Declaration of Intent

Soon I will start a new job which, in addition to being much more interesting (and paying more) than my current job, will add considerably to my daily commute.  I'm already spending nearly $100/wk on fuel, and that will easily double if I keep driving my large, gas-guzzling SUV.  It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that buying a new, efficient car will pay for itself in fuel savings alone.  Not to mention the fact that my '03 Expedition is getting up there in miles, already has a bunch of work that really should be done, and will surely need more in the near future just to keep it on the road.

Obviously a new car is in order.  A small one with excellent fuel economy.  One that is cheap to buy and cheap to drive.  There are lots to choose from, right? 

Not necessarily.  See, I'm a pretty big guy.  A gentleman of significant carriage.  I displace a lot of water when submerged.  I'm six feet four inches tall and a bit over four hundred pounds fat, so I'm not going to fit into too many cars in the small-and-efficient category.  I suppose I could lose weight, but lets be realistic here - food tastes good, running is hard, and weights are heavy.  It will be a lot easier to find a small car which can contain my girth than to actually get in shape, and if there is one thing I love, it's the path of least resistance.  How do you think I got this way in the first place?

This is what I'm trying to avoid

There has to be at least one currently-manufactured car that meets my three criteria:

• Gets at least 30MPG
• Costs under $20k 
• Big enough that I can get into and out of without requiring a spotter or the jaws of life  

By my count, there are 33 vehicles available in the US that fit my price and efficiency criteria.  I'm going to "try on" every car in the category and document the results here.  If all goes to plan, I'll find at least one that fits my third requirement (my fat ass) and buy it.  It is my hope that this information might be of use to other gravitationally abundant Americans.

I've got plenty of time to work on this.  It will be several months before my truck is finally paid off and I can save up a reasonable down-payment.  By then, the 2012 models will be out and there should be lots of deals/incentives on the 2011 leftovers.  Here is the list of perspective vehicles I have compiled:

• Chevrolet:  Aveo, Cruze, HHR
• Chrysler:  200
• Ford:  Fiesta, Focus, Fusion
• Honda:  Civic, Fit, Insight
• Hyundai:  Accent, Elantra, Sonata
• Kia:  Forte, Rio, Soul
• Mazda:  2, 3
• Mitsubishi:  Lancer
• Nissan:  Versa, Sentra, Juke, Cube
• Scion:  xD, tC
• Smart:  ForTwo
• Suzuki:  SX4, Kizashi
• Toyota:  Yaris, Corrola, Matrix
• VW:  Jetta, Golf

The games begin in a couple days when I will go down to the local Chevy dealer and see whether or not I can shoehorn myself into the heartbeat of America.