Good vehicle for constant city travel?
 

Asking for a friend/wife's ex-coworker.

She works with children with special needs and needs to travel around the GVR pretty much every day (easily 70~100KM/day, sometimes 150+) and she needs it for taking her kids out too (so trunk space can't be too small for strollers and kid stuff)

What would be an ideal vehicle that's comfortable with a bit of luxury while being very fuel efficient on city driving? She's coming from a Civic and she's finding it too basic of a car.

Budget is under 50k tax-in ideally... can push a bit if there is an absolute better option

I thought about few options:

Lexus CT200h - all the whistle and bells technology-wise and great for city-driving. The negative is that it could be a little small. Why not choose Prius? Because Lexus... :fuckthatshit:

VW TDIs - they are greats and all and almost the first thing that came to mind when she asked. But the reliability history I've had with VAG wasn't all that great when you start adding tech options on it (electrical problem). Has it improved the last few years?

Second-hand diesels?

Any thoughts?

New Golf Wagon. Well under 50k, and looks great. Lots of room, TDI has plenty of power and torque, and can be rather well equipped

prius or prius v

Mazda 5

kia rondo

GT-R

Stagea

:seriously::fulloffuck:

I'd lean more towards electric/hybrid if it's all city driving.

Diesels are great for the highway, but not great for city. You want to run diesels hot, not constantly starting and stopping them.

http://srv2.betterparts.org/images/volvo-v60-t5-07.jpg
Volvo V60 T5.
Spacious, full of tech, and Volvo safety

leather seats standard/reverse camera/sensors EVERYWHERE (automatically reads speed limit signs, lane departure warning, collision warning) and....an ergonomic heated steering wheel. I kid you not

Diesel is a bad idea for just city driving.

She needs some form of a hybrid or an efficient gas engine. Prius V, passat is a good place to start. Personally I like the ford C-Max, good on gas, lots of tech and trunk space and good price. But if she wants status I cant think of any lol. $45K for a fully loaded CT200H including tax is a waste IMO

I also think diesels aren't great for city driving. I drove the Golf TDI and it feels...sluggish in stop/start traffic. I guess if you're not an aggressive driver, then that's probably fine but I don't know how much of a fuel usage benefit there is in the city...and fuel economy is the only real reason to buy a diesel.

I hate Prius' so I can't make that recommendation but how much city driving will she be doing? Maybe something fully electric? Volt?

I would go with the volt, it also looks the best

If it is under 50k.. get the BMW i3.. especially in Vancouver under Mayor Robertson.. can park at all the EV spots.

hauling kids w/ large cargo space = sienna aka swagger wagon

just make sure you buy it in beige/champagne exterior

She's trying to find a bit more refinement. I don't have personal exp. with these cars, but wouldn't their interior be plastic-y a la Civic?

:rukidding:

A co-worker of mine has one... but he thinks the gas mileage isn't that great and trunk is quite small because of the shape. Volvo sacrificed space for style.

Thanks... then I guess Diesel is out.

I am going to ask her to check out the C-Max.

But she doesn't need that much space all the time. Most often she'd be driving by herself.

i3 has little to none cargo space. Grocery maybe ok... but it won't fit much else after a full size stroller.

Volt is supposedly coming with a new version. The problem is that they are so damn expensive. With BC's rebate program done. It's not very attractive.

the prius with the technology package is pretty good.

i'd get her to test drive it first then see how she feels about it.

Prius with tech package is almost 40K including taxes....

Chevy Volt is a 4 seater and since she drives 150Km a day I don't think the electric savings are worth it. Plus the next gen is coming out september.

Ford C-max hybrid (not the partial EV one) is $28K + tax fully loaded right now due to employee pricing sale. If she has 100 Ford shares she can get a discount too. The interior is nice too for a car of that class. It's on of the best value and Ford cars came along way in quality from the old days unlike GM

Toyota Camry hybrid?! They start at less than half the budget, and its very large all around. Good enough trunk space even w/ the large battery pack.

Nissan Leaf - has 150k range I believe.

50k is more than enough for a daily commute car...

How about a Highlander Hybrid? Maybe too big? The new ones are pimp as fuck. I'm driving around in a 2009 right now and loving it. Hybrids are great for the city and get better mileage there rather than the highway. I'd say the Prius as well but I guess that's been covered.

expected this but still lol'ed when i saw it

I just read that again and if she's hauling gear or passengers, a diesel usually has more torque than a gas engine so it'll do better when loaded.

Of course, electric engines make all their torque from 0 so maybe that's an even better option?

Diesels are fine in the city. Keep in mind that outside of warranty a newer tdi can bring engine repair bills of $10000+ at a shop/dealer (much cheaper just to buy new engine). They also get worse mileage than tdis from 10 years ago. I'm biased towards diesel but wouldn't touch a STOCK newer tdi with a 10 foot pole.