Good gas mileage and room to lie down?

[freethrowking]

I'm in the market for a vehicle that gets more than 25 mpg that I can stretch flat out to sleep in. I have about $5,000 to spend.

I'm going to be traveling a lot, staying in areas I won't have an apartment so I need good mileage to get me there and room to stretch out and sleep in for rest. I've been kicking back in my Pontiac Bonneville but I can't do that any more. It's taking its toll. What can you recommend?

[PlayStation3]

i wanna say a saturn sw2 mainly because you only have 5 grand

[Andydg]

A Caprice Station wagon would give you more than enough room but I think they only get just above 20 mpg.

[freethrowking]

I like both options, though the Caprice is more car than I'd like, especially in a big city. I haven't found a pic with the seats down in the Saturn SW2. Can I fit in that one?

[sickcallawayc12]

Originally Posted by freethrowking

I'm in the market for a vehicle that gets more than 25 mpg that I can stretch flat out to sleep in. I have about $5,000 to spend.

I'm going to be traveling a lot, staying in areas I won't have an apartment so I need good mileage to get me there and room to stretch out and sleep in for rest. I've been kicking back in my Pontiac Bonneville but I can't do that any more. It's taking its toll. What can you recommend?

It's best to look at 4 banger wagons. Saturn is worth considering, like PS3 said, because you have 5 grand. Saturns are dirt cheap cars compared to the competition; probably could get a deal on an early 2000 wagon let alone late 90s. As for mileage, my pop has gotten as much as 51 miles to the gallon in areas of Arizona in his 02 sl2. He usually gets around 40-43 through dd. Every time he's behind the wheel, conserving gas is #1 on his list, which is why he chose Saturns in the first place.

Early 90s Subaru wagons (loyale/legacy) may be worth lookin' at too. I believe the front wheel drive models were options through the 94 year and those will get much better mpg than their AWD counterparts.

There are others, like Toyota Corolla, Honda Accord, Ford Escort, Ford Taurus, all have wagon options in select years and could fall within your range. Places like www.autotrader.com or www.cars.com are good tools to use here cuz they will give you dimensions and all that (I dunno how tall you are, etc.) so check that out and see what gives you what you need. Good luck whatever you pick.

[mr_mushroom]

depending on your definition of 'good', you could go old school and get hella space for not much money.
being that you may have already considered that option, my girl has a 2002 hyundai elantra wagon that camped us comfortably with the back seats removed.
plus not to mention when i met her 2 years ago, she had 60K on the clock and hadn't changed her oil in over a YEAR.
look i know hyundai's are POS-s but the only problems there have ever been with that car:
loose throttle cable-5 minute fix in my driveway
cracked spark plug boot causing misfire in #2, arcing against head-15 minute job. new wires. again, in driveway
erratic shifting, she drove it halfway across austin in 2nd gear and called to ask why she was overheating and her 'revs' were in the red. it was like that for about 45 minutes before she decided to call-new filter, flush and fill, problem solved, local shop $50

[sickcallawayc12]

Jesus man. How is that Hyundai still alive? How does she have a license?

[freethrowking]

Thanks for the compasses. This is great help. I haven't found info about the difference in mileage between the FWDs and AWDs. How much is the difference? If I could find something with mileage like the SL2 that has functional AC I'll be stacked.

The seats in the wagons mentioned, like the Outback seen here:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...ag=2&cardist=0


Do the seats fold forward? I can see handles on the tops of the seats and latches on the sides, but what is the action of the fold?

I found a good pic of the fold in an Acura:

http://i2.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/97/5b/9694_12_sb.JPG
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tchlink:top:us

Trying to decide if I should get a cheap fixer upper or see how far I can stretch my money at a dealer's auction.

[alphalanos]

Auctions are a great place to buy I got my Civic there. Just make sure you check the car out and its clean. Clean interior, clean exterior. Smooth sounding and running.