Qmx323]

She's trying to find a bit more refinement. I don't have personal exp. with these cars, but wouldn't their interior be plastic-y a la Civic?

I don't know about the others but VW has come a long way with the interiors.

IMO Having used to work for a VW dealer, it can look cheap at the base level, but once you upgrade to that leather wheel and navi package, it looks and feels very well put together.

[yray]

^ except for Mexican made vw :troll:

[godwin]

The question is what kind of special needs are the kids? Wheelcar? If so.. Ram Promaster.. the lowest ramp pretty much of all vans.

[jinxcrusader]

I'm going to +1 for Prius V

[nsx042003]

If you buy a Prius, that makes you a Prius owner and by default, you'll have to save whales, eat organic quinoa and wear only clothes that you made yourself or bartered for.

is that what all taxi drivers do? lol

[Gumby]

is that what all taxi drivers do? lol
Taxi drivers didn't choose to drive Priuses... :p

[Hehe]

Thanks for all the comments. I think Hybrid is the way to go then.

I will ask her to check out a few hybrid options. I will report back about her feedbacks.

[c4@urdoor]

^ except for Mexican made vw :troll:

And/or Brazilian.

Which VW's other than the GTi are made in Germany these days?

[godwin]

VW cars origins are customer location specific. For Europeans all their models will be made in the EU. For North America, all their models are made in America (US, Mexico or Brazil).

Their volume apparently is larger than say BMW or Mercedes so they can do that (instead of BMW do line specific).

But in the end, robots don't really care if it is Brazillian or Mexico, their DC stepper motors torque bolts etc to what the computer tells them to. That's a bit difference between then (2000 and before) and now.

And/or Brazilian.

Which VW's other than the GTi are made in Germany these days?

[anxiety]

The x1 :ohgodwhy: test drive it...its pretty bland for a BMW :okay:

why?

[Ronin]

The new MK7 GTI is made in Mexico.

My MK6 was still made in Wolfsburg. :D

[trollguy]

So it smells like Bratwurst

[bcrdukes]

Sauerkraut?

[Klondike]

How's the performance in the Lexus CT200h?

[Shorn]

^ Its a prius with leather and leds.. So look up the performance of a prius

[BrownBear]

Buy a taxi, then you can make money on the side.

[supafamous]

Accord Hybrid is sweet... 50MPG City!!!... or wait for 2015 Camry Hybrid...
2014 Honda Accord Hybrid Up Close and Personal Review - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7hpKIMKwkI)

+1 on the Accord Hybrid - a total sleeper of a fuel efficient car with lots of room.

[UFO]

I like my Camry hybrid. 2007 model. Car is huge in the interior, drives like a boat and its soft and comfy. Lots of power. I get an actual 5.7L/100km during the warmer times of the year, and 6.3L/100km when temps are consistently below 10*C. My only beef is the trunk which is quite short due to the battery. But the new Camry hybrids are much better in this department.

I do a lot of city driving for work too going between clients' homes. It's great that my per km mileage reimbursements is able to cover ALL of my car's costs for work and pleasure; maintenance, insurance, gas

[Boostslut]

I drive a CT200H as a daily around the city and its a nice car, yet quite expensive for what you get. It's very dependable. It's slow as fuck though. Full tank of gas is $45 and gets close to 600km to the tank, so that's a bonus also. Hybrid is nice especially for rush hour when you don't use any fuel at all. I play a game with the car to see how long I can get my liter per/100km, keeps me occupied most of the time. I think it looks pretty good too.

It's slow though, very slow!

[cpt000]

2014 Mazda comes with skyactiv tech that produces some surprising mileage figures. Nice interiors too...

[E-SPEC]

Nissan Leaf - has 150k range I believe.

One of the ugliest cars on the planet!

[donjalapeno]

B250 Benz.