PhotoPhred Loc: Cheyney, Pa

The 'vette is a lot more fun.

EdJ0307 Loc: out west someplace

I had a '71 Ford Galaxy for 23 years. In all those years, the only time it left me stranded on the side of the road was when I let it run out of gas. Even then it made it across the Benicia-Martinez bridge and through the toll gate before it stopped. Another time it made it 15 miles home with a broken fan belt. Made it 125 miles home with a leaking water pump. Made it home with a bad alternator before the battery died. And that was at night with the lights on. They were real dim and the engine was starting to misfire when I pulled into the driveway. But I was home and able to replace the alternator the next day. When my daughter ran it off the road and bent the A-frame all to hell, she and her dopey boyfriend managed to drive it a couple miles going backward with what was essentially a broken leg. The only reason they didn't make it all the way home was because the cops stopped them. It was fun getting that call at one o'clock in the morning.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Probably bad engineering. The pin holding the pinion gear to the drive shaft broke, randomly. I was at a stop light at the bottom of the Main Street hill in Greenville, SC, with three friends. When I stepped on the gas and engaged the clutch (gently... there was a cop car coming toward me), the engine roared, the speedometer hit 30 MPH, and nothing happened. The car would not move!

Another time, I hit a pothole and the entire wiring harness of the car melted! I had two girls in bikinis with me... We were on the way to our neighborhood pool. We thought the car would explode! There was no known cause. It took two weeks for a new wiring harness to get to my Dad’s mechanic.

Many of the issues were like that: unexpected breakdowns with no traceable cause. Our family typically puts 150,000 miles (usually many more) on a car. That one died at 129K when a piston rod broke. Fortunately, my Dad was driving it at the time! He got $100 for scrap value.

During its life we replaced

Ball joints
Brake master cylinder
Water pump (twice)
Thermostat (twice)
Radiator
Clutch
Third gear
Transaxle assembly
Exhaust system
Carburetor
Brakes all around
Normal maintenance items

My ‘77 Corolla needed a brake master cylinder and a thermostat, plus normal maintenance, in 92,000 miles of hard driving over six years. I sold it for half its purchase price.

We own two 2009 Priuses. I bought mine new, and we bought my wife’s with 49K on it. Now, with over 150K on each, we have spent far less than $1000 on unexpected parts failures between the two of them.

Meanwhile, my twins have a 2001 Olds my Dad left them when he died in 2012. I have a stack or repair invoices from his records ($8439 total) and my records ($4959). It only has 126K miles... It still looks nice, and it’s paid for, or I’d unload it and get a used Corolla. But... college tuition, room, and board ain’t cheap.

GlenBose Loc: NE Florida, formerly Limerick, PA

I travel from NE Florida to SE Maine 3 to 4 times a year. Since 2004:
99 Mercury Grand Marquis 4.7 V8 engine, averaged 25.4 MPG,
07 Lexus ES 350 V6, avg. 31.2 mpg,
2015 Lexus ES 350 V6, avg 28.7 mpg.
I alternate routes using Rt 95 and then next trip used 95 to 26 then 71 to rt 81 then 84 across NY to 91 to 90 to 494 to 95. The second route due to the scenery, I lose about 1 hour (more miles, less traffic). We stay overnight on either trip, locations vary just for fun. I rarely stop for photos (maybe someday we'll take 3 days and do shooting in the mountains.
The speed on the alternate route is 78 mph (on CC), averaging 63 mph, the 95 route speed 76 mph averaging 56 mph. The difference is traffic slowdowns particularly on 95. I don't have total miles on the two routes because of side trips and searches for Restaurants & B&B's to stay in. I use cruise control mostly. My 15 Lexus has a radar on cruise control and I often have to override it with the gas pedal (mpg hit). I notice improved mileage when I don't use CC but not enough to give up the convenience. I have noticed some improvement regarding speed and mpg, but I'd have to slow by 7 or 8 mph to notice, then I'm in the truck lanes and get caught in a longer ride which offsets the mpg advantage.

lbrande

My 2006 M5 nets me 24 MPG at 80 MPH, consistently. Typically lower than 40 yields a 19-22 MPG reading. This is over 60,000 miles.

Bob Smith Loc: Banjarmasin

I would have thought faster=more fuel use is fairly common knowledge. I used to be a speed nut but I needed to replace a crashed car fairly quickly and replaced it with a diesel and was amazed at the MPG. So I started to see just how many miles I could get out of the car. I soon found that the computer told lies so what I do is top the tank up zero the trip and then at the next top up check the miles done and fue used. Try it you will be surprised at the discrepancy. The best I got on a tank fill to fill was 78 mpg by the way the car is a Vw Touran 2 litre with DSG 6 speed auto box

One Rude Dawg Loc: Athol, ID

If you are worried about fuel mileage stay home. My rigs use what they use, don't much care, when they break they get fixed. If we all liked the same vehicle there would not be enough to go around, to each according to his needs and abilities. Stop whining.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Looks like this is developing into a Chrysler review so I will add my 2 cents. Have had several Chrysler products. First was a 59' Plymouth convertible with a mundane 230 HP - 318 V-8. Top fuel economy over Ford or Chevy that year with a whopping 21.15 MPG. In reality I seldom saw 20 MPG. Not one problem with the engine. The convertible mechanism and original top was less than stellar. In between a couple of Fords of that era which were by far the biggest gas guzzlers out of the the big 3, I bought a new '70 Dodge 1/2 ton PU with the 225 slant six and 3 on-the-tree. Gutless but reliable beyond anything I owned previously. MPH was not great - around 16-17. If the 225's were good enough for the NYC taxis, it was good enough for me! I had it for less then 2 years and traded it in because the welds that held it together were failing. A few years later I found myself owning a 71' Plymouth Fury III with a 318 and a 3 speed Torgueflite A/T. Same as the truck, the engine was all but bulletproof but the interior and body fell apart around it. Best I got was about 22MPG on a highway trip. It was the last Chrysler product I ever owned. Overall opinion of Chrysler products? Good engines, the rest - not so much.

rplain1 Loc: Dayton, Oh.

I drive a Hyundai Ioniq hybrid and in warm weather get around 68mpg driving at the speed limit. Less in winter because we run the heater which needs to keep the engine running to produce the heat.

gnawbone Loc: Southern Indiana

The calculator is not exactly accurate. I have a 2013 Tacoma, 4WD, V6, automatic and a 2015 Toyota Avalon V6, auto. The calculator has the Tacoma getting better mileage (lower cost per gallon) and that is BS. I get about 20.5 to 21 at 65mph in the truck and 32 to 33 in the car. (This is if I drive a long distance on a highway at approx. 65mph otherwise the overall averages are 19.1 and 27.6 in mixed driving). 87 octane in both.

DeanS Loc: Capital City area of North Carolina

Remember Lee Iaccoa. If you can find a better car, buy it (paraphrased.) And they did, by the millions.

Lowrider Loc: Kennesaw, GA

Did you look at the chart? it says it is "like" paying more per gallon.

Bob Werre

Photo class worked with Motor Trend Magazine with the new Vegas in 71--their "Car of the Year". So we bought one. Fun car, for it's time, but overall the worst car I've ever owned--now we own a Chevy Colbalt--only slightly better and it's possessed by ghosts! I've owned several Dodge mini-vans with overall good luck. I also bought a Rotary Mazda RX3 in 72--motor lasted about 50K, similar to the Vega. Best luck ever were two Jeeps, last one was totaled but we loved it!