RRC Archives

So some drunk bastard slammed into my car tuesday night while it was parked on the side of the road. Of course he took off and I only got part of his liscense plate. Now, my only hope is to put my faith in the system, or more specifically, the Louisville Metro Police Department. I'm skrewed. My car still runs, only the front drivers side light is now supported only by duct tape and cloths hangers. This will do for a while, but to really fix it, I would have to spend more than the car is worth, and even though its a great car for how old it is, I think I would rather buy a new (newer) one once the duct tape fails.

Seeing as how I have never had a car worth more than a $1000 dollars, I am not sure what a good car really looks like, or sounds like for that matter. I was thinking about something all wheel drive like a subaru for getting to the southern region, but I am torn because I would also like something that gets good gas milage, but I don't think the hybrids have enough power for the hill yet. Any suggestions.

Toyota makes a hybrid Highlander.

if your rich.


All wheel drive or 4x4 and good mpg don't really go together.

The 08 VW jetta deisel is supposed to get 60 highway.

all wheel drive is an expensive and unnecessary feature, get a used corolla or similar- good luck its always a crap shoot

I like the jetta diesel idea, always wanted to start concocting my own biodiesel

crap shoot is correct. I like the idea of a diesel.

i have a subaru and its great for getting me to places but i think you could get to alot of place in the southern region w/ a 2WD vehicle. Subarus are expensive up front and get bad gas mileage (for a car). jetta diesel get great gas mileage but are hard to find and can be expensive because of the low supply. if you want to go biodiesel try getting an old VW diesel truck, it only fits two but you would have enough space in the bed to have an extra gas tank so you could run duel tanks, which seems like the easiest way to go.

beyond that, maybe a small wagon like the Mazda Protege5 or Mazda 3. the 3 would probably have better clearance than the Protege5. If you want to get great fuel mileage the Toyota Echo or Yaris are cheap and gets 40 mpg highway. a new yaris starts at $11k

something FWD, with a low tourque range, and a little weight will do fine on the hill. i just got a honda accord and i can putt up the hill in first with little to no trouble.

I've got a suzuki grand vitra and the 4 wd is great in the southern region but like Pawilkes subaru take it gets poor mileage, has been solid reliable thru 105k though

really the solution is simple. find friends who have vehicles that make it down there and climb with them. i like the southern region but it doesn't break my heart if i can't go there. just wait till someone with a vehicle that makes it goes and hitch with them.