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XJ drove me to buy a Corolla

4K views 59 replies 32 participants last post by  Highway 4x4 
#1 ·
I know that everyone on here is well aware of how bad the price of gas is and how much it hurts some days to be driving a Jeep, especially if it gets 12 or 13 mpg. I've figured out that I've been spending the better part of $70-90 a week on gas for the last few months. Today I did something to change that. I decided that my XJ is no longer going to be my DD, as I went out and bought an 09' Toyota Corolla. Basically I've decided to apply the money that I've been spending on gas into a car payment. Granted, I will still be purchasing gas for the new car, but now it will be 1/3 as often, AND I get to keep the Jeep. Now I can finally dismember my vehicle w/o worrying about getting it back together right away, which is a relief for me.

I don't know about the rest of your guys'/girls' opinions, but having a Toyota means that I have a car that starts every single time and will run forever. I've had one before and I work on them all the time; they just don't seem to have problems. Buying a fuel efficient vehicle has been a long time coming for me, as I hate contributing to America's overuse of oil, yet I've been contributing every day that I drive a lifted Jeep with mud tires that I only off-road once or twice a month in. I encourage every one to try and take a similar path or find a better alternative. Take the bus, ride you bike, WALK somewhere for heaven's sake!
 
#2 ·
My 93 was never my daily driver. I currently have a 99 Mazda 626 4cy that surves as dd duty for me and the wife and a 05 Mazda MPV that hauls the kids ad groceries around.

XJ gets a day or two out o fthe week for short running around trips.













 
#4 ·
Taking a bus, riding a bike or walking somewhere are options folks have that live in the city. When you live in the boonies on a gravel road none of them are an option. It's a 40 mile round trip just to go to the grocery store. Buses are something I see on TV. Your Toyota couldn't even negotiate my 250yd driveway after a heavy rain without disappearing in a rut. Point is you have different options than I have. Good luck with your Toyota, I'll keep my Jeep as a DD and pay the price.
HT
 
#5 ·
Unfortunately and ironically enough, the XJ is the most fuel efficient of the vehicles we currently own. If you drive it nice it will eeeeek out 17/18mpg in the city and about 23/24mpg on the highway. Usually it'll average between 18-20mpg.

My Ram, though, gets 10-13mpg in the city and 18mpg on the highway if I'm lucky and have a tail wind. It'll average 14.5mpg w/alot of highway. Plus the damn Hemi likes mid-grade.

The old Buick gets under 10mpg. I think I'm killing the environment...
 
#6 ·
im 17..no way i could afford two vehicles. jeep gets the job done for me and its fun to drive. yeah it only gets 14mpg and it sucks watching the price go up when filling up but while im filling up, i usually day dream of the last wheeling trip and then it doesnt seem so bad.. :)

have fun with the corolla..i had to drive a co-workers once to pick her up. i want those 5 minutes of my life back. :(
 
#10 ·
If I had room, I'd spend a few thousand dollars on an old Corolla or Civic. Worth it to make the Jeep last that much longer while also saving some money in gas.
 
#13 ·
My father works for Shell Oil Company. I've got news for you... gas will not stop at $4.15. In 25 years in the oil industry, my dad has seen one price decrease in the early 80's... everything else is, and will continue to be, in the other direction. The best we're ever going to get is periods of time where it manages to hold relatively steady.
 
#12 ·
I will agree with everyone on here that the Corolla is nowhere near as cool and my Jeep. There's nothing inherently cool about a 1.8L four banger compact, except it's not eating gas like my Jeep. Trust me, I'd drive my Jeep any day over the new car, but it's more practical this way. The Jeep, in practice tops out at 75 mph, is an aerodynamic nightmare over 50 mph, and rattles more than some bass lures I own on the baja claws. It's better to commute in something like this new car and just be able to play in the Jeep or take it out cruising when I feel like it.

Someone said something about being 17 or 18 years old and not being able to afford two cars... well, I'm only 22. In reality, people our age (unless you already have a real job or some other viable source of steady income) cannot even afford to have a project car like a lifted and locked XJ.

