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Looking for a reliable DD for commuting duty. Criteria are:
Must get at least 28 mpg hwy
Cannot cost more than 7K
Must have manual trans
Thinking E36 318i (Can be had in decent condition for 3K which leaves some dough for improvements).
Any thoughts? Known reliability issues?
mougl1 wrote:
[quote]Looking for a reliable DD for commuting duty. Criteria are:
Must get at least 28 mpg hwy
Cannot cost more than 7K
Must have manual trans
Thinking E36 318i (Can be had in decent condition for 3K which leaves some dough for improvements).
Any thoughts? Known reliability issues?[/quote]
88 325e four door you can’t kill an eta!!! Go look at a couple E36’s and you’ll realize why not to go E36. If you don’t want to go E30 then go find yourself a nice Jetta TDI
My mom’s 01 TDI gets 61+ mpg average. It can’t get out of its own way though. Improvement would we a waste of money unless you want to buy the kit that lets it run biodiesel.
Tdi is great for mileage but vdubs have burned me in the past with reliabilty.
Anybody know John or nat blacks number?
I like my '03 Tdi as a commuter. Wish there was a manual diesel BMW option, I keep hoping for a 120d in the US.
VW does have hit or miss reliability. I would only buy from a private seller who can relate the whole car history to you and you can see if it’s been a good one or a frequent visitor at the dealer. I would not buy a used VW at a dealer (or a gas one for that matter).
I just got bigger injectors and a Rocketchip reflash. It really wakes up the car and you can still get the same (or better) MPG when driven sensibly.
Miatas are cheap and tough to beat in the fun to drive category, if your not worried about getting teased occasionally, but I’m not sure if they can get 28mpg highway.
How about a Black/Tan 99 E46 328i sedan, sport package, 5-speed, 109K miles, 1-year old factory head unit w/DICE iPod integration? Gets 25-26 mpg in town, and 29-31 on highway. Everything works and other than some wheel rash is in amazingly good shape for 11+ year-old car. (It’s mine)
Ah yes my 01 miata got 36 mpg. I had the supercharger on it less than a week after I owned it so I forgot. And getting your sexuality questioned will happen more than occasionally. Even though it was probably an 11 second car it was still know as the “me-gotta… be gay”. Your friends will probably be more creative.