Are you guys doing alright?
 

I am looking to purchase a car or truck to help reduce operating costs. I look forward to reading the posts.

:welcome:

What do you drive now?

I daily drive an Avalanche.

Hi, welcome to the boards. Since you're new to the board and everyone else is so friendly, I'm gonna roast ya a little bit all in good fun.

Your posting is puzzling in an intriguing way. One, you indicate you do not actually have a need for a truck (since you pose a car as an option), and yet you pose a truck as a possible or viable option for saving operating costs when you already know a truck is not viable (or at least you know an Avalanche isn't).

Two, what does 'are we doing alright?' have to do with the price of eggs? Your posting title is a little far afield of the subject of your post. I mean, it doesn't clue the forum readers into at all what your post will be about. It almost sounds like you are setting up to pitch us on something in the event we are not doing alright.

Three: el oh el at your daily driver. I mean, hey, I guess at least you didn't say you daily drive a big rig or an Excursion.

Okay, now that I've had my fun: where do you live? What kind of roads, climate, part of the world? Nokian snow tires, for instance, negate any need for a truck or truck like vehicle. Why not buy a Honda Insight or Toyota Prius? Personally I'm not crazy about Priuses since the traction control doesn't allow the wheels to spin when you might actually need them to, but that's the best all round vehicle that fits the bill for most everyone's needs while returning great gas mileage numbers. What are your needs? Why do you drive an Avalanche?

You can certainly improve the fuel economy you're getting from your Avalanche. For fuel economy purposes it's essentially the same as my Sierra (unless you have the 6.0, or it's a different generation), and I definitely was able to reduce my fuel usage. Now, granted, that's not to say that you'll do as well as you would with a significantly more efficient vehicle.

What are your needs, preferences, and budget like? We can guess at possible gas-sippers that might work for you with some more information.

1993CivicVX, winter tires do not accomplish the same thing as 4WD. 4WD lets you continue forward without getting stuck. Winter tires can help with that but not anywhere near as much as 4WD. Winter tires are very good for braking and steering, which 4WD doesn't help with (with limited exceptions).

@Holycow: I grew up on a very steep dirt driveway in the country in Massachusetts and we get our fair share of snowstorms and blizzards (30 inches from one snow fall once). I grew up with 4WD cars. Then we discovered Nokian Hekkaplita 2 snow tires and from my experience my mom's Prius was perfectly fine going up the driveway after a snowfall with the hekkaplitas. They really negated the need for 4WD. But I agree with you, 4WD is great and if you want to be totally invincible in the snow buy a Toyota Previa and put Nokian snow tires on that. You'll be pulling SUVs out of the snow all day long.

Add locking differentials and tire chains and your Previa becomes a tank.

:thumb:

Just buy a tank and never get stuck.

Not so ... You run out of money buying fuel!

Thanks for the welcome :Thanx:

Roast me? LOL! I'm out of your league there small fry : )

If I had a need for a truck, fundamental reading would tell you that I could use my Avalanche :dance:

But to say that a Volkswagen Rabbit truck isn't "a viable option for saving operating costs" is not a gassavers' forum member's opinion :facepalm:

And my greeting > "Are you guys doing alright?" Since this is the introductory section of the forum, most would understand my opening statement. A proper reply would be either "yes" or "no" I guess in a Hobbit sort of way you are telling me that you aren't :rofl:

Alright, enough fun eh? :thumb:

I live in the Southeastern United States. North Alabama to be exact. It will get 90's and sometimes over 100 here in the Summer and in the 20's in the Winter. It doesn't snow that often usually. Although it snowed 5 times 2 Winters ago.

The roads here are mostly country roads combined with some highways.

My needs are to save money. I drive an Avalanche because it was passed down to me from my Dad.

My needs are to have something to drive back and forth to work that gets better gas mileage and that has reasonably priced and easily attainable parts.

Thanks for the replies guys. A buddy has a 1995 Civic DX that I might could snag for $500 to a $1,000.

I also found a couple of Rabbit trucks for around $2,000 that claim 50 mpg. But I'm not sure if parts would be easy to find or affordable.

What do you guys think?

Have you considered something along the lines of an S-10 or Ranger with a manual transmission? They can be had cheaply, parts are cheap, they're easy to work on, and they deliver decent fuel economy. My brother in law had a 4wd extended cab ranger with oversize tires and a manual transmission, and he still got 25 MPG in his daily commute to work. A stock 2wd compact truck with a manual should do even better.

Do it! Case closed! You can sip these babies to 50mpg pretty easily, especially the slippery 2 door coupe model.

That Civic sounds like a good deal and meets the specifications you posted. You can certainly get great fuel economy from it.

Yep, I thought about an S10 or Ranger. But I didn't think the mpg with them would be comparable to a Civic or Rabbit truck.

My buddy is claiming 39 mpg. But I'm thinking that he has a heavy foot. I haven't seen his 1995 DX. What can you tell me about them? What is the difference between a DX and a VX or the other Civics?

So do you think that I should forget about the Rabbit trucks?




Thanks for your replies guys. I appreciate it very much :)

You really haven't given us much to go on, just "something to drive back and forth to work that gets better gas mileage and that has reasonably priced and easily attainable parts".

Those Rabbit trucks are cool and reportedly very efficient, but if you're not prepared for the realities of owning a foreign antique specialty vehicle that didn't even sell a lot when it was new then you probably won't be happy with it. Maybe I'm wrong and parts are plentiful/cheap/easily acquired for it, but I doubt that.

The S10 and Ranger beat almost everything on the market when it comes to parts price, availability, and ease of working on it/amount of labor time you'll be paying for, but, while decently efficient, won't match the Civic's fuel economy (and I don't think the Civic's parts are too expensive either, just not as cheap). I imagine that insurance is cheaper for the S10/Ranger too.

What are your preferences for comfort, image, seating, cargo, power, handling, luxuries/options, etc?

Civic DX: base model, no fancy options (can still get A/C tho). Great gas mileage.
Civic LX: more options (power windows, door locks etc) Probably close to as good gas mileage as the DX.
Civic CX: underpowered and in hatchback form only. Even better gas mileage than the DX thanks to being underpowered and having tall gears.
Civic VX: Also only in hatchback form. Peppy since it has a VTEC-E motor with best low end torque of any of the Civics and gets the best gas milage of all the civics and probably as good as a modern Honda Civic hybrid/Insight hybrid. It's a highly sought after car because it's both fun to drive, light, has super light and stylish premium wheels and gets the best gas milage. Cons of this car are expensive O2 sensor and high selling price.
Civic EX: avoid if you're interested in fuel economy. This has short gearing and the engine is tuned for higher revs (rather than lower revs like the VX).
Civic Si: the worst in terms of fuel economy among the Civics as far as I can tell.

I think that's a pretty accurate picture of the Civic lineup, but someone will probably have some corrections for me.

Get the civic pit a cx vx trans in it and you'll get good economy. 39 is about right if you just drive it.

Yea, that was my concern on the Rabbit trucks. And I agree about the S10 & Ranger trucks as well. But I wonder if, say.....how much $ it would take to put a Civic engine & tranny in a small truck :ermm:

For me comfort = I'm not to awfully concerned as long as my 6'3" frame has decent room. I will only drive it every 3 days to work. Image = I have a rockcrawling Jeep for that :coolsmiley: Seating = doesn't really matter. Cargo = I'll just keep my truck for that. Power & Handling = I have a 1,000 hp Camaro with a roadrace suspension for that :dance: Luxuries/Options = My girlfriend's Q5 takes care of that one ;)

Great info! I'll keep this in mind if my buddy and I can't work a deal on his DX.

Thanks Rusty. I actually enjoy mods : )

I've read on another forum where guys are putting the Jetta TDI engine in the small Toyota trucks and getting great mileage. Of course that swap ain't cheap! LOL! I really wish that there was a very high mpg small truck option for me. But I can just keep the truck that I have if I need one.

Looks like pursuing my buddy's Civic is the way to go.

Thanks to all for the help :)

I don't think the tranny is even close to possible, but you could get similar results with more appropriate transmissions. The engine could probably be done but I doubt there is any precedent documented so you'd be blazing your own trail...you'd have to start by looking up the rare engine swap for a FWD engine in a RWD vehicle (such as the TDI->toyota truck example).

However, you wouldn't get Civic fuel economy just by putting a Civic engine (and transmission, if that was possible) in a different vehicle. Fuel economy is more about where the energy goes than where it comes from, though both are part of the equation.

That would be a great setup. Can you post links to threads there? I'd be interested to read about it.

Yes Sir!

TDI Conversions: Build Threads and Links to Swap Discussions - TDIClub Forums

Enjoy :flowers:

Nice! There's a Corvette build that should be enlightening if I were to do the same for my 1980 Buick. I often think a small diesel might be in order if the engine ever needs to be replaced.

I really like the concept of having the TDI in a small truck. But it costs 1,000's of dollars to achieve that. Kinda defeats my goal of :saving money" :facepalm:

Yeah, most major and even most minor modifications cannot pay for themselves...all you can do is take opportunities when a part fails and needs to be replaced anyway.

Doesn't the VW truck share many parts with the Rabbit of the era? Maybe that doesn't help much in parts availbility, but it is probably easier to drop a TDI into than a Toyota. An original diesel might even be found.