Tim and I have never been ones to buy fancy cars. Though we do buy new, we usually buy a no-frills version of a budget model. That was certainly the case when we bought our brand-new 1993 red Geo Metro 14 years ago. It was so “no frills” that it didn’t have air conditioning or even a radio!
But BOY was that baby easy on the gas! We usually got 40-45MPG, but at times got as high as 50MPG. That’s about twice what either of our current cars get. When we went to Iowa last week, we used about 40 gallons of gas – we spent more than $160 for gas. If we’d had the Metro, we would have paid about $80. Sigh.
Granted, the two-door Metro (as pictured, though that is not our actual car) was not exactly a family vehicle. We had it for three years after Book Boy was born, and it was fine, but I wouldn’t want to make a long trip in it with two kids and the accompanying luggage.
The Rabbit, however … that was a little nicer. We had a 1982 diesel Rabbit that my dad handed down to me when I graduated from high school. Again, not a luxury vehicle, but it definitely had some “options” – air, a nice stereo, 4-door vs. 2-door, a larger cargo area, etc. I think we might have been able to handle taking the family to Iowa in that, though we would still have had to pack lighter. (And the ride wasn’t exactly smooth.) But at 50MPG, it might have been worth it!
And just to clarify, we DID have these cars at the same time for about five years. That’s right – for five years, we had two vehicles that got 50MPG. Ah. Those were the days.
What kind of mileage do you get? Or what former car do you wish you still had (gas-friendly or not)?
Hmm lets see… taking a trip to Iowa with 4 adults shoved into the Geo with no radio and no air. It may have been august or sept so the weather wasnt unbearable. VERSUS spending a little more money on gas and having more leg room and a radio….. where do I sign??
Book.. do you remember that trip?
Its funny that you mention both those cars. That Rabbit was just like the energizer bunny. It kept going and going!! I remember Mick had it after you guys were thru with it!! And we had the Geo after J’s truck burned. You had the magic luck of getting it to GR but after that, man. Twice in one week the Metro broke down on J on the way to work. Once in the parking lot just as he got there and once halfway there. It was a 20 minute drive so he had a nice little walk ahead of him. I think that is as long as he drove it. Then he got a rental til he bought the next truck.
Anyway…. gas mileage.. it now costs me $50 for a full tank of gas and I can get 270 miles. I dont think thats really good but considering that everything is close by, that tank of gas can last me about 3-4 weeks. I can handle that.
We just got our 96 Sentra back on the road. We have two vans that get about 20mpg, but this Sentra gets 40mpg when the tires are right and it is fresh from a tune up…we use it a lot now, despite having no power steering or AC.
As long as we’re remembering……I remember when you and I drove the Rabbit to Cedar Rapids. That was my introduction to the Chenille Sisters!
I don’t miss any of my old cars, but I will miss my van. It has terrible gas mileage, but it is loaded with features. We bought the 2006 Taurus in February to downsize and try to save a little money in gas. I’m not really sure what it gets. Something like 26-28 highway and a little less in the city. I was hoping to find a 4 cyl. but we were crunched for time.
We have to get rid of the van soon. Too many vehicles to keep insured and registered. I will miss it like crazy.
My first car was a Dodge Omni. The body was very similar to your Rabbit.
man.. how many times did the Rabbit go to Cedar Rapids? Or Iowa for that matter?
Btwinny – of course I remember that trip. Boy, were you and firsttwin grumpy! (Of course, that could have had something to do with the purpose of the trip.
) I totally don’t understand why the Metro died after you and Jay got it. Maybe Tim and I just had the magic touch with that car. Wish I could remember how many miles it had on it! A lot, for sure. The Rabbit must have made at least 10 trips to Iowa and back.
MTAE – 40MPG sounds pretty good to me!
Snowbird – of course I remember that trip! That was the weekend that I met Tim! It sure was a fun weekend altogether, wasn’t it? I’ve always enjoyed road trips with you.
Jolene – I remember the Dodge Omni. A friend of mine had a very similar car when we were in college. I hope you were (and are!) a better driver than she was.
My Ford Escort wagon gets decent mileage -I don’t know what it is, but I can fill her up for about $40, and it lasts two weeks. Probably 30+ mpg.
The Jimmy, however, doesn’t get as good mileage. It cost me $57 to fill it last week. I think it gets about 25 mpg. It also has a bigger tank than the escort, so I have to remind myself, it’s not how much it costs to fill it, but how far I get…
Book – I swear I was just thinking about your Metro last week. If the escort dies anytime soon – I swear I’m getting one!