What car $5000, durability for long drives

[SirTanon]

You should be able to find a Gen 1.5 Fusion with a 2.5 in the price range. Mine gets roughly 27-29mpg here in Phoenix in 110F heat (full A/C) with a 110 mile round-trip (~ 40% rush-hour) commute, usually going between 70 and 75 MPH once I hit open traffic.

When I can get extended open-highway driving without rush hours, I can regularly exceed 30mpg, even going 75MPH.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
For $2500 and under, the Ford Taurus up to 2007. Bought one last year with 50,000 miles.


Agree I had one and drove the wheels off of it. Sold it at 183,000 miles to a woman who still drives it daily.


This. I put 275K on one on a 130 mi/day commute. It was still going strong at 300K.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: Lolvoguy
Buick somethingorother. You can find one with low mileage for a pittance.
Cheap enough you could spend the extra$$ on maintenance and tires.

People on here claim you can wring 25+ mpg from them, but I do not believe them. Certainly not the older ones.
I might be difficult to find a low mileage example that has already had the LIM gaskets done. That would be the BITOG dream right there.


I have had 4 3800s all but one supercharged. I routinely pulled down 24 to 28 mpgs on the Highway with them all the time. It is very easy. Low RPMs at highway speed. You are not getting that in town. Maybe 18 to 20 mpg.

I had an 02 Jetta TDI you couldn't give me another VW from that era. Made all my 3800s look like the pinnacle of automotive excellence.

 

[JeffKeryk]

You didn't say how many miles you would put on it...
Of course Hondas and Toyotas are the gold standard, but Nissan makes a long runner as well.

In silicon Valley, a lotta people lease Bolts so they can use the computer lane; they charge at work.
The 95 thru 97 Accords run forever; they are fun to drive.

Good luck.

 

[dohnuts]

Lots of great suggestions. I’ll need some time to digest and add more criteria

I drive about 100 miles round trip. Generally all highway mostly no traffic. Definitely different than when I lived in California. Each way takes about 45-50 minutes.

One other thing is snow. I’m pretty new to the state but I’ve become a believer that snow tires really help regardless of what tires and moving the load. Before I moved here I wanted Awd and snow tires with ground clearance. Now, having driven a friends rwd with snow tires I feel more confident.

Another friend swears by only Buick for daily drivers. He has a Park Avenue and picked up another Lacrosse for a good deal. He lives out in the country and drives a lot. He laments that they don’t make them anymore so he’s trying to get another one. He’s not what I would say is the target demographic. Early 40s.

 

[WyrTwister]

Our Buick is a 3.8l ( 3800 ) .

If you get one , just be sure to change out the plastic coolant elbows for metal ones .

As I said , we are getting 19 MPG in town with A/C running .

We had 4 or 5 Chevy Lumina 4 door sedans . With the 3.1l V-6 . They would get around 30 MPG on the highway .

My Wifey mostly drives a little red Chevy Sonic 1.8l automatic , now . It gets 22 - 26 MPG in town , depending on A/C or not . Have about 50,000 miles on it now . So far , she is happy with it . Easy to park and maneuver in town .

 

[Duffyjr]

Originally Posted By: wag123
Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: Lolvoguy
Buick somethingorother. You can find one with low mileage for a pittance.
Cheap enough you could spend the extra$$ on maintenance and tires.

People on here claim you can wring 25+ mpg from them, but I do not believe them. Certainly not the older ones.
I might be difficult to find a low mileage example that has already had the LIM gaskets done. That would be the BITOG dream right there.

My elderly father had a Buick Lesabre 3.8L V/6 that he claimed was getting 31 mpg on the highway, I told him that I didn't believe him and not to trust the mpg display in the car. He showed me proof that it actually WAS getting this kind of mileage with his gas receipts and odometer readings. He didn't drive like a "bat out of heck" but he did keep up with traffic. Impressive for such a big comfortable car. The car also proved to be very reliable and durable.


I just posted my 99 LeSabre on here I'm trying to sell and it consistently gets 29+ on the highway and around 16 in town. I has rocker panel rust but I'm only asking $2000. Would be an excellent car for someone commuting to work. Has 107k on it.

For got to mention it has had the LIM done.

 

[maxdustington]

I wrung 40 MPG from my 2000 Golf 2.0 5 spd driving from Toronto to Niagara once in the summer at night. I always got higher MPG on the way there and worse on the way back. There was no traffic so I could stay closer to 90 km/h instead of having to do 110 with normal traffic. That thing was a heap, with a fresh O2 sensor it probably would have been even higher.

If you go slow enough, you can make any car look fuel efficient. If you are driving a boat that is not fun to drive, then there is no motivation to go fast. If those 3.8 cars had magical fuel economy, people would desire them somewhere other than this board.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington

If you go slow enough, you can make any car look fuel efficient. If you are driving a boat that is not fun to drive, then there is no motivation to go fast. If those 3.8 cars had magical fuel economy, people would desire them somewhere other than this board.



