My friend, you need a 1999 - 2003 New Bettle tdi with a five speed. For tall people especially they are awesome. It even made a car talk episode about how great they are for tall people. The best commuter car i have ever been in. The best part besides the 35 - 46 mpg depending on how you drive it is the visibility. I just drove my old one today on a long 100 mile drive in the country and it was beautiful. Tons of glass to see out and really well designed cocpit. The only thing is the shape is not as aerodynamic so its hard to hit 50mpg plus like you can in a Jetta.
Now my conviction that the New beetle tdi 5 speed is the best commuter car comes from a lot of trial and error as i've been a commuter for the past 15 years.
I started with a 1992 A2 Jetta diesel (40 mpg) to commute to college, got my wife an A3 tdi much better -- (53 mpg at 65mph ) , traded the A2 for my first W123 MB 300D (24mpg) and have been on this forum ever since
. Then I got a 2002 Jetta tdi automatic (35 - 45 mpg), another W123 1985 (25mpg) , a 1999 New beetle (37 - 45 mpg ) , a W124 2.5T (36 mpg ) and finally my 87 tdt (28 mpg) .
And I can say of all those, the beetle is the best all around commuter. And that is about the only the me and my wife have ever agreed on. Too bad she drove over a curb and busted the oil pan and killed the engine
Get a skid plate !!!!
the W124 2.5 T and W124 wagon A4 Jetta are the second best.
And one more thing i could add -- I ran all of those cars on WVO at one point or another and they are all still on the road.
