"Supplemental Vehicle" to help save on gas?

Quote from dcrob : I've don't recall anyone I've known with a dodge that has had high mileage and has held up well.

I've seen it happen.

Quote from StarNova : MBs are good cars but may not be in OPs price range. Beater car range. Any American made diesel car (from the 80s and 90s) is mostly crap. GM came out with a line of diesels that were just awful - I was thinking about Olds diesels. European diesels can be great but are not true beaters. I don't think you could find a good MB (even with lots of miles) for 1 to 2K.

Ahh yes, I forgot about the price.

Look into 90s Corolla or Prizim with right under 100K miles
This should run you 1500 - 2000 and should easily last another 100K miles. I think everyone would agree 100K miles for $2000 is a pretty good deal.

I've owned the above cars and 2 Corollas.
92' Prizim, In 2 years I put 90k miles and sold for $2000 after buying it for $1800.
94' & 92' Corolla, 2200 and 1500 sold for 1800 and 1000 after putting around 75K on each.
Minor things did go wrong with them, but nothing I couldn't fix in my garage. Typically, the most common thing to go on these cars is the CV joints beside normal parts you always have to replace, ie brakes, tires, etc. If you have good reading comprehension, using the repair manual you can pretty much fix 90% of car issues on your own.

Wow, turns out I wrote a book. Anywho...

If there was a mention of having to tow any kids around, I missed it.

If the discussion goes into "buy a new(er) car" territory, and if mpg is the main purpose for all of this, then I'd seriously consider brand-new, compact cars. Some of the 2012s get much better mpg than 2011s or 10s. Look at the 2012 Hyundais. The Elantra is 2011 car of the year. The Accent is basically a slightly-smaller version of it. Both get 30/40 mpg, can be had for as low as about $14k, and come with 5-year/60k bumper-to-bumper and 10-year/100k powertrain. That's crazy. Heck, they even come with 6-speed transmissions.

Kias are sort of the sister cars of the Hyundais. Check out the Kia Soul mini-SUV. MPG is lower, but it has more room and is sort of a mini Jeep. Kind of.

The Nissan Versa is surprisingly roomy and starts at $10,999 with a/c standard. Boring? Yeah. Cheap and good mpg and is a new car with a warranty? Yeah.

The Honda Fit is roomy as hell for transporting stuff. The backseats can fold into magic positions for more room. Watch out for Honda wind noise, though.

There's the Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2 for as low as $13.5k base. Again, these are brand-new cars with warranties.

I've been helping someone car shop lately, and, looking at used prices, if someone is looking for a lower-end car, it looks really hard to justify buying a slightly or moderately used one over a new one if they can afford it or can get the loan. Slight or moderately used cars just don't seem to have enough depreciation at this time to justify getting one. Half the time, you lose out on the warranty transfer.

The OP is now considering a 32mpg Avenger for $18k. You can get some of those other cars I mentioned for thousands less and have better mpg. You can also step them up a size and look at things like the Mazda 3, Kia Forte, Ford Focus, etc. I mean, for $18,500 and 32mpg, on my short list is the Kia Sportage crossover. If you want better mpg but really like a Jeep-type vehicle, maybe the Sportage/Hyundai Tuscon is something to consider.

Before 32mpg starts looking too attractive compared to 16mpg, play with the mpg on the even-better-mpg cars a bit and see how you like those cost savings.

If you drive 26,000 miles a year, at $4 a gallon,
32 vs. 38 = $520 a year.
32 vs 40 = $650 a year.
Now here's the fun one...
16 vs 40 = $3,900 a year.

Anyway, the main things I wanted to say are:
32mpg isn't that great when you can get 38 or even 40, assuming the car is big enough.

Nissan Versa 5-speed with no options but a/c, $10,999, damn. My friend can afford any car and was looking at luxury cars like Lincoln Town Car, but instead he bought a Versa and loves it. Roomy and good mpg.

Used car prices seem high right now compared to new. At least on the slightly-used, lower-end cars. Plus, sometimes you lose the warranty or have to pay extra for it.

