Best milage car | GTAMotorcycle.com

Best milage car

Graves

Well-known member
I'm looking for a new car and I'm trying to get the best milage I can. I'm looking at all cars but figured I'd see who drives what and gets how many km/s per tank and how happy you are with the car itself, model type, power etc. I'm looking at VW TDi's today, apparently great milage but I've heard maintence is crazy expensive and there WILL be problems because of all the emission standards. Also that they have good torque but no HP.

I willl need to be able to tow a bike trailer and 2 bikes.

I currently have an 04 Subaru (modified) so I'm only making 420km on a $65 tank.
 
My company has VW TDIs in the fleet and it seems a bit of a crap shoot for reliability. If going new, warrenty takes care of things but, still have to deal with down time. IIRC debris in the fuel pump makes them grenade and sometimes don't get fixed under warrenty because they blame the diesel fuel you pump into the vehicle. Another weak spot is the DSG tranny. Again, I think it's just one of those things where it gets a reputation, and you'll find many owners that travel many trouble free miles.

I do get to drive them from time to time and find the performace is very good. They are excellent fuel misers, can't dispute that. If I was buying used, I'm not sure if I'd chance it though.
 
I have 2005 Toyota Matrix Manual transmission and get 13km/L. I've only had it for just over a month now, but no problems so far. In Peterborough I can fill my tank for $50, but prices keep rising.

so $50 bucks to fill and you go how far on a tank?
 
Graves, to get an idea of how fuel efficient a car is you have to talk about consumption of fuel over distance travelled.
My 2000 Accord 4cyl is usually around 7-8L/100km on the highway and 10L/100km city.
My wife's 08 Impreza (base) is 10L/100km and 12+L/100km in the city.
My 2000 Shadow Ace (750cc) used to get 5L/100km consistently.

When someone says "i put $50 of gas and drive for 1 week" doesn't translate into anything to me. How big is your tank (how many litres?) How far are you driving (KM).

The VW TDI's (older ones) had great torque and decent horsepower. You could easily tow a bike trailer with 2 bikes. There are no emissions problems because emissions testing for diesels is a joke. As far as maintenance goes, I will stay out of that part of the discussion.
 
Let me save you money by saying to stay away from VW TDI's. Yes they save you money in mileage, but whatever savings you had will all go into repairs into VW down the road. I say this because not one, but two people I know who had Jetta TDI. Near the end of their 5th year of use, both cars require almost $5000 worth of replacement parts and repairs. Whatever savings they had with the TDI was gone. I am being honest as well. Both cars died after they went through $5000 in repairs. Both owners drive Honda Civics now.

I drive a 1999 Acura TL. I get lesser mileage then most cars, but I have paid relatively nothing in repairs in my 11 years of ownership.

VW TDI’s saving money is a myth from what I have seen.


I'm looking at VW TDi's today, apparently great milage but I've heard maintence is crazy expensive and there WILL be problems because of all the emission standards. Also that they have good torque but no HP.
 
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Kat, for us old guys it was the other way around. Distance travelled per unit of fuel "mpg".
 
I just drove through Alberta and BC in the mountains in a 2012 F150 Crew Cab. I was baffled by the end of the week but our average was 13L/ 100km. The truck had a 5.0L V8 and we were not light on it speeds ranged between 60km/h to 140km/h. That's almost the same milage as my 99 Civic.
 
I currently have an 04 Subaru (modified) so I'm only making 420km on a $65 tank.

That's about what I get with my Honda Element. I once rented a Toyota Corolla and fuel economy was excellent. A Yaris would be even more efficient. I've never been a diesel fan after visiting Europe. Sure you get great distance from a tank but fumes really stink.
 
I just drove through Alberta and BC in the mountains in a 2012 F150 Crew Cab. I was baffled by the end of the week but our average was 13L/ 100km. The truck had a 5.0L V8 and we were not light on it speeds ranged between 60km/h to 140km/h. That's almost the same milage as my 99 Civic.

Something is wrong with your civic.
 
TDI is definitely a good choice. You may want to look at hybrids if you'r really concerned about mileage.
 
I'm looking for a new car and I'm trying to get the best milage I can. I'm looking at all cars but figured I'd see who drives what and gets how many km/s per tank and how happy you are with the car itself, model type, power etc. I'm looking at VW TDi's today, apparently great milage but I've heard maintence is crazy expensive and there WILL be problems because of all the emission standards. Also that they have good torque but no HP.

I willl need to be able to tow a bike trailer and 2 bikes.

I currently have an 04 Subaru (modified) so I'm only making 420km on a $65 tank.

I tow an open bike trailer with 2 bikes with a 2006 Jetta TDI (manual) and it does fine. I've owned the car since new, and it has 365,000 km on it now. No plans to sell it. It has been very good. Actually, we've had several VW's in the family, and they've all been fine. The '96 Passat TDI that I had before this one, had 462,000 km on it when I sold it (and I sold it to someone who wanted to drive it - not scrap it). I'm fully aware that some people have had problems with VW and it's also known that VW is having some teething problems with the common-rail engine used on the 2009-onward models (different from the engine in mine). Normal fuel consumption is around 5.5 L/100 km without towing and around 8 L/100 km when towing but this varies strongly depending on how fast you drive.

