35 mpg
and that's city.
Remember this car? It still is pretty much our dream car with the exception of the 13 mpg it gets. Without much driving in NYC, we were sort of ignorant to the soaring price of fuel, and how much and how often we would be filling up. We knew the need for a second car was inevitable and we tried to live off the one car, but after a few weeks of draining our wallets, we started looking. It didn't convince us completely though, we were still looking at form over function, test driving some of our favorites, and even almost driving this one off the lot. But after sleeping on it for a few days, we decided 26 mpg just wasn't good enough and I needed to do some research.
The idea of a hybrid and natural gas car sounded best to me. 45 mpg? are you kidding? or a car that only costs $5.00 to fill up? sounds too good to be true right? well ended up that it was. Both cars were way out of my budget, and I wasn't crazy about the natural gas tank sitting in the middle and taking up all room in the trunk. More research was needed.
I came across this website. I must have spent two solid days on this thing researching every year and what cars got the highest gas mileage. The diesels and hybrids were always first, but almost next in line consistently every year was the Honda Civic, and way way down the list was the regular engine VW rabbit, my second dream car. You see, initially I had every intention not to buy a Honda Civic, I've owned two others, and besides being totally reliable, they really don't do anything for me. I much prefer the look and styling of a VW, but the Honda just keeps coming around. It's like I'm forever bound to them. But with 35 mpg city and 37 mpg highway the Civic just wouldn't let me consider anything else.
After test driving several, we decided on this one. A 2001, not a 1994 which happens to be the most stolen car in NYC, something we were lucky enough to confirm. It's smooth, costs between $35-40 to fill up, and will easily fit 2 if not 3 car seats (I've never really understood why baby=SUV, even with just one).
Because I can't look forward to cheaper gas or a better environment, I do look forward to the future when all car companies are forced to make either natural gas cars with tanks somewhere other than the trunk,or more affordable and a wider selection of hybrids. We can all help this effort by buying more economical cars, driving less, carpooling more, and not buying gas hogging SUV's like we did.
Amen.
Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 9:17AM
Reader Comments (11)
very smart buy! Hondas aren't very fun but they sure are practical.
I, too, look forward to the day when hybrids rule the road!
We are a two Honda family ourselves. We have to make up for the lack of car personality in other aspects of our lives:)
You can definitely get two car seats in the Civic but I doubt three. We squished three in our Accord but ended up buying something bigger for the three kids so they weren't fitting half sideways!
i completely understand this post - we felt like we really missed out on some style buying a corolla, but..in the end we're glad we swallowed our silly style pride. much cheaper.
Ugh. The price of gas right now is sickening. (And it's not going to be getting any better, if not worse). You made the right choice going with something not only more affordable but more gas friendly. I would love to eventually own a hybrid but while they are eco-friendly they aren't pocket friendly. I look forward to our nation in general looking into different means of getting oil or better yet more affordable solutions outside of oil but wait that's a whole 'nother topic. But still for a 'civic' I think your car is pretty cute.
YAY!
Did you check out a VW Golf? My dad has one and it's diesel converted to biofuel (make your own fuel or join a co-op that does). He got 50 miles/gallon on diesel and I think it's the same on biofuel. It's super easy to park in the city (I lived there for 2 years). Good luck car hunting!
well we are all glad you repented ;)
we are all glad you repented. ;)
It's too bad it is such a hassle to import cars from Europe average little French car gets 50/mpg and the small ones upwards of 70mpg on the highway. They may look small, but you sure can pack them with stuff. Google: Twingo, Clio, Saxo, 207, 106...
Yes! go honda civics.
Oh and you could have just bought my car from me...It´s a ´95 and has been shown to do wonders.