If you drive 26,000 miles a year, depreciation alone is going to kill your car's value in 3-4 years. A new car might be worth it if you plan on keeping it for quite a while since you'll know it's your mileage and how it was driven. A cheap $2k or whatever car is almost certainly a better value, but then you're not only driving an older, more beat-up car, but then you have no warranty and higher chance of things breaking.

A great value would be to buy an older, $2k or whatever car and immediately replace anything that might be iffy. Basically just all hoses, radiator, timing belt, alternator, starter. Now those are good for (presumably) another 100k miles, and you don't have to worry about them. If the rings wear out or the trans blows up or something, well, used cars break sometimes. If you don't work on your own cars, buying an older car and paying the labor to change all those parts makes less sense.

If you haven't, check out this mpg comparison calculator. Can input two cars at once.
http://www.mpgomatic.com/mileage_calculator.html

i've been thinking about getting a honda cbr250r motorcycle. they get 60+ mpg and i should be able to get one used for under 3k. my car and my wife's both get barely over 20mpg. could be a genius move if gas prices go up to $6-$7/gallon in a few years.

It's not always convenient to ride a motorcycle though.

mazda 3

$16000 and 40+mpg reported on different forums

Im just going to say you can do all the math you want, but it RARELY works out to be any type of benefit.

2 cars = 2 yearly inspections, 2 registrations, 2 insurance, 2 x maintenance, etc.

I have toyed with this as well as many people I know. And while the math sounds great (I bought a motorcycle), it just doesnt work.

Quote from 8mpg : Im just going to say you can do all the math you want, but it RARELY works out to be any type of benefit. 2 cars = 2 yearly inspections, 2 registrations, 2 insurance, 2 x maintenance, etc. I have toyed with this as well as many people I know. And while the math sounds great (I bought a motorcycle), it just doesnt work.

This is naive thinking by someone who hasn't really done the necessary financial 'math' using the proper type of vehicle.

Quote from b005td : mazda 3 $16000 and 40+mpg reported on different forums

I haven't personally compared them back to back, but I've read the Mazda 2 can actually feel bigger than the 3 due to the seats sitting higher. Just thought that was interesting.

Quote from Brudha : This is naive thinking by someone who hasn't really done the necessary financial 'math' using the proper type of vehicle.

Example please.

Quote from Brudha : This is naive thinking by someone who hasn't really done the necessary financial 'math' using the proper type of vehicle.

You can do all the financial math you want. This is NOT a perfect world. One repair on a car (maybe a set of tires because you got a flat) throws off every little calculation you had. What happens when the price of gas goes down? Gas last year got higher than $4/gal and then it came back down. What happens if the OP loses his job? Now he has 2 car payments. What happens if he gets into an accident and his insurance goes up. Bust out the math on all the possibilities that could happen

My naive thinking is called common sense. You are living in a theoretical. Again, with someone with real world experience in this (I justified it mathematically to buy a motorcycle) and it just didnt work out like I thought it would. My friends have done the same. One buddy bought a newer (couple year old civic) and another a $1500 beater civic. It didnt work out for either of them. The beater needed all sorts of stuff that nickled and dimed him to death. The guy with the newer Civic ended up selling it at a loss because he said it was a hassle and wasnt worth the minuscule savings having 2 cars to worry about.

i ran the numbers and i could get a honda cbr250r used in a year or two for a little less than $3000 off craigslist. doing the math it seems like i would save enough to have paid for the motorcycle after 25k miles w/ gas at $4. my v6 altima averages only 22mpg because i do almost all city driving and the cbr250 gets 60mpg+. I believe gas will be over $4 in a few years. the insurance on the 250 motorcycle is very low because it has a small engine. the motorcycle could probably get well over 50k+ miles on it before it dies. you can't calculate the value of not having to put all those miles on your car and the decreased maintenance.

although the second may pay for itself in gas, you will need to have insurance on the 2nd car, and perhaps even pay taxes (property taxes).