Can you recommend a 4 door, fuel efficient, reliable, fun, commuter car for the highway?
Posted by upvoatsforall@reddit | askcarguys | View on Reddit | 41 comments
Priorities in that order. Looking to buy used. Hopefully for $15k CAD or under.
I was thinking about a Honda fit, but they sound like they're more geared towards city driving and not so much highway.
A golf would check all the boxes but it sounds like they require more maintenance and might not last as long.
ThePurch@reddit
Any Toyota or Honda car with a manual gearbox would fit the bill.
Adventurous_Emu_9274@reddit
No German cars. While they’re designed for highway cruising, when they break, they’re not cheap to fix. And 15k, whatever you get is gonna be higher mileage. A Honda accord would tick your boxes.
Also, fun and reliable generally don’t go together 😅
No_Mathematician3158@reddit
I disagree. V6 accord 2 door. V6 camry trd, toyota solara v6. All fun to drive easy and cheap to maintain vehicles all geared to highway driving.
Adventurous_Emu_9274@reddit
First of all, he said 4 door. Second of all, a TRD Camry isn’t gonna be 15k.
No_Mathematician3158@reddit
Accord is more common in a 4 door anyway. A trd might not be but a 4cyl hyrbid or just 4cyl will be just as comfortable. But my point reliable and fun used to be much more common. Especially if you look at older Asian products you can get alot of vehicle for little money just for cruising and being comfortable
Adventurous_Emu_9274@reddit
I wouldn’t call them fun to drive but I guess if you have nothing to compare them to they could be.
No_Mathematician3158@reddit
So what's your idea of fun to drive ? A bmw m5 or a supra ?
Chineseunicorn@reddit
Honestly I’m more curious in what your idea of what makes a car fun to drive is
No_Mathematician3158@reddit
4cyl 5speed and a rev limit in the high 7k. Add a winding road to that especially one that's been recently paved and your in for a good drive.
A car that flies under the radar is more fun and easier to get away with then a high profile high hp monster
Adventurous_Emu_9274@reddit
Yes, but again, if you have nothing to compare to, I guess you could call your options fun. Body roll is a bitch.
1sixxpac@reddit
Agreed .. also look at Toyota models.
Insertsociallife@reddit
Buy the Honda Fit. Second gen is the best. They're small light momentum cars, and you can get them with a stick.
Buy a rear sway bar for it, it makes them track much better on the highway. They handle great even stock but many people toss in a sway bar and autocross them.
Buy the Fit. They're basically hatchback Miatas.
upvoatsforall@reddit (OP)
I’m looking at the civic sport hatchback as well. Similar price, I think the same motor with a turbo.
Insertsociallife@reddit
Probably not the same motor. L15A7 in the 2nd gen Fit has shitty rods, you can't safely boost them. They blow up around 190hp.
Fits are fine on the highway. I commuted about 2 hours a day (all highway) in mine and it was great. Don't worry about highway performance.
Legitimate-Fly4797@reddit
Lexus IS
Kent89052@reddit
Ford focus or fiesta with a MANUAL transmission These are bargains because the automatics problematic and unloved.
newtekie1@reddit
I know I'll probably be in the minority here, but I would say a Camry Hybrid. They are really peppy when you put your foot down but also really fuel efficient when you want them to be.
frikkinfai@reddit
04-08 Acura TSX with a manual transmission
durrtyurr@reddit
8th gen Civic Si. Get one from Vancouver BC so that it isn't rusty, your budget can eat that pretty easily.
Glatipuss@reddit
He said 4 door. Agreed with 8th gen civic but not the si. Unless I’m mistaken and they made them in 4 door which I’m 90% sure they didn’t.
durrtyurr@reddit
They absolutely made a 4-door, I've driven one before.
Glatipuss@reddit
Oh wow. In that case this is the correct answer. Also OP if you can drive manual definitely get the manual. You’ll fall in love with
durrtyurr@reddit
I would never recommend an Automatic Transmission Honda to someone.
mandatoryclutchpedal@reddit
How long do you plan on keeping the car?
Define "fun"
upvoatsforall@reddit (OP)
5 years while I do an apprenticeship in a new trade.
Fun is relative. More fun than the large pickup I’ve been driving. I would drive a go kart if it was legal. Doesn’t need to be super fast, but a little pep and good handling.
jrileyy229@reddit
Pep and handling... And that got you to a Honda fit??
upvoatsforall@reddit (OP)
Lots of threads are full of people loving them for fun in the city.
jrileyy229@reddit
They're good cars, but I've never heard one described in a performance perspective... Not sure how much "fun" you're trying to have in a city... With pedestrians and traffic and cameras
Glatipuss@reddit
8th gen Honda civic. Pick em up dirt cheap get 500k kms out of them. Simple as that
Atlantisrising01@reddit
Honda Fit
Atlantisrising01@reddit
Mine has 543,000 kms, is incredibly reliable and great on gas.
fiddybitch@reddit
Get the golf
MinivanPops@reddit
Mazda3
Successful_Ad_9707@reddit
Civic si
Chainsawsas70@reddit
Honda Civic Sport Touring... Great mpg roughly 45 highway and good handling and seating for 4 adults. When you need to carry extra stuff... Flop the back seats down and you can fit a LOT of stuff in the back. The base model is good too but the seats aren't as nice as the touring.
GEEK-IP@reddit
A Civic SI was one of the most fun cars I've owned, and pretty bullet-proof. I miss it!
ottrocity@reddit
My Fiesta ST gets 38ish mpg when driving boringly, and 31mpg when driving less boringly.
thymewaster25@reddit
Sentra Specv with a manual transmission. The older ones used the durable QR25DE 2.5L engine, which is quite torque and has enough power to make a small car like a Sentra more fun than you'd think.
They made SeR models with a regular automatic (not the terrible CVT) and the 2.5 engine, but IMHO, for the most fun, you want a stickshift.
RIPPINTARE@reddit
Caprice.
No_Mathematician3158@reddit
Avalon, camry with the v6. Accord with a v6. They'll all check what you want.
rdkil@reddit
I had a 2015 Mazda 3 for a few years and loved it. I banged it up in a collision with a jeep, but if I hadn't done that I suspect that car would be going strong today still.