happy thanksgivng 1st of all!!!

well i arrived at my familys house in north florida last night....9 hour drive in the rx-8 and i gotta tell you, it was the worst drive ive ever done...only reason i did it in the 8 is because my girls cv axle mysteriously broke on monday and no rentals were available...

well i gotta say the 8 is not a traveling car at all, we stopped for gas and to streatch way too much...i coulda easiy did the trip in 6 hours.

well i need to buy a a DD/traveling car cause i realize if im going to be making long distance trips i need something more fuel economical and alot more comfortable, esp for luggage. I am lookin online now for cars i can afford within my range. right now im looking at a cadilac devile, my elderly uncle has a newer devile and loves it, it is a nice car but that is too much, so he suggested the older ones (which he used to have also)...so far i think im going to go this route but i wanted more insight.

what i need:
-Comfort, has to be roomy, i need wide seats, and alot of headroom AC needs to blast , and leg room is a must for everyone cause i cant keep scooting my seats up to fit passengers.

-Has to be at 4k or under...ill stretch 4500 if i must but i cant do more than that, i cant finance another car.

-large trunk space

-easy to maintain, i cant afford high price maintaince, and need good reliability to do up to 1000+ mile round trips

-gas mileage cant be horible, obviously this will be a big car, but i need to atleast pull 24mpg and with a tank able to do 500+ mile range.

-Has to look nice, i looked at the old town cars but they look soooooo old now, i still want something that looks relatively modern.

power/handling/speed/ andanything performance orientated doesnt matter, i guess the rx8 will be my fun car...the new car will be the comfort/long distance/DD car.

im looking at some buicks, and cadilacs right now...any other suggestions, cars like camry's, 626's, and such are not welcome...must be full size....

oh and SUV's may be an option i overlooked...

 

well i wouldnt suggest a deville for fuel economy

 

Tall order my friend.

Ford Taurus
Impala
Malibu
Grand Marquis
Crown Victoria

I am not sure how many full size good condition cars can be had for 4500

 

yea i kno im askin for alot, i cant do a taurus, ive driven them as fleet vehicles and i didnt like them at all...crown vic's seem like a nice alternative and they still look decent, i can prob find a police one, (not the stripped down interceptors tho) The ones that the detectives drive are still oem inside and are better takin care of, and usually come in blue or black... im going to check out the vics aswell.

alot of the large cars im lookin at are pretty much all american and are 1995-2000, and they all are right around 5k and under, i just need to research how reliable they are and any high mileage issues...

thanks for the quick responses.

 

no prob, got nothin else better to do than eat, drink, and watch the packer game. we are whoppin ***!!

 

lol hell yea, im doin the exact same...pickin at some of the food on the table lol.

 

pontiac g6, grand am both good for traveling. Should be able to find a grand am cheap. I had one up to 150k or so and didn't see any high mileage issues.
G6 is good because you'll retain the sportiness, but it's built for comfort inside before being sporty. Probably won't find one too cheap though.

 

raphy, i love the love the look of your 8, i have a silver too, and thats exactly what i planned to do to mine, except with CF hood and trunk

sorry, off topic

 

i agree...it looks stock but for some reason it jus looks sick as hell..i have the appearance package too but it just doesnt stick out as much as it does in that pic...

 

Take a look at 95-98 Maximas, the engine lasts forever and they get decent gas mileage.

 

how bout a camry. those things run forever. ive seen em come in to our shop with 180k miles and they still run good.

 

shucks thanks guys. Too bad I didn't see that sooner. It's true that the appearance package makes a big difference if you put them side by side. It does depend on taste however. I could see how some people wouldn't like it.

I can't imagine the car without rotary accents though; it's part of what I fell in love with!

 

Something witha GM 3800... Olds or Buick. Yoiu will get a BIG car, with incredibly low maintenance costsa nd surprisingly good gas mileage, 30+ on highway. MY Uncle SWORE by his mid 90's Buick Century.

 

i actually came from a 95 maxima..the tranny blew and i parted it out and gave it away. i kinda wish i woulda rebuilt it and drove it as a daily but it was beat to hell with smashed exterior...prob would been cheaper to rebuild the whole car than to buy a new travel car but oh well, cant look back...

besides the max wasnt all that comfortable too, i kinda got too used to it, i need somethin else unless its a GLE with ABS lol. if the grand prix interior wasnt so damn ugly and the seats were so uncomfortable id prob get on a gt, or maybe even a gtp...i thing the reagal has its sc version of the grand prix, im going to see how they fair out. would be nice to get it b4 x-mas cause i gotta make the trip again..if not im def reserving a rental waaaaaaaay in advance lol

 

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...uperSpotlight=

i found this regal GS, supercharged...if i can get it at 4300 i think id take it assuming it was good mileage and well maintained...im gonna check it out on monday. i kinda dont like the color but i can deal with it, any thoughts...

 

Should fill the bill....

 

A couple of cars you can find on Ebay pretty easy:

1997 Ford Thunderbird. I had one that got 24 MPG on the road with a V8. Worthy of 200,000 miles.

Ford Windstar. Minivan, but drives amazingly well. 23 MPG. Lives about 170,000 miles.

Dodge Intrepid - the earlier V6 FWD models. 24 MPG. Life expectancy about 160,000 miles.

 

Check reliability on this. I remember reading reviews in consumer reports where the supercharged version was rated terrible in terms of reliability. You may want to look into the deville also. A friend of mine has an '01 he bought with 40k miles. As soon as the warranty broke, it was in the shop a few times a year. The Northstar is nice but it isn't cheap to fix. Maybe a nice Grand Prix with standard 3.8 would fit the bill? Or go the safe way and get an older Accord or Camry.

 

Do you have to buy?

To tell you the truth, when I travel a long ways.......I just rent one. This of course allows you to try different models etc.
Also......if it breaks down, you got now worries.......call the rental agency and say "bring me another one". I shuffled daughters back and forth many times while they were in college and have used on many trips......it's just easier.

 

+1. I had a 98 with 193k that I traded in for my 8. Still on the original clutch and mechanicals. All I did was oil changes, brakes, tires, and regular other fluid changes. Damn car was bulletproof.

 

also check the intake manifold and the water pump for any leaks. it was very common on the 3100,3400 and the 3800 series motors

 

im def going to check it out....i kinda extended me search now and lookin at some jap models too. i still would like a regal gs tho, ive even opened up to considering a park ave and riviera...im going to make sure i thuroughly check the car out. i looked at a milenia S with the miller cycle, im not too sure if i want to venture into that car, not to familiar with it yet....on a side note after driving all night i made it home in the 8, i seemed to get much better gas mileage at night, maybe the cool temps or somethin. still a very uncomfortable ride tho

 

+1 for Crown Vic/G. Marquis. They are huge, comfy, cheap as hell to fix, and get good gas mileage on the highway. I had an '86 G. Marquis and it was a great highway car.