High Mleagle Highway Cruiser

My girlfriend is about to start her first job out of law school, assuming she passes the bar exam - no, no, she'll definitely pass - and it's a great gig. She'll be working for my dad who has been in private practice doing criminal defense and civil rights cases for well over 20 - 30 years now, and she'll be thrown right into a couple big cases (with national attention: anybody hear about the Gerald, MO police dept. that got conned into letting a 'federal drug agent' conduct a bunch of warrantless raids and arrests, only to find out that the guy had no law enforcement credentials at all? Yeah, they're representing a lot of the accused).

The downside, and the point of this topic, is that she'll have a brutally long commute: about an hour of highway in each direction. On the plus side, she'll be driving against traffic, so it'll flow well. But, it's still two hours a day.

I'm looking for recommendations for a comfortable highway cruiser that returns the best possible mileage and is dead nuts reliable. She'll be making decent money, so something new-ish is an option.

And, for those of you worried about our carbon footprint, I do what I can to offset: I drive about seven miles to work, and I do it on a motorcycle. I even spend a lot of the time on one wheel to save on rubber costs...

Let the suggestions commence!

1990 - 2000 Honda Civic.

Don't even front. One of the best commuter cars ever made.

P71

Don't stand in front. Bitch will mow you ass right down.

Blast! Can't edit subject lines to correct sausagefingerednes!

John Brown wrote: P71 Don't stand in front. Bitch will mow you ass right down.

I have been leaning very heavily in this direction. I'd like to hear P71 and other owners chime in on ultimate highway mileage.

There's something to be said for the intimidation factor, especially since the local HP out in the sticks where she'll be working still uses Vics. If you can get everybody to move out of the way, you'd never have to turn off cruise...

1990-current Honda Civic..

Our 08 EX-L just got 44mpg on a recent trip.

1966 Cadillac Sedan Deville. I have about $3000 in mine, and I'll bet they're even cheaper now. Insurance is cheap. Mileage is 14 mpg and it has style out the wazoo.

How far does a $15,000 Civic have to drive to make up the difference?

Or get a turbo Miata. 31 mpg on mine in a recent trip, and it does a few other tricks. Like hauls ass at 10,000' above sea level.

Miata.

Seriously. I have an hour commute each way too & it's great. I get 32mpg if I drive it like a commuter car, and 28mpg driving it like I stole it. Plus, nothing helps beat the stress of the day like dropping the top & enjoying the ride home!

Further clarification (not that any of these suggestions have violated these terms): modern amenities like good heat, good A/C, stereo, et cetera, are required. Not by me, mind you.

Off-lease cars can represent a good value. At 3 years old with 36k miles on them they typically have not been abused too much but they have seen the biggest part of depreciation. If you choose the usual suspects (honda, toyota, etc) it is pretty hard to do anything bad to them in only 36k miles.

For true economy: 2005 Civic or Corolla

For economy with some style: 2005 Mini, Toyota Celica, Acura RSX or Mazda3 sedan w/2.0L

For economy with utility: 2005 Matrix/Vibe, Scion Xb or Mazda3 wagon

Do you have a target price-range? Maximum age you'll look at?

What are you goals as far as amenities, comfort, style, and performance?

Also a P71 voter, but in the form of the town car, I own 4 and they do an average of 2000 miles a week, its like sitting in a loungeroom, gets a solid 26 mph on average (mostly highway) and 2 have well in excess of 200K and are running strong still. They have a few quirks, ie electric window issues, poor quality window switches on pre 95 models, wiper motor can go bad, all easily fixed with little skills.

They are the most reliable cars I've ever owned and I've have around 100 cars to date

Salanis wrote: Do you have a target price-range? Maximum age you'll look at? What are you goals as far as amenities, comfort, style, and performance?

Target price: anywhere South of $20k-ish...

Amenities listed above: just the basics for a modern car, really.

We have a Focus ZX3 that we'll likely keep (or I'll sell for something fun and/or utilitarian), so this will primarily be a highway bomber for her. Our vehicular needs are otherwise pretty minimal.