As for living out in the boonies and not being able to have alternate transportation, that's understandable. Trust me I know, I lived in rural Iowa for a few years. That doesn't me you can't have a more fuel efficient car if you can afford one. Hell, they make hybrid TAHOES and SUBURBANS now (oxymoron, IMO)... If your driveway truly requires 4wd or lots of ground clearance, I'd say you either live up on a steep dirt hill or you could shell out for some maintenance on those ruts. Gravel worked wonders on mine a while back.
 
#33 ·
Surprised noone caught this. Like it his fault that the gas prices are high. How about you just castrate yourself for such an ignorant comment.

I have a car that I DD that gets alright gas mileage (21mpg city in a 1992 Firebird), and my dad just got a Cobalt (32mpg city!), so they help. But you'd never catch me dead in an import, sorry.
 
#15 ·
i own a 99 corolla (complete base model) and i completely agree on a how lame it can be, but for the 50 mile commute oneway i got for work when i am out of school and 30+ mpg's it gets it can be beat for a DD. i save the xj for the fun stuff. with the 34 mile commute to school at 14mpgs with the xj just sucks
 
#17 ·
How much is a litre gas right now in the states? Here in Austria 1 liter is about EUR 1,4 (about 2,1 USD) and still rising. And gas mileage is 17 litres / 100 km. So it is becoming a more and more expensive hobby riding a 4,0 Litre Jeep nowa days. But fortunately my XJ never meant to be a dd to me. I gave my Toyota Landcruiser J9 3,0 TD to my wife, she is mostly driving our children and driving less then me in total. I took her Corolla to drive to work and quick shopping. This compensates higher gas mileage of my Jeep. So fortunately we did not have to spend additional money to acquire a dd. When I bought the XJ my wife said I should better sell off the Corolla, we do not need three cars...but I insisted to keep the Corolla. Was a wise decision at the end. :thumbsup:
 
#20 · (Edited)
Pardon my French, but we here in the States shouldn't really be b*tching about $4.15/ gallon gas when people in Australia are paying close to $8/gallon, or $11/ gallon in the UK.
 
#18 ·
I have only had to fill my Jeep up once yet since I bought it so I have no idea what its gas mileage is. Hopefully I am one of the lucky ones to get 18-20.
 
#19 ·
Assuming we don't do a trip anywhere, I burn about a tank a week @14MPG, so about $4K a year at current prices. It would probably more or less break even to have a DD POS that got twice the mileage--add the cost of the car, the insurance, and other overhead (tires/inspection/oil changes/repairs). Of course I'd still run the Jeep on most weekends, and during the snowy winter. I really don't think it's worth it--at least I can be glad the Jeep gets clost to twice the 8 MPG on Premium my Bronco did (hard to believe that was my DD for a few years).
 
#22 ·
I enjoy owning and driving my XJ but, the price of gas is annoying. In addition to the XJ I have a '95 Grand Prix that I drive about half the time. It has a small six but it gets better mpg than the lifted Jeep. The problem with it is that it seems I have to put some money into every couple of months to keep it on the road. Right now it's leaking oil pretty good (externally from the head gasket) and I don't want to put a lot of money into it. Bottom line is it's days are numbered. Next year I will be in a better place money wise and I may get something better as a daily driver. Considering a Patriot or maybe a Subaru Legacy 2.5 5-speed, at least they have awd. Even then I will keep the XJ.

$4.00 plus for gas is CHEAP when compared to those down under and around the world. We do seem to be spoiled here in the U.S.
 
#23 ·
I've been driving the wife's 92 Accord as a DD, she doesn't drive much so she's been driving the XJ when she needs it. I drive a little over 100miles/day and the Honda gets between 30-35mpg on the hwy. The only down side is that the car has 237,+++ miles on it and it does require some minor maintenance to keep on the road. Luckily we just rented a house only 15mins from where we both work so that will certainly help once we move in, in a week.

