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Gas - $4.05 - Sold the Suburban

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Steve said:
My old Bimmer only gets 17/18mpg. .
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Really? My boss keeps telling me to get an E36 M3. He says it'll get 27-31 hwy. Sad thing is, the "free" '98 Licoln Town Car Kelly's aunt gave us gets ~25. That's better than the Midget right now and I can't sleep in it. The Linc will out perform it too. :frown: The S10 gets about 12, but it needs the fuel system cleaned out. I only use it in the yard and to go to the dump. That's the truck Tercy gave me, then 92 y.o guy who lives around the corner. Gas @ $3.36, but that was yesterday.
 
Well, I have the E34 (5-series) wagon with the 2.5 litre six, so it's kind-of big and heavy. The E36 is smaller, lighter and the M3 is a hoot to drive. I can see you getting 27-31 from one of those.
 
I think my brain has finally turned to 100% jello.

After driving econo-boxes since college in 1966 (Opel Kadett, Pinto, Chevette, Datsun, Mazda, etc.), now in my dotage I'm very close to choosing ...

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A beautiful, comfortable, 2000 Mercedes-Benz 4-matic E320. A friend of mine (retired AA pilot) is selling his wife's car this summer for $6500. One owner, regular maintenance by M-B dealer.

If I'm successful dealing with some health problems, I want to do some TRAVELING next year. I'll keep the Mazda Protege (38mpg) for grocery shopping, and use the M-B for the long-haul stuff. Premium gas, 24mpg highway, but I ain't gonna live for ever ...

If anyone wants to talk me out of it - please do! (or at least, please try ...)

Tom
 
I had an 88 535is that was sold for the TR. Mileage varied quite a bit depending on how you drove it, but who cared.

Tom, nothing like a German car. Get it!
 
Don't know what I'm going to do about the jaguar v12. can't seem to find what is causing the running rich issue and not getting more than 9.5 mpg. I know it's capable of more and I don't drive that much but the way things are going I'll have to abandon the restoration. I'm so close to the end but need a few grand to finish the body. I thought I had the fueling problem sussed and the code keeps coming back. I had it on the lift the other day and went over it with a mechanic friend of mine. Nothing stood out. I did find out that the transmission does not have a vacuum modulator so I eliminated that as a potential problem. Somewhere in that mess is a vacuum leak I can't find. I'm going to try to get the brakes fixed on the minivan next week so I'll have an econo car and wont have to rely on the Jag for a daily driver.
 
I paid $3.25/gallon yesterday. But we have about the lowest gas taxes in the USA. (also that's Full Serve.....we don't have Self Serve in NJ).
Our new house is only 4 miles from work, so that affects our gas budget too.

My Miata gets about 28-32 mpg on "Plus" gas.
We have a new Accord 2.4L four cylinder that gets a solid 30 mpg on "regular" and seats five easily.
As near as I can tell, the MGB gets about 25 mpg (not a lot of data.......I only drove it about 1000 miles last year).

I like Tom's MB choice and have been looking at some German cars too. I've seen some very nice Porsche 996s and 997s down in the price range of a new Miata (or even less) and it's very tempting.
 
My 2000 C5 Corvette gets 32MPG highway and I average now around 28. I'm supposed to use Premium, but have been using mid-grade with no noticeable issues.
 
Basil said:
....I'm supposed to use Premium, but have been using mid-grade with no noticeable issues.
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The Miata is the same way.

All new cars have knock sensors that "listen" for fuel knocking and retard the igniton timing accordingly. So really, any new car can run on regular and, as long as you don't work the engine too hard, it'll run fine.
If you try to go faster using regular gas, the sensor will prevent full timing advance, so you'll have less power. You may also get slightly reduced fuel mileage (but it still doesn't really "hurt" the engine).
For gentle cruising or driving around town, regular fuel is no big deal in any car with a knock sensor (or for that matter, "plus" in a "premium" car).
 
I'd consider a C5 Vette for a driver here if it wasn't for the snow/ice/road salt we have to deal with all winter.
 
I drive my C5 on snow frequently (had lots of practice in Montana) and only once was it so bad that I had to park the car and call the wife to rescue my in the SUV. :blush:
 
In November I could no longer stomach $75 to fill my Dodge Ram up twice a week for the commute to work so I added a Jetta Diesel to my fleet. Best economic purchase I ever made. If I keep the speed under 75mph I average close to 50 MPG. Over 75mph it averages closer to 43 MPG. I esp like the seats and seat warmers.

I have developed a pet peave though, people who fill their gas vehicles up at the pumps that also disperse diesel when other pumps are open. I was a big time culperate but you would be amazed how [censored] people get if you pull in behind them as they pump gas if there are other pumps open. I often have to explain I am not trying to rush them, I am waiting for them to leave the diesel pump.
 
I had a guy who got really ticked at me (spun his tires while leaving),
when I suggested that he pulled away from the gas pump that I was waiting to
open.He left his BIG Toyota/Nissan truck while he went to retrieve his cash.
This was a gas "station" that had people waiting in line,as they had the
lowest price in town.When I was done,I pulled over to the side,to allow other people in.

- Doug
 
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