It is not like me to say this but i had a 94 GA and that thing was worse on mileage then my bonne now my regal RIP that was a great car she would cruise and get 32 or better

The Grand Am or a non-supercharged Bonne are looking pretty good right now. I absolutely love my SSEi and the power behind it but I'm a college student and need to drive something that doesn't require premium and gets slightly better gas mileage. I appreciate all of the suggestions so far and welcome any more.

saturns are always something to look at, other than they are made of plastic they get sweet mileage

You might ponder this a little before you go critical mass and blow $5k on another ride. I did a little cipherin'. Making a few assumptions:
Bonneville gets 25mpg, avg
Premium gas at $3.5/gal
Bonnie sells for $3k
New Car costs $5k
New car gets 35mpg, avg (good luck)
and Regular goes for $3/gal.

Nice round numbers make things simpler. Assuming a 400 mile trip, using the parameters above, you'd save $22 per every 400 miles. You'd have to put 36k miles on the new ride to break even (make up the $2k difference for the new craft).

Assuming my cipherin' is right.

Of course there'* much more to consider - reliability, repair costs, etc. But those issues can't really be predicted.

motorhead is right... and he'* pushing it, you arent gonna get 3k for your bonnie.. half that probably

Thanks for the numbers. However, after looking around, I'm leaning towards a 2000+ Grand Am and the prices are pretty good on them. I could probably find a good one for around $4k from the looks of it if not cheaper. Also, my birthday is coming up this summer so I think you can figure out what I'll be asking for (money).

I'm not asking $3,000 for my Bonne so I don't know where motorhead is coming up with that number (just hypothetical I guess). I'm asking around $2,700 which is more than reasonable considering the condition of the car. Even if I get $2,500 and buy a car for $4,000, I have to make up $1,500. I'm sure my parents will help me cover maybe $750-$1,000 for my birthday and the rest I'll pick up. Money problem taken care of.

$3000 was just a number to use, to give you a cushion in your favor. At $2500, you have to drive more to make up the $2500 difference for a $5000 car. Of course, the less you spend on a replacement, the sooner you break even.

I'm not discouraging you from replacing your car, just trying to get you to look at all the angles. Sometimes we think we're saving something when, in reality, the savings aren't realized until far into the future.

SSEM

Yeah, I know. I've been trying to play out the numbers in my head. No matter how I look at it though, I feel like I need to make a change soon. I love my Bonne to death but I need a car with better gas mileage because of my various travels. I'm heavily looking into 2000+ Grand Ams. They look great, get better gas mileage, and are very similar to the Bonne (will help with the separation anxiety haha).

I do mostly highway:



That'* 27.01mpg to date. MPG is getting better as the weather gets warmer, but it'* still pretty crappy.

Granted, I could use new plug wires and a distributor cap/rotor, O2 sensor, etc, but quite frankly this car isn't worth enough to even justify that.

I'd really like a granny-geared beater-Bonneville right about now.