Justifying the Purchase of a Commuter Car

So I'm curious as to how many of you have commuter vehicles/beaters that you used to save on gas and offset wear and tear on your trucks. I have a motorcycle that I use to commute (70+ mpg), but I think I am getting too old to commute with it in the winter.

What do you have and what would you recommend? And does the cost balance itself out eventually?

I'm currently thinking about getting a civic or other small sedan, but I'm not sure if I can justify it with the extra cost to insure another vehicle. If i did it, I'd be looking for a cheap and reliable vehicle to insure that gets decent gas mileage (25+ MPG).

Thanks in advance.

 

2013 Scion iQ 40mpg, Toyota reliability! Bought used with 10k miles on it, $11K
I commute 11k+miles per year just for work. It is also the primary grocery/errand runner

 

I drive the wife's Pontiac G5. I average 39 MPG in the winter, and 40-42 MPG summer. Definitely saves me money.

 

I have a 2011 RAV4 that averages about 27mpg. Truthfully it will not save you a dime on gas savings because you have the added insurance and maintenance fees. But it allows me to keep my truck in great condition cause I keep it in the garage and only use it for longer trips no stop and go. I justify by wanting to be able to take my truck on 8 hour road trips when it's 15 years old but never I could never justify it by saving money (cause it's never gonna happen).

 

My truck IS my daily beater . We have a '14 Subaru Outback as the "good" car. My wife has a 2008 Honda Fit as her DD with 122,000 miles on it, and I have no doubt it will go to 200,000+ miles. It gets 39-40 mpg in winter and 42-45 mpg in summer, has lots of room inside, good handling, and doesnt lack in acceleration despite the dinky engine (with VTEC 'yo!). Stills drives like the day we got it, and I haven't done anything more than regular preventative maintenance on it.

 

My wife has a Prius and I use that quite a bit. There are times when she needs to go out with it and I am left with the kids to run errands. That's when another car begins to make sense.

 

My wife and I moved about 30 miles away from my work last year. Now I drive in traffic over a mountain everyday. The truck did the commute about a month. I was filling up every 2.5 days. Spending $130+ a week on gas. And I was putting highway miles on a offroad truck. Made me sad.

Picked up a 2013 focus with leather, rims, and 28,000 miles for $14,000. I put 7000 down and the payment was only $160 a month. I get 32Mpg on average now. It costs me 7 bucks a day now instead if 20+. The truck is no longer my primary vehical on insurance so my premium went way down. The focus was cheap to insure. Its either cheaper or the same to buy the focus but it saves my truck for what its meant for.