Also, I'm a little disappointed in the caliber of the responses. Where's the pizzazz? Where's the wealth of stories or experience backing these reviews? Mostly, where are the angry contentious posts and demands that characterize this forum? It's why I come back. That and my stupidity.

I stand corrected; hats off to all of you!  Just to clarify, not boredom, not even

soul sucking econobox

boredom would deter me from buying a car.

I've already mentioned that I'd like to stay away from hybrids simply because of some of the potential costliness of repairs should something break (I'm not just thinking about the battery). 

That being said, it's been noted that the Prius is an excellent contender if I find one for the right price, in the right condition. Dishwashers don't phase me. There is a light at the end of this tunnel, and it involves an aero (and probably a motorbike as well).

Sohlman, I'll stay far far away from the right lane.

whalecliff wrote:

Sohlman, I'll stay far far away from the right lane.

Already spoken like a true prius owner 

racerjim wrote:

You guys do realize that in most parts of the country, going to full electric or hybrids means rather than burning petrol, your vehicles are burning coal....  More and more renewable getting on the grid every day and natural gas is making a big impact, but we still burn a lot of coal

That's true with plug in electrics but not with hybrids..

They do make natural gas Civics, but not for under $5k

Nah they are for areas where gasoline isn't readily available, lots of em in South America.

Just curious, why do you want the most boring car?  Why not get something cheap, reliable, but yet looks/drives decent?

If you want a plug-in, I see used Nissan Leafs for sale around me  with 40k miles for under 7k

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/inventory … =158572945

I know you said your budget was 5k, but you may be able to find a deal.

whalecliff wrote:

NO to plug-ins.

Just curious, why do you want the most boring car?  Why not get something cheap, reliable, but yet looks/drives decent?

It's not that I want something boring, but I don't care if the car is fun.  I bought the linear to be fun, reliable, and practical (since it can haul stuff); it has been fun and practical, but mine isn't reliable, and I don't want another one right now. What I want is a manual aero, but financially, I have some loans and other things I need to put my money towards right now. The Aero is a goal that's attainable in the next year or year and a half if I can stay on track and not have to sink more money into unnecessary things like frequent repairs. If there is a car that is reliable, cheap, and fun, I'll definitely get it, but fun isn't a priority

Do explain. As in you would get tomatoes thrown at you by bros in diesel trucks for driving an electric? ha. Or not enough range cuz you'd be pushing it through hills and such?

Possibly both. I live in Atlanta, but drive in and through both Tennessee and Alabama all the time, so there isn't much in the way of charging stations in either states outside of a few large metropolitan areas.  Also, I do regularly encounter bros driving huge diesel trucks with no beds. They're less likely to throw tomatoes and just spit chew at me and laugh at my stranded electric. 

FWIW my Fit isn't boring.  Volvo was pretty boring, Fit is not like racecar fun, but is slow-car-fast fun.

I totally get that and am looking at the Fit but not because it is fun. That's a secondary perk. (I like fun, both fast and slow-car fun)

Most of the ones I saw sub-$5k had like 150k miles and up.  Some just above 100k, but not as many

I do a ton of driving, generally spending between 2 and 4 hours every day in my car, either in shitty city traffic, at high highway speeds, or in highway traffic. From that experience I have concluded that comfort and serenity are manditory attributes in any car I'm going to spend that much time in. I simply cannot handle the drudgery of driving a shitty, tinny, noisy, flimsy, often uncomfortable car for that many of my precious waking hours each day as it legit has a major impact on my overall happiness. I did commute like that for a few years in my Aero and I hated it in that role. It was a lot better in my 2008 GTI that replaced it, because that car, while not substantially quieter than the Aero (especially after adding suspension and about 100 extra hp with bolt ons and tuning  ), was far more stable and solid-feeling. It took a lot less work to drive fast in it, and it was a more comfortable and substantial-feeling place to be several hours a day. Plus it was far better from an interior quality and ergonomic standpoint, and when I'm in a car as much as that, I have time to reflect on (obsess on) every aesthetic, tactile, and dynamic dissatisfier a car has to offer.

So if you get some smelly shitbox in the interest of saving a few bucks on gas, is that really worth not being comfortable and able to find your chill without looking and feeling like a loser? Buy a car you like to commute in, not just the most shitty reliable car you can afford. There are many cars out there that may have very little upgrade potential but are also very fucking pleasant to cruise in. And what you sacrifice in fuel economy can often be recovered in lower cost of entry: say, $3,000 for the car, and the remaining $2,000 left over to apply toward cheap upkeep and worse gas mileage, versus spending $5,000 on something more obvious with a higher resale value that may not be comfortable or reliable even if it gets 40 mpg, like a Civic hatch that every kid wants to buy and might be a turd by the time it gets priced low. Shop less obvious choices where you can buy a car that you can still find with lower mileage, with zero cache so you don't overspend for an acceptable example, and something that can still be super frigging comfortable even if it isn't amazing on gas. I'm talking shopping older domestics, which you can find practically for free and which place a much higher emphasis on comfortable seating, sound deadening, stable highway cruising characteristics, and supple ride, as compared with their higher strung and usually much flimsier, louder Japanese contemporaries.

Consider a nice low mileage $4,000 Grand Marquis, for example. It'll be super mellow and comfortable and reasonably punchy and very pleasant, and it should be bulletproof, so rather than spending on unexpected repairs a grand or so at a time, you can spend your money on predictable weekly fuel costs and probably still come out ahead as compared with a high mileage beater's overall operating costs. Or a 2000ish Buick LeSabre or one of the many GM cars of that general vintage and persuasion. Regals, etc. A Chevy Malibu. Ford Taurus or Mercury Sable. Clean ones can still be had, so so cheaply they are disposable, and any of those cars will be twice as pleasant on long drives as many current econo cars, let alone old shitty Japanese cars. I've been in enough older Civics, Priuses, Corollas, base Camries, etc. to never want to own one. I ended up making a very poor financial decision with my purchase of a $5,000 1997 Cadillac Deville, but it ABSOLUTELY taught me the importance of prioritizing comfort over most everything else. I've never been more relaxed and comfortable on my long commutes as I was and am when in the Caddy, which I still own but which became too undependable to daily. I don't  recommend a Caddy from a favorable cost/ benefit standpoint, but I do recommend something that takes a similar stance on prioritizing cushy comfort, like those other domestics I mentioned, which should be a whole lot more reliable than anything with the Northstar powerplant. Hell, if you shop carefully you can get a cheap mid-sized luxury cruiser with the sleeper 3800 V6 with the supercharger, best known for powering the Grand Prix GTP but which also snuck into a number of other cars. Regal GS, some LeSabres and a few others. It's nice to have a little power in your boring daily...and that's another virtue of domestic luxury. Most have smooth, torquey V6 and V8 motors.

Also consider V6 first gen Toyota Highlanders if you can find one. They are remarkable quiet and comfortable for a Toyota of that vintage, and actually quite good looking IMO. I'd totally rock one of those. Many of the vehicles I've mentioned are actually quite acceptable on fuel economy, too. Most were EPA rated in the mid to upper 20 mpg's.

I really like my Subaru Outback, a gas tank of regular fuel last an entire week, super comfortable ride and lots of room inside.

I've read that Toyota Avalon's provide a great combination of comfort, reliability and decent mileage and they don't look like ass and aren't slow.  You should be able to easily get in a second gen (or first gen) in your price range and maybe a third gen if you stretched your budget a little.

Last edited by cjaama (2016-11-30 12:05:12)