Now, on the VW issues. The so-called Mk4 generation (Golf/Jetta late '99 through early '05, through '06 for Jetta wagon, and all Golf/Jetta "City" after that) was a low point. They suffered from certain components that were too cheaply specified (ignition coils, MAF sensors, power window mechanisms) combined with arrogance from the manufacturer (it took them 3 YEARS to realize that the piece that holds the power window mechanism to the bottom of the window needs to be a steel piece, not a plastic piece). The Mk5 and onward cars have been a lot better; there are certain known issues but much fewer of the dumb little things that would go wrong with the Mk4's.

If you take your VW diesel to a quickie-lube place for an oil change and fluid top-up, you are going to be in for a world of hurt. If you cheap out on fluids and maintenance in any way whatsoever, you are going to be in for a world of hurt. VW diesels must use a specific engine oil (which varies depending on engine type). Quickie-lubes won't have it, Canadian Tire won't have it, Wal-mart won't have it. (There are plenty of independent shops that specialize in VW/Audi, and they WILL have it.) There ARE certain substitutes that have been found acceptable or in some cases better, but these substitutes have to be carefully researched and chosen, you can't just pick a random motor oil off the shelf and say "that looks good". In the case of the engine generation that is in my car, if you do that even ONCE, bye-bye camshaft and lifters. (There is a prominent warning label under the hood and in the owner's manual). Use the correct engine oil (or a very carefully chosen substitute) ... No problem. My car is on the original camshaft and lifters.

Likewise with the coolant. There is a specification VW G12 which it must meet. VW G12 coolant is very good - I have yet to see evidence of even a trace of corrosion in the cooling system. But, top it up with the regular green stuff, and the whole thing turns into a brown sludged-up mess ... the additive package is not compatible with standard coolant. RTFM and do what it says, no problem. Quickie lube where a minimum-wage high school kid who can't or doesn't read does you a favour of topping up the coolant ... Uh oh.

There are certain cases where maintenance beyond what VW specifies is warranted. Water pump doesn't have a specified replacement interval, but you had better do it at every timing belt change. Transmission fluid is lifetime ... ya right. (I just finished changing mine.) Many a VW gearbox has gone south because since it isn't in the maintenance schedule, the oil level never gets checked, the oil naturally weeps out of seals over a couple hundred thousand kilometers, it drops below the level needed for splash lubrication of 5th gear, then the 5th gear synchro and bearing go boom. To make it just a little more interesting, on the last couple generations of cars the gearbox is sitting at a slightly more forward angle which puts the fill plug in the wrong spot and since theoretically you are never supposed to check it, they never re-engineered the casting to put the fill plug at the right spot. Means it is a &%&#$ of a job to get the level right. (I do it on an uphill and jack the left front corner way up in the air as high as I can get it and then pour in the specified amount) If you do it the normal method (fill to the bottom of the fill plug with the car level) it will be about 1 litre short of the correct amount of oil in the gearbox ... The newest TDI cars have a 6-speed gearbox and I HOPE they have fixed this but I wouldn't guarantee it since it's still supposed to be a "lifetime fill".

Lifetime-fill on gearbox oil is by no means a VW-only thing.

One other small thing, there is a new Golf on a new vehicle platform (MQB) coming next year and it will have new engines. It's already known that the new engine will fix one of the glitches that VW had with the Mk5/6 common-rail TDI application (air-to-water intercooler so the intercooler won't freeze up in cold weather any more). It remains to be seen whether they'll fix the HPFP (high pressure fuel pump) since according to VW, the problem doesn't exist in the first place even though it's under investigation by NHTSA ... According to VW, it's all because of people filling up with gasoline. BULL.
 
I just drove through Alberta and BC in the mountains in a 2012 F150 Crew Cab. I was baffled by the end of the week but our average was 13L/ 100km. The truck had a 5.0L V8 and we were not light on it speeds ranged between 60km/h to 140km/h. That's almost the same milage as my 99 Civic.

There is absolutely no way that a '99 Civic in a correct state of tune would use that much fuel under similar conditions. I'd expect somewhere between 7 and 9 L/100 km on that car.
 
I have a 2011 Sonata 2.0T. I regularly run down to Montreal and, cruising between 110 & 120kph I can get about 6.5l to 100kms. How it'll tow I have no idea. But for a medium sized sedan it's great on gas. In fact my gas saving looks after about 50% of the car payment.
 
I have a 2011 Sonata 2.0T. I regularly run down to Montreal and, cruising between 110 & 120kph I can get about 6.5l to 100kms. How it'll tow I have no idea. But for a medium sized sedan it's great on gas. In fact my gas saving looks after about 50% of the car payment.

Not sure if its the Sonata or not, but Hyundai is releasing that one of their models will do 1400 kms per tank on the highway. Dont know what the numbers are like for pulling a trailer though, like Fiery said.
 
2011 Jetta TDI Since last July $65 to fill up 850-900 km constantly...not one problem since I bought it...
 

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