Performance: I'll take it where I can get it. For instance, I'll take a P71 over a standard Vic/Grand Marq. Or an SVT Focus over my boring ZX3, et cetera.

Maximum age? Nah. Reliability is a must, but money an buy that in something old.

Continue...

Honda Fit. '07 Mini Cooper.

Edit: Smart.

I'd go with the Mini though, but that's for a cool/sports factor rather than pure economy.

I would go with the cooper. Good miliage, all the amenities, cute styling, fun to drive, and still safe.

what more could she ask for?

I've started looking for a newer car, one that's relaxing to drive long and short distances, and one of the cars I'm looking at is the Camry Solara. Yeah, I know, it's pretty anti-Grassroots, but it sounds a lot closer to what this guy is looking to recommend to his girlfriend than some of the previous recommendations. If not the Solara, the regular Camry or Accord for no other reason than you can drive fairly fast but don't stand out in traffic like say a red Mustang or a yellow 'vette...and with the 4 cylinder you get pretty decent gas mileage.

How about Miata and throw SVT Focus suspension kit on that Zx3 and have two fun cars that return good mileage?

I'd say a 4 cyl Honda Accord, lightly used, or hell, even a new one. Comfy cruisers, nothing will EVER go wrong, SULEV emissions, 30 MPG+ highway.

Sonic wrote: I'd say a 4 cyl Honda Accord, lightly used, or hell, even a new one. Comfy cruisers, nothing will EVER go wrong, SULEV emissions, 30 MPG+ highway.

x2

Long commute means she wants a longer wheelbase. Look for a 98+ four cylinder Accord. I drove one from Connecticut to Florida and back, four times.

As a bonus, it was almost invisible to cops.

I'd say civic.

My 96 civic hatch did 46mpg on the highway. Yotas are good too.

Watch out for 98+ 4cylinder automatic hondas. If you don't change the fluid on cue with honda ATF she'll puke. My dad neglected his and drive the wheels off that car and it puked on him. Honda put a new transmission in that car for free @ 150k miles. My dad paid for the consumeables during the install and the shipping. It cost him $100. I'm pretty much sold on hondas.

civic or p71 what isnt cool about a lawyer in a huge old sedan. it just fits. they get more than reasonable gas milage, and they are cool as all hell, and dirt cheap.

Go for the P71

I'd recommend a 03 or newer (looks the same as mine, but shares brakes/wheels with the 05+ Mustang GT and has a little more power stock). Try to find a nice unmarked car or detective's unit so you can get cruise and the nice interior stock. You should be able to pick up a clean one for under $5000 all day long, in any color. Just watch for P71 in the VIN

If the Focus is the highway car that gets good mileage...you're looking for something more comfortable than economical? Maybe with a little hot sauce thrown in?

I drove a little more than 2000 highway miles two weeks ago, and my SVT Focus reported about 33 mpg at 75 mph. It makes for a nice highway ride... especially the on/off ramps.

I drove my grandfather's Grand Marquis a few years back, and it was detached (single finger steering) and very comfortable. I felt like I was driving a cloud.

Xceler8x wrote: If the Focus is the highway car that gets good mileage...you're looking for something more comfortable than economical? Maybe with a little hot sauce thrown in?

You're on the right track.

My Focus has the SVT kit installed (world of difference - first drive: 'oh this is what a good FWD car is supposed to feel like!'), but it's lacking as a highway hauler, specifically on the cruise control front - it's an early model stripper with no options aside from automatic. And as much as I like the car, the autotragic sucks the fun out on a minute-by-minute basis. And, try as I might, I can't get more than 28 out of the little sucker; it doesn't care whether it's going 60 or 85 mph on the highway, it gets the same mileage.

Longer wheelbase is good. Luxo-boat feeling is good, I think. I've had an '01 Miata for a few months, and as much as she likes it to bomb around town, the thought of two hours droning in one leaves her cold. If she gets something big for the highway (that I can also haul my guitar gear in), I'll probably sell the Focus for an NA Miata to play around with.

All of these reasons are why I keep coming back to a P71. With the price vs. mileage equation, it's hard to beat. Any of you current P71 owners care to chime in on your observed highway mileage?