Those numbers are going at or above the speed limit, nothing magical about it. People do want them and obviously you have never driven one with a Supercharger Like a Regal GS or Grand Prix GTP. I would take one of those any day over my old TDI or 2.Slow.

So are you calling everyone here who pulls down those numbers a liar?

It is well known that those cars routinely pull those numbers down. How many have you owned?

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: maxdustington

If you go slow enough, you can make any car look fuel efficient. If you are driving a boat that is not fun to drive, then there is no motivation to go fast. If those 3.8 cars had magical fuel economy, people would desire them somewhere other than this board.



Those numbers are going at or above the speed limit, nothing magical about it. People do want them and obviously you have never driven one with a Supercharger Like a Regal GS or Grand Prix GTP. I would take one of those any day over my old TDI or 2.Slow.

So are you calling everyone here who pulls down those numbers a liar?

It is well known that those cars routinely pull those numbers down. How many have you owned?


Ls1Mike, I beg you differ.(where are the beer thumping smilies?)
Let me explain.

The in the known guys will know about the consumption.

The guys requesting a neighborhood garage guy opinion for a low-headache pre-retirement car will know about this one. Also the chance of buying with lower miles against a Toyota/Accord...

 

[WyrTwister]

We also had an early 2000's ( 2002 - 2004 ) Buick Century . It had a V-6 and would do 30 MPG on the highway . Do not know which engine it had .

Might have been a 3.8 , also ? Do not think it had the same 3.1l that had been in our Chevy Luminas ?

But I could be wrong .

I always thought of them as mid size cars .

I would have been happy with a Chevy Impala . But I actually think the Lacrosse is a little nicer car . And we ended up buying the Lacrosse a little cheaper than the comparable Impalas we found .

CarGurus.com is one of the search sites I have used .

From what I have read , GM put the 3.8l in a LOT of different vehicles .

Just watch out for the plastic coolant elbows . You start loosing coolant , on the road , out in the middle of nowhere & things will start going pretty bad on you . Pretty quickly . :-(

People can believe the high 20's - low 30's MPG if they wish . Or not . Does not matter to me .

And the Lacrosse rides and drives well . Comfortable car . We are happy .

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: pandus13
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: maxdustington

If you go slow enough, you can make any car look fuel efficient. If you are driving a boat that is not fun to drive, then there is no motivation to go fast. If those 3.8 cars had magical fuel economy, people would desire them somewhere other than this board.



Those numbers are going at or above the speed limit, nothing magical about it. People do want them and obviously you have never driven one with a Supercharger Like a Regal GS or Grand Prix GTP. I would take one of those any day over my old TDI or 2.Slow.

So are you calling everyone here who pulls down those numbers a liar?

It is well known that those cars routinely pull those numbers down. How many have you owned?


Ls1Mike, I beg you differ.(where are the beer thumping smilies?)
Let me explain.

The in the known guys will know about the consumption.

The guys requesting a neighborhood garage guy opinion for a low-headache pre-retirement car will know about this one. Also the chance of buying with lower miles against a Toyota/Accord...

I wasn't really addressing the reliability concerns as much as the MPG figures.
He still doesn't get it.

 

[KrisZ]

My old Corsica with its 3.1 v6 and a three speed auto got around 22mpg city commute to college during the warm months and around 20 mpg during winter. It was not a powerhouse, but had tons of torque down low.

When I got rid of it and got a 95, 5spd Accord, I was surprised I got about the same mpg as the V6 and much heavier Corsica.

Those old, pushrod GM V6s got very good gas mileage, but the v-tech and DOHC crowd will have a hard time processing this.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike

Those numbers are going at or above the speed limit, nothing magical about it. People do want them and obviously you have never driven one with a Supercharger Like a Regal GS or Grand Prix GTP. I would take one of those any day over my old TDI or 2.Slow.

So are you calling everyone here who pulls down those numbers a liar?

It is well known that those cars routinely pull those numbers down. How many have you owned?


Nice strawman, I never called anyone a liar. I just claimed that you can make any car fuel efficient by driving the speed limit. I looked it up, EPA lists 27 HWY for 99 and 28 HWY for 2004, multiple people in this thread have claimed 30+. How do you beat EPA with a automatic trans? Driving like an old lady or filling up with E0. My original 25+ was incorrect, but there is no way people are pulling 30+ out of them driving fast. Sorry man, a 20% increase upon EPA with an automatic trans is just too much for me to believe. 24-28 is right where it should be.

EDIT: The claim was 42 HWY on flat ground. That is the type of claim that gets tossed around about this car.

Supercharged is premium fuel only, so the MPG gains can be taken with a grain of salt. I know they are fast too, when modded. However, almost any forced induction car is fast when modded. The good condition supercharged ones are also probably mostly in the hands of BITOGers or enthusiasts at this point.


People love this car on BITOG because they always have low miles, and are 90s time machines for the large amount of older members on this board. The type that think nothing of the intake gaskets going bad on every single one made, but will not buy a car with a timing belt. This post illustrates that perfectly:

Originally Posted By: pandus13

Ls1Mike, I beg you differ.(where are the beer thumping smilies?)
Let me explain.

The in the known guys will know about the consumption.

The guys requesting a neighborhood garage guy opinion for a low-headache pre-retirement car will know about this one. Also the chance of buying with lower miles against a Toyota/Accord...


"in the known" fuel consumption: Average
"low headache pre-retirement car": Miserly old man's car
"lower miles against a Toyota/Accord" There is so much more to purchasing than miles, and late 90s American cars are junk quality compared with late 90s imports. The original owner died and no one wanted it, so it sat while the estate was settled. This is a car that the family would not take for free.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington
...
People love this car on BITOG because they always have low miles, and are 90s time machines for the large amount of older members on this board. The type that think nothing of the intake gaskets going bad on every single one made, but will not buy a car with a timing belt. This post illustrates that perfectly:
...

I'm just a bit more south of you. So still in rust territory.
I still see them on the roads (including a co-worker, who bought one under $2k, 4 years ago). They are not all driven by elder people.
Me personally, I had a "boat", the '97 Concorde in my signature around 2005. And also had cars with timing belt.
I don't personally like them. I'm just relaying my personal experience why people around me still use/drive them.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington
Originally Posted By: ls1mike

Those numbers are going at or above the speed limit, nothing magical about it. People do want them and obviously you have never driven one with a Supercharger Like a Regal GS or Grand Prix GTP. I would take one of those any day over my old TDI or 2.Slow.

So are you calling everyone here who pulls down those numbers a liar?

It is well known that those cars routinely pull those numbers down. How many have you owned?


Nice strawman, I never called anyone a liar. I just claimed that you can make any car fuel efficient by driving the speed limit. I looked it up, EPA lists 27 HWY for 99 and 28 HWY for 2004, multiple people in this thread have claimed 30+. How do you beat EPA with a automatic trans? Driving like an old lady or filling up with E0. My original 25+ was incorrect, but there is no way people are pulling 30+ out of them driving fast. Sorry man, a 20% increase upon EPA with an automatic trans is just too much for me to believe. 24-28 is right where it should be.

EDIT: The claim was 42 HWY on flat ground. That is the type of claim that gets tossed around about this car.

Supercharged is premium fuel only, so the MPG gains can be taken with a grain of salt. I know they are fast too, when modded. However, almost any forced induction car is fast when modded. The good condition supercharged ones are also probably mostly in the hands of BITOGers or enthusiasts at this point.


People love this car on BITOG because they always have low miles, and are 90s time machines for the large amount of older members on this board. The type that think nothing of the intake gaskets going bad on every single one made, but will not buy a car with a timing belt. This post illustrates that perfectly:

Originally Posted By: pandus13

Ls1Mike, I beg you differ.(where are the beer thumping smilies?)
Let me explain.

The in the known guys will know about the consumption.

The guys requesting a neighborhood garage guy opinion for a low-headache pre-retirement car will know about this one. Also the chance of buying with lower miles against a Toyota/Accord...


"in the known" fuel consumption: Average
"low headache pre-retirement car": Miserly old man's car
"lower miles against a Toyota/Accord" There is so much more to purchasing than miles, and late 90s American cars are junk quality compared with late 90s imports. The original owner died and no one wanted it, so it sat while the estate was settled. This is a car that the family would not take for free.
The EPA estimates are often times nonsense.

My automatic Camry is rated for 28 mpg on the highway, I've gotten 37 mpg on the highway.

80 mph is more like 32-33 mpg. I also had a 97 Camry that did the same thing, I drove it to Montana at 80 mph and it got 32-33 mpg.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: maxdustington
People on here claim you can wring 25+ mpg from them, but I do not believe them.


If you do not believe someone then you are calling them a liar. Unless you think not believing someone means something else.

But hey people in here have already told you they did better than EPA even going over the speed the limit.

 

[JTK]

Depends on what the MPG claim is based on. Lots of high number claims are based on one trip. What really matters IMO is the average over an entire tank of fuel.

 

[WyrTwister]

I am an old man and admit to driving like an old man . If you drive like a scalded ape , you will get lower MPG numbers .

On the highway I drive a few MPH above to a few MPH above the speed limit .

In my part of the state , the highway speed limit is 70 - 75 MPH .

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Depends on what the MPG claim is based on. Lots of high number claims are based on one trip. What really matters IMO is the average over an entire tank of fuel.


Which is true, but OP was asking for +25 mpg plus on the highway, which is easy in a lot of the cars mentioned.