We have talked too, about getting maybe an old Del-sol or Civic or something so we can both have something fuel efficient to drive. That way we can park the Jeep and just use it for the weekend warrior trips to the mountains and what not. What makes it all worse is that the Jeep is not paid off yet and it will be awhile. I still think two small car payments would be cheaper than running the Jeep all the time. Neither one of us want to get rid of it, we love it too much. I think she loves it more than I do.
 
#27 ·
My wife and I share her Honda Civic for work commute. At $35 and a weeks worth of driving both ways, 40miles to and from work, its a gold mine. My wife drives 20 miles to and from work.

My wife customized a sticker at a store while shopping and got it for me as a joke. As a cruel joke, I returned the favor and put that **** on HER CIVIC! hahahaa!!!!

her civic now reads, " this car sucks, i'd rather be driving my Jeep ". REPLACE Jeep with Civic. lmao
 
#28 ·
i might be one of few that is trying to get my xj running again because it gets about 14mpg! my car that i use for my daily driver gets about 9mpg (78 chrysler cordoba) so needless to say i really want to get the jeep going to i can get up into double digets for the mpg number!

and congrats on the toyota buy... but i have to ask when are you going to lift it? hahah :rofl:
-mike
 
#42 ·
well the way i see it. i just like the Jeep...

I drive for Pizza Hut so i'll put on 500-700 miles a week in the Jeep.

now getting 15 MPG at 600 miles is $155

If i went and got a little civic getting about 22 MPG its $106

that means i could save over $2500 in a year!

Looking at it like that, yes it makes sense to get a little car. But NOT having a car payment, or have to pay for insurance and repairs is worth it!
 
#44 ·
ahh the famous misconception of buying another car to save $$. Now you went out and spent 15gs to cut down on your gas. Not to mention insurance and all of that good stuff. It will be 3-5 years before you are close to evening out cash. If you're happy with the purchase then that's all that matters man. Not trying to diss your decision.
 
#50 ·
The only decent car toyota ever made was the supra. Every experience I have had with a toyota sedan has been bad. I know a few people who have spend 3x the money of gas on fixing their piece of shiit toyota sedan.

Enjoy hating every second you spend driving. Should have bought a mazda3 instead.:thumbdown:

Also, not tech related in the least. There is a general discussion forum designed just for posts like this.
 
#52 ·
We are in the General Discussion section. :brickwall No offense, but why do you seem so butt hurt because he bought a corolla and not a mazda3? :confused: The standard mazda3 is a joke as fun car as well....a whopping 148 or 156hp depending on the motor you choose...all packaged in a FWD vehicle...whoooo!! Now if you are talking the the mazda3 speed, that is of course a fast vehicle as it puts out 263hp/280ftlbs torque but it's not a gas saver. It requires 91 octane (premium) and only gets 18/26mpg which is not all that much better than our Jeeps.
 
#56 ·
I work on Toyotas, Fords, Chevys, Nissans, Hondas, BMWs, Chrysler, and Mazdas five days a week and I can happily report to you then when you get right down to it, a Mazda is still a FORD and has all the problems that FORD passenger cars have and with the same frequency (not bashing on their trucks, though). The only thing I admire about some Mazdas is the engineering quality and genius you see in their rotary engines (that was achieved prior to the Ford buyout, mind you). The motor in your precious Mazda 3 can be found in several other Ford products. On the other hand, every Toyota that I work further on amazes me in the quality of their products. I can't say I've ever seen a 200,000 mile Mazda, but I can tell you that I've seen 400,000 mile Toyotas. The only bad Toyotas I see are the ones that are highly neglected. The corolla is the best selling passenger car in the world; pretty funny for it being such "piece of shiit".

This is the general discussion forum, you goof.

When I say that my Jeep tops out at 75 mph, I mean that my Baja Claws start vibrating in a way that makes my stomach churn and I shut it down. Prior to the lift and tires, 110+ mph had been achieved.
 
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