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P71 wrote:Mazda Protege is the ticket here. High 30's on MPG, actually fun to drive, 4 (or 5) doors, and reliable as gravity. If your interesting car(s) break it will autocross/rallycross pretty damn good as well.
You won't get high 30's out of a Pro with the 2.0, but they are pretty good cars. Great chassis, but I REALLY don't like the dynamics of the 2.0 motor...though it holds together really well. I averaged about 30-32mpg all-highway driving at about 60mph in the slow lane.
that's been my experience as well.
great driving little bugger though.
njansenv wrote: You won't get high 30's out of a Pro with the 2.0, but they are pretty good cars. Great chassis, but I REALLY don't like the dynamics of the 2.0 motor...though it holds together really well. I averaged about 30-32mpg all-highway driving at about 60mph in the slow lane.
But you can easily get it with a 1.8 SOHC Protegé like my old '94DX. It was a GREAT car that got amazing fuel econ. Definitely high on my list of my favorite fun/economical cars that I've owned.
Our 97 Camry 4 cyl (5SFE), auto gets 26-28 MPG around town and 30-33 on the highway. Not too exciting, but reliable and they should be in your three large price range these days and have a nice back seat fer da kid. If you want phun, my 1988 AE92 Rolla GT-s with a 20 valve and 5 speed cost me about five large to build, 2 of which was Konis, tires and wheels, and I get about 30 MPG with mostly highway. It will run with the big dogs, AC blows cold and it has been reliable for me. I've put about 45K miles on it in the last 3 years. The back seat is OK for children up to about 10 years old or so, I'd guestimate. A bit uncomfortable after that, but useable if the passenger seat is moved forward. And, I know you doubt me, but my 1992 RN Truck, 2 WD, 5 speed, got 30 MPG on the highway if I kept the speed to just at 70 or a tad under. Right up until the timing chain ate a hole through the front cover.
Well if we're going that route.... my 5-spd elantra gets 35 mpg on the highway, 28-30 around town, has room for 5 and with the H&R's and sway bar is a ball to drive..... But I thought we were going small here.
Yeah, if youre not going small, my 740iL gets 28-30 highway and would be quite comfy for a 75 mile commute. 
Last trip to Hartfort, CT was a 600 mile round trip, that was done on one 20 gallon tank of regular gas at 70-75 mph.
This is typical:
no flippin way.
Hey Chris, have you had a chance to verify the accuracy of the OBC fuel mileage? My M3 typically reads optimistically. (real world avg of 25.9 mpg in the M3 over about 14000 miles, average of fillups vs. odo. The OBC is 27.x these days)
Nathan
I would check the numbers on the computer. My 98 Buick Park Ave Ultra (Supercharged) would tell me I was getting damn near 33mpg on a all highway trip. I was skeptical and measured it myself. I was actually getting about 29.5.
the one on my Ti actually reads low..
28mpg? weak.
My rav4 seats 7 and gets 28mpg. 
Around TOWN!
Ok so I hypermile alitte.
Back to original topic. I'd also look for a TDI volkswagen. In CT, diesel is now cheaper than gas. $2.43 a gallon vs $2.55 a gallon. Some mods and a TDI can be very fun.... Reliable.. yeah kinda.
Just for an example.. Even the people on TDI club are now beating prices on the cars down.
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=247743
6 months to a year ago these cars were $5-6k period, now you can find yourself some good deals, relatively, if you dig around.
foxtrapper wrote:Thanks for the comments. A few cars there I hadn't thought of, and a few year specifications I wasn't familiar with.
My budget is $3,000. And I'd like to come in well under that, but I'd also like dead nuts reliability.
Survey says: 89 Si
I got 38 mpg last time I drove from Maine to Mass and back.
Not sure if I missed it but what is your price range? 1992-2002 Acura Integra: RS, GS, GSR 1986-present Honda Civics: VX gets the best but has nothing, CX would be next, HX is a coupe, DX, EX, Si Mini Cooper (base model) gets about 30-35mpg 1991-present Nissan Sentras Subaru 2.5RS (comes in 2 doors and 4 doors) Subaru Legacy GT Mazda Proteges Mazda Protege5 Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed Proteges (4 doors) Mazda 6s
njansenv wrote:Hey Chris, