What would you buy as a pizza delivery car?

[ryanwitski]

the Ecotec in the junkyard? those engines are a beast! can't be for the engine.

I would also put the Pontiac Vibe in the mix. My dad has one that gets 42 mpg. He has done package delivery for years with it. that is even worse then pizza delivery. has 192,000 miles with no problems. just needs oil changed and brakes and that is it. Plus parts are dirt cheap b/c it has GM parts and Toyota parts. i think rotors were 40 bucks for both.

I was surprised the thing is a real champ. Also has good storage area and a hatch that goes way up for taking out gear. You can also get it in AWD or the GT has a GM upgrade to give it near 300hp! I would kill myself with 300hp in a 2300 lb car with a short wheel base.

 

[STLRegal]

Id have to say a mazda/toyota/nissan made pick up truck. The ones Ive seen have lasted foroever. The only problem id for see is that it be hard to find one with less then 150k on it already.

 

[79LT1Monte]

Timing belt on a civic will take you about two hours with hand tools, well worth the time for 35mpg and a few hundred thousand miles of reliability. While you have it torn down replace the waterpump also.

 

[Uncletruck]

I always had good luck with the little Toyota trucks that are much like the Nissan I guess. They can pretty much be counted on to run 200k+ miles, are inexpensive if you just need RWD, easy to maintain, and get decent MPG. Later model Toyota 4 cylinder pickup engines have chain driven cams, and the engines are still built in Japan. I've owned 3 Toyota trucks all bought brand new, an '86, '94, and an '07. In 2001 I bought a Ford Ranger. Needless to say that is why I went right back to Toyota in '07. 😱 For something that really gets romped on and is counted on as a revenue maker, you still can't go wrong with a Toyota or Nissan truck.

Mercedes diesels are bulletproof, but the problem is something will eventually go wrong with the car where your only parts source might be the dealer. Then you'll need to take out a mortgage for whatever part you might need, and there could be a considerable wait time for the part, especially for an older model. That doesn't do much good when you need the car for work. Also, diesel fuel is now priced considerably more than gasoline, and diesels can be a pain once they develop injector problems and they constantly rely on clean fuel filters. I would have no problem taking the gamble saying the j* pickup will cost less to run.

-UT-

 

[ryanwitski]

beg to differ on the nissian trucks.

Around here where guys haul scrap steel and heavy loads for farms it is all GMC, Chevy and Ford. almost 170,000 on the 99 silverado and zero problems. dodge transmissions are crap and those import trucks are okay for small loads and maybe an occasional heavy load. They rust way fast and trust me the new nissian motor is a piece of junk. I have two buddies that blew two up. there 5.8 or what ever it is. he got the oil changed and three seconds later put a piston through the oil pan. only 30,000 miles. other guy threw a rod. I see it all over. Toyota trucks have great rear ends but they can't haul as much as the GM or Ford. fully boxed yes but so is the chevy and ford. ignore the deep voice guy on the commercial and listen to the numbers. They are lower than the others.

 

[megaladon6]

why does everyone say that diesel is more expensive than gas? does it matter? you get such better mileage that you SAVE money. i posted this on another thread but heres a synopsis: gas $3.00 at 25mpg vs diesel $3.50 at 43 mpg comes out to $500 dollars in savings a year. and the prices are closer than that, therefore more savings.
except for the new Fu%k#d Over Rebuilt Dodges the fuel filters are done at standard times. my vw got one at 130k simply because the original was still there.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

My 1998 Frontier is super-reliable and has no rust anywhere. Remember, the vehicle in question will be used only in the state of Florida and we have no salt or snow. In fact, it was 85 degrees out today and it is December 11th. The low temp is 67 degrees. As for my truck's problems to date, the original clutch went 200k miles, the original trans needed a $550 rebuild at 243k miles. It still has all of the original brake hydraulics and clutch hydraulics, and even the original rotors and drums. This is a vehicle that has seen 95% city miles as it was bought new for that purpose. It has towed cars, hauled scrap, lumber, etc and only needed to be towed for a mechanical breakdown once. The engine still has good compression and almost no oil usage, but it has a bad miss at idle and a ticking or knocking sound. I think it is probably a valve clearance problem, but I don't want to put the money into an engine with this sort of mileage. It should have both timing chains replaced if I take it apart, and it may even be bad rod bearings too. I have replaced the ENTIRE ignition system with no luck on the miss, so it is probably a mechanical problem. I just don't want to spend the money on the timing set ( $250-450) and the full set of valve shims ( $160 minimum) only to find it still runs like sh*t. Off idle it's fine, but I wonder for how long. I expect to have a rod exit the block one day and that will be the end of the engine.

As for the Diesel vs Gas Question, my two cars I would have to choose from are a 1.6 liter Sentra and a TDI VW. The Sentra in my own experience is good for 32mpg city and 55mpg on the highway with the A/C on. The VW's are rated between 36 and 43 city and 47 and 50 highway-so they are probably better than that if driven right. The thing is, 4 mpg is not a big difference when diesel is 30-40 cents more a gallon. Highway mileage is irrelevant to this discussion as the car will likely never see a lot of highway miles and will see 100 miles a day of city delivery driving and shifting almost at the fuel cut ( my truck hits it at 35mph in 1st and I shift at 32mph--around 6500rpm.) I live in an urban/suburban area with lots of stop and go and a need for aggressive tactics to get to and from deliveries fast enough to make money. I drive more like a rally driver than a taxi driver and the car needs to be able to take EXTREME abuse and neglect. In all, I average 800 miles a week when you include my parts scrounging days and commute to college.

 

[STLRegal]

beg to differ on the nissian trucks.

Around here where guys haul scrap steel and heavy loads for farms it is all GMC, Chevy and Ford. almost 170,000 on the 99 silverado and zero problems. dodge transmissions are crap and those import trucks are okay for small loads and maybe an occasional heavy load. They rust way fast and trust me the new nissian motor is a piece of junk. I have two buddies that blew two up. there 5.8 or what ever it is. he got the oil changed and three seconds later put a piston through the oil pan. only 30,000 miles. other guy threw a rod. I see it all over. Toyota trucks have great rear ends but they can't haul as much as the GM or Ford. fully boxed yes but so is the chevy and ford. ignore the deep voice guy on the commercial and listen to the numbers. They are lower than the others.

What pizza place do you order from? I want a pizza delieverd to my house where it requires a special sized vehicle.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah.... a Silverado would be a little big. Oh, and I truly hate the new Frontiers and the worthless French POS QR25DE engine it has. It is also too large of a truck for my taste as I prefer compact pickups to mid and full sized models. My Frontier was built before the surrender monkeys at Renault bought Nissan and reduced quality to increase profitability. The KA24DE in the 98-04 Frontier was the last Nissan engine that can trace it's parentage to the 1968 Datsun 510's L16B.

On a completely different subject related to the thread, the Nissan B13 Sentra is the only car on my list that is still sold new. It is Mexico's best-selling new car where it is called the Nissan Tsuru. Price? $7500 for a 4 door with the GA16DE engine and a 5 speed transmission. Almost makes me want to go to Mexico. Almost.

 

[v8power]

what about a first gen dsm? awd turbo? i had one that ran 200k with an exception of a timing belt.