I had an employee destroy two nice cars with this thinking. He commuted 100 miles a day on I-95for 10 years working for me. First car was a real 1970 Boss 302, he owned the car for years and it was a little rough but after 3 years commuting it was done. Sold it and started driving a CJ5, broke a leaf spring at 60 mph and rolled that (fixed it but a little gun shy about commuting after that). Then took a nice 60K mile one owner (his dad) 86 Pace Car Corvette and buried it.

I told him multiple times to go get a $2000 commuter car, his response "I'd rather drive something cool and spend the $2000 on gas." He couldn't be seen in a econobox, "front wheel drive POS" was his exact term. A lot of ego for a guy that at 50 still lives with mom!

i have a vw jetta tdi and get 40 to 42 mpg on average .
i drive around 125 mile's a day

mike

There are alot of cars in that range, Older Honda's, Toyota's. I had a Lincoln LS v8 a few years ago had 160k on it when sold never a problem and a nice ride, they can be had for around that.

go for a TDI. my wife just got a '10 Sportwagen TDI and its a great commuting car. she does 110mi/day in it. don't worry about your ego, you forget all about it after your first fillup when you average 38-40mpg. In all honesty the sportwagen is actually pretty good looking, and I don't mind driving it. I really enjoy it actually. it will reduce your fuel bill by 2/3 from your duramax. the ~2000 year TDI's get more mileage if you're going for a used vehicle. the 4dr also gets better mileage with less weight.

we drove to SC from CT this summer right after we got it. and we only stopped for bathroom break and for fuel after 500 miles. I didn't feel like I needed to go to a chiropractor after the drive either. I'm 6' and one of our customers is 6'3" and he drives one too. He was the one who turned me onto them

2010 Jettas look great, the new one for 2011 looks terrible.....slabby econobox look. Thankfully the 2011 wagen is a carryover from 2010, still looks good until the redesign next year.

When you guys find a TDI for $3000-3500 let me know I will buy it.

+1 on the 3800 engine,,a few years ago i drove a friends olds 98 touring sedan to florida,,supercharged 3800,we got 32 mpg cruising @ 80 mph.

i would look at a buick park ave or a lesabre,,great on fuel and a comfy ride..

I always used to buy Saabs in that price range. They are SUPER easy to work on, get about 30-31 miles per gallon and rarely do they have big issues. Just check the dip stick to make sure they did regular oil changes. My wifes car has almost 200K on it and all we have done to it is breaks and tires and the front springs went bad (recall). I have a 08 Ford Escape Hybrid. From time to time you will see some of them (older body style) come up for cheaper. I have almost 100K on it now (owned it since new) and have had great luck with it as well. Mine is 4wd and it gets 31 miles per gallon average and that is me driving at 75-80 all the time. If I slowed down I would get about 35-40. If you got a 2wd you can add about 5 more miles per gallon and they are more readily available then the 4 wd ones. You can also fit an amazing amount of stuff in the thing as well.

Saabs outside New England are pretty rare. The only ones I see in FL usually have CT/MA/NH tags on them!

That was the hardest part of my decision.