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What is your Commuter Car, and/or Recommended Commuter Car?

5K views 29 replies 26 participants last post by  jeffk42 
#1 ·
Hi,

I know the topic is “mildly” jeep related, but I know many of you are in a similar situation. Your jeep is for the weekend :) , and you also have a commuter car (or something similar).

My new job is a 40 mile commute one way. I’d like to keep my jeep and purchase a used commuter car.

So curious, what is your commuter car? Any recommendations? I’m looking for something used, good on gas, and can handle Chicago winters. :(

THANKS

I know there will/can be many opinions on this. Everyone will have good/bad experiences with certain model cars, but I’m curious what others have.
 
#2 ·
When I had a driving commute, I owned a 2010 VW TDI sportwagen. 38mpg in hour long traffic jams, 45-50 mpg on highway trips.

Then when a train only commute, Grand Cherokee and restored a CJ7 for nice days. After having kids, sold both Jeeps and consolidated to the JKU.
 
#3 ·
2009 Chevy Aveo. Average 32 mpg. In 2009 it was the least expensive car on the market. I was able to find this one used in great shape with 65000 miles. My wife also has an Aveo and we have had 3 over the years. Nothing special about these cars. They are cheap dependable transportation and I can fit all my band equipment into the back.
 
#5 ·
I had a 120-mile round trip daily commute a while back. I bought a (at the time) 5-year-old 2007 Toyota Corolla for that. Base everything: manual transmission, crank windows, no cruise control, and the heater didn't work (it's Florida, I haven't bothered fixing it yet). Just something relatively cheap and dependable.

I can't comment on its winter readiness obviously. :) But during my time commuting every day, it was averaging 40-42 mpg as calculated at the pump (because of course it doesn't have an mpg display either :D )
 
#6 ·
I drive 30 miles round trip for work so my commuter vehicle is my 2013 Jeep JKU. Unfortunately I do not have the money or space for a second vehicle. But even if I did, I would still drive my JKU everyday, I just love driving this thing too much to only drive it on weekends.
 
#7 ·
Some FWD or AWD midsize box that's reliable and good on gas - VW, Honda, Toyota, Chevy, Ford. Dedicated winter tires for the Chicago winter.

A smaller car with good creature comforts is great if you spend a lot of time stuck in traffic. Leather, climate control, a good stereo and Bluetooth are great when you're not moving.
My last daily driver was a Lexus IS. A little pricey, there are cheaper yet well equipped alternatives.
 
#8 ·
I had a 2nd car for the commute: 'bout 45 miles each way. In the end, it cost me *more* in insurance and repairs, for the 2nd car, then the damn Jeep would have! So...went back to just the Jeep. No complaints from me!
 
#9 ·
I drive my wrangler pretty much everyday, but I also have a Mini Cooper S. It gets around 32mpg and handles like a go cart. I put snows on in the winter and it's fine. I live in Buffalo, so your Chicago winters don't impress me. It's really a great car. And you get the occasional Mini wave, just like the Jeeps do.
 
#19 ·
I drive my wrangler pretty much everyday, but I also have a Mini Cooper S. It gets around 32mpg and handles like a go cart. I put snows on in the winter and it's fine. I live in Buffalo, so your Chicago winters don't impress me. It's really a great car. And you get the occasional Mini wave, just like the Jeeps do.
Ditto for a MINI Cooper. :thumb:

Even 10 year old ones have the multiple air bags, and dynamic stability control, if safety is important. Plus, with their family connection to BMW's, ones with luxury features and options can be found pretty easily to make a long commute more comfortable.

On bad weather days, I take the Jeep regardless of its gas mileage.

And I have to keep remembering which vehicle I am in, to know who to wave at. :D
 
#10 ·
Back before we got the jeep I was using my 1968 Chevy C10 as a daily for my 75 mile/day commute. Now that we've picked it up my wife uses the jeep as her daily and I use her 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid. It is a miserable car to drive, but the poor thing has 246k miles on it and still going. The CVT is making some interesting noises though so I'm in the process of working on my new DD, a 61 Falcon with a Nissan SR20 engine :cool:
 
#11 ·
My commute is 5 minutes and less than 2 miles so I drive the Jeep but my 2nd car is a 2003 Mercedes ML320. You can pick those things up for a song now. It has 266,000 miles on it and all I have ever had to do was change the oil and put tires on it. Runs great and still has no real issues. I average 23 MPG's in it but it is all wheel drive with a low range transfer case and will go places that would shock you.
 
#12 ·
I just sold my '06 Tacoma about 2 months ago when I put my JKU order in. My wife got a new car about 31 months ago so I took over her '05 Altima and had been commuting in that, which would get between 25-29 mpg. I've driven my Jeep every day since picking it up a couple weeks ago but keep telling myself I need to drive that altima at least 2 or 3 days a week to justify the insurance cost on it.

My plan is to alternate between the 2 for the next month or 3 and then sell it. I just want to make sure there are no issues with the new Jeep, would hate to spend the money I made off selling the Altima on a rental car.

My commute is about 60 miles r/t, half highway and the other half backroads.
 
#15 ·
My wife and I have 3 vehicles in the driveway. An '09 Honda Fit, an '07 4X4 Tacoma 4 door, and the '10 Wrangler. We are both retired, and bought the Wrangler as a toy after retirement. Before retirement our commutes were short, about 4 miles and 6 miles. We drive the Honda as much as possible. It gets at least 2X the fuel mileage and everything else is cheaper. I can almost buy 4 tires for the Honda for about what one would cost on the Wrangler.

The truck is still the primary vehicle. It is the largest and most comfortable on trips. It is also going to be the most expensive to replace so it has been driven less in recent years. I put 100,000 miles on it in just over 4 years. I'm trying to get another 7-8 years out of it so it has been driven a lot less the last 3 years.

I plan to keep the Wrangler as long as I can still drive, then give it to one of my kids.
 
#16 ·
I'm not sure you'll find one "cheap" as they just started production with the 2014's but my Chevy Cruze turbo diesel did well last winter on my 50 mile (each way) work commute. I get 42-43ish mpg in winter and 48-49ish in summer setting the cruise control between say 57-62mph. Of course my commute is mostly non-city driving with only maybe 6-8 stop signs/lights.
 
#17 ·
Hi, I know the topic is “mildly” jeep related, but I know many of you are in a similar situation. Your jeep is for the weekend :) , and you also have a commuter car (or something similar). My new job is a 40 mile commute one way. I’d like to keep my jeep and purchase a used commuter car. So curious, what is your commuter car? Any recommendations? I’m looking for something used, good on gas, and can handle Chicago winters. :( THANKS I know there will/can be many opinions on this. Everyone will have good/bad experiences with certain model cars, but I’m curious what others have.
When I lived in Chicago I had a Honda Fit Sport as my commuter car. Great little vehicle and can carry an insane amount of stuff inside. I put Hankook winter tires on it and never had any issues in winter. Got about 32mpg out of it too.
 
#20 ·
I/ we purchased a '13 300 with AWD...it does decent on fuel 30+ mpg on the highway....we still have it but honestly we prefer the Jeeps...depending on mood I drive the TJ or JK...and my wife prefers the JKU.... "SMILES PER GALLON" are more important to us. I drive 12 miles to work.
 
#21 ·
2 wheels when weather permits.
This is the best way to go. If it's warm I ride my Yamaha, colder but nice out and the hybrid gets 40mpg minimum, if it's snowing then I'll take the jeep.

You don't need a commuter car that's good on gas AND good in snow. You've already got the snow proof vehicle! Just use it when you need it.
 
#22 ·
Daily is a 2009 Mini Cooper S. Wife moved to a 135, so I kept this as a daily, I am running about 90 miles a day, round trip, 4 days a week.

If you have a payment on it, be very real with your numbers to see if it is worth it. In my case, full coverage is about $40 a month, and at ~400 miles a week it costs right at $50/week in gas, so about $250 a month in costs, plus tires/oil/maintenance.

Conversely, driving my (now gone with the JK) F150 would have ran me $80 a week in gas, so about $320 a month in gas, no extra in insurance, plus tires, oil, and maintenance (which were higher than the Mini).

The JKUR would be about $280-300 in gas, plus the same as above, and again, tires and maintenance would be higher.

In the end, I dont keep a car for the $50-100 a month in savings, but rather to avoid the wear and tear to the truck/jeep, and because I enjoy driving a car. But if your insurance is not pretty cheap on the commuter, or you have a payment, that very quickly becomes a moot point, beyond saving miles on the Jeep. If I am honest, when I get rid of the Mini it will be a hard decision if I want to buy another commuter, or just start putting some miles on the Jeep.
 
#23 ·
I commute about 30 miles in the chicago area as well. I drive the Jeep everyday but have a diesel Jetta for longer trips. The Jetta is great on gas, ~50mpg, but I have to drive a while before the heat is warm. I barely get to the end of the block before the Jeep is warmed up. I am trying to move closer to work to better justify driving the Jeep everyday and not just to Cliffs on the weekends.
 
#24 ·
I bought a used a 2011 Honda Civic with 38000 miles on it as my DD this past spring. I drive about 80 miles a day for work, the Jeep gets about 14mpg, the Civic gets about 40.

I work for a school so when it snows I don't have to go in, but if I do drive in the snow I take the Jeep.
 
#25 ·
Coworker of mine got the Ford Fiesta. Apparently, it's really zippy and he gets great gas mileage.

If I were getting something just to drive to and for work, gas mileage would definitely be the key word.
 
#26 ·
I decided to keep my 2007 Mazda 3 when I finally pulled the trigger on the JK last month. I've had it since it was new and in 100k miles it has never left me stranded, and I still think it's a fun car to drive. It's paid off and cheap to insure so I think I'll save some money if I drive it to work a couple days a week and use it for some of my longer road trips.
 
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