Should I trade my Supra for a Ford Taurus as a new DD?

[Figit090]

THANK YOU for all the replies everyone. I'll read them again tomorrow but I can say now that I won't go with the Ford.

Your words here, along with just driving my car again (took a two week break for a few reasons not important here), have convinced me to keep my car.

I thought perhaps having four doors might be a nice change, but other than that I would be unhappy compared to the supra. Happiness wasn't really a main factor here, economy was. For example...I would probably dislike a geo metro even MORE than the Taurus.

Insurance is a good thing to look into I completely forgot (tired when I typed the OP), thanks.

I'm going to stick with my car and perhaps look into a second cheap car, maybe a CRX or civic. I'd want something safe too. I did just get a job, and if I could reduce my commute cost I could be looking at a (nice) fresh car in a year or two, probably.

As for the sc300...I do want one, or an sc400 but that probably isn't quite as good on gas. Do they handle as well as an MKIV? same suspension and chassis..or? I have to look into that one, I'm sure it's probably a searchable answer. I know the sc300 has the possibility of boost like the MKIV.

Wish I knew more about the 1uz in the sc400...I think I like it's sound, namely with a Blitz exhaust...i think that's what was installed on this sc400 i saw on youtube.

WOAH...getting ahead of myself. guh.

by the way...you can get good mileage in a heavy car... but yeah 32mpg is insane... fueleconomy.gov rates this 2001 Taurus between 17 and 21mpg average! bullshit...thats the same as my car...no wait...WORSE.

ok...i'm going to stop thinking about this for now or I'll be up all night. G'night all!

 

[honestabe]

Get a 1995 and newer Geo Metro. I've owned a 94 Metro and currently own a 95 Metro and the differences are staggering. The 95 is pretty roomy (I'm 6'2", 230 lbs) and I can fit 3 other 250 lb guys in there with me and be comfortable. The suspension is decent (not much body roll, stiffer and lower suspension than the 94), so the ride quality is pretty good. The maintenence is dirt cheap, especially the tires. I paid $1200 for my 95 Metro back in April of this year and it's a cherry. It's almost flawless and runs perfectly (got it with 109k miles on it). Since I bought it I've put on 17,000 miles. Here's my fuel log. I also maintain a fuel log in my car that has all the stats on how much I save per fill-up over a 20 MPG car, including the total gallons and cash saved. Right now I'm standing at almost $1400 saved in fuel over a 20 MPG car. I basically have a free car now that's actually paying me to drive it.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-log.php?vehicleid=3867

 

[Figit090]

Get a 1995 and newer Geo Metro. I've owned a 94 Metro and currently own a 95 Metro and the differences are staggering. The 95 is pretty roomy (I'm 6'2", 230 lbs) and I can fit 3 other 250 lb guys in there with me and be comfortable. The suspension is decent (not much body roll, stiffer and lower suspension than the 94), so the ride quality is pretty good. The maintenence is dirt cheap, especially the tires. I paid $1200 for my 95 Metro back in April of this year and it's a cherry. It's almost flawless and runs perfectly (got it with 109k miles on it). Since I bought it I've put on 17,000 miles. Here's my fuel log. I also maintain a fuel log in my car that has all the stats on how much I save per fill-up over a 20 MPG car, including the total gallons and cash saved. Right now I'm standing at almost $1400 saved in fuel over a 20 MPG car. I basically have a free car now that's actually paying me to drive it.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-log.php?vehicleid=3867

Thanks for the tip! That site is pretty cool, is your geo a 4-door? I'm guessing it is by how many you can fit in there?

Wiki tells me they're pretty safe too..cool! Now you have the 1L, do you know much about the 1.3L engines in terms of performance/fuel economy? Not that performance is going to be a main factor but an extra 20hp would be nice.

how's insurance compare to the supra?


Today I threw around the idea of an MR2...three just popped up locally between $400 and $1600 dollars, the latter is supposed to be pretty nice too. Not sure about the mid-engine since it's wet around here this time of year, but I can be careful... I haven't wrecked my supra at all in the last 4 years or so. Do you think the MR2 would be as safe as the geo? Traction-wise I know will be different, but impacts?

I'm not sure if the MkI MR2 would be much of a savings for me or not.. (it's NA by the way) The owner says 25-30mpg..its a bit better than my 22. Perhaps I could coax more out of it with a tuneup, I dunno. http://humboldt.craigslist.org/cto/2074190351.html

The other local examples need work, so meh.

 

[honestabe]

Thanks for the tip! That site is pretty cool, is your geo a 4-door? I'm guessing it is by how many you can fit in there?

Wiki tells me they're pretty safe too..cool! Now you have the 1L, do you know much about the 1.3L engines in terms of performance/fuel economy? Not that performance is going to be a main factor but an extra 20hp would be nice.

how's insurance compare to the supra?


Today I threw around the idea of an MR2...three just popped up locally between $400 and $1600 dollars, the latter is supposed to be pretty nice too. Not sure about the mid-engine since it's wet around here this time of year, but I can be careful... I haven't wrecked my supra at all in the last 4 years or so. Do you think the MR2 would be as safe as the geo? Traction-wise I know will be different, but impacts?

I'm not sure if the MkI MR2 would be much of a savings for me or not.. (it's NA by the way) The owner says 25-30mpg..its a bit better than my 22. Perhaps I could coax more out of it with a tuneup, I dunno. http://humboldt.craigslist.org/cto/2074190351.html

The other local examples need work, so meh.

Nope, mine's a 2-door hatchback. The 95+ Geo Metro's are much better designed and roomier than the pre-95's. Yeah, the 95 actually got a decent crash safety rating when it came out, and has dual front air bags. I don't know much about the 1.3's, but I can tell you that you will lose fuel efficiency. My 1.0L 3 banger does very well. The worst I get is 42 MPG (freeway doing 60 MPH), and my best is 51.7 MPG (50 MPH max, mostly cruising). The 1.0 will be just fine for you, so long as you don't drive with 3-4 people up steep hills all the time. Always get the 5-speed, you'll save more money. And with the 1.0, you can swap in the XFi cam and cam gear, along with the 5-speed trans to really boost MPG 10-15 MPG (I haven't done this yet, but it's on my to-do list). As for insurance, it's dirt cheap. The car isn't worth much, and most of the damage will be done to your own car so the rates are pretty cheap. Maintenance is also very cheap on the Metro's as well, especially compared to other cars (plus everything is really easy to get to since the engine is sooo small).

As for the MR2 you'd be wasting your money if you're looking to save money on fuel. I don't have any traction issues with my Geo. Just get yourself a good set of all-season tires and you'll be golden. As for the safety of the MR2, it'd probably be safer, but I don't know much about them at all.

Honestly, if you're looking for a good reliable car that's cheap to maintain, pretty safe, and will actually pay for itself in fuel, maintenence and insurance, a 95+ Geo Metro 2-door hatchback 1.0L 5-speed is the way to go. I paid only $1200 for mine and to date I've saved $1415.21 in 17366.3 miles over a 20 MPG car. That's $0.081 per mile average savings, not to mention the time saved filling up.

 

[Nalleywhacker]

Just buy a Ford festiva! haha i love mine doesnt help its got a 1.8l out of a protege in it. gets 40mpg and will guaranty its faster than you n/a supra! oh did i mention it gets 40mpg!

 

[honestabe]

The new Festiva would be nice but it would be counter productive to saving him money with the car payments and insurance. The old Festiva's are total pieces of crap and are very unreliable. The only way I would own an old Festiva is if it were given to me, and even then I'd be reluctant to put any money into it because they just aren't reliable. The Geo Metro's, especially the 95+, are far better than the Festiva's. They are more reliable, more comfortable, better built, safer, and get better mileage.

 

[Poodles]

I see you already decided not to get the Taurus, good call considering he's completely wrong on the milage they get :rofl:

On the Ge Metro front, there are a number of things with them.
- Disable the daytime running lights and rewire the headlights with relays. It's a switched ground system, and they both ground to one small pin on the fuse box. It's a serious fire hazard! (lucked out on my mom's and it only melted the case a bit and burnt the connector enough to stop the circuit)

- The 1.3 is a 4 banger and runs smoother and will last longer (because it's not an inharently unbalanced design). MPG will suffer a bit, but you can turbo and mod the piss out of the 4 banger as well.

- Most mods you do to the 1.0 to increase MPG will make the car even worse to drive in the real world with assholes in SUV's, personally I would never do them.

- The chassis handles surprisingly well (well enough to piss off a bunch of Supra owners in the Austin Hill Country :evil2: )

- If you use the A/C, get in habit of pushing the button to turn it off when getting on the highway, pulling out into traffic, etc. Yes, it really does make that much difference.

Also, I see you're looking at getting a CRX. Keep in mind as the CRX only seats 2 people it's seen as a "sports car" instead of a "sedan" by the insurance company. Yes, they will charge you more for a slower car :3d_frown:

 

[Nalleywhacker]

The new Festiva would be nice but it would be counter productive to saving him money with the car payments and insurance. The old Festiva's are total pieces of crap and are very unreliable. The only way I would own an old Festiva is if it were given to me, and even then I'd be reluctant to put any money into it because they just aren't reliable. The Geo Metro's, especially the 95+, are far better than the Festiva's. They are more reliable, more comfortable, better built, safer, and get better mileage.

Thats why you put a mazda motor in one i bought mine already swapped for 1000. and it gets 40mpg, and runs 9.8's in the (1/8th) with a slipping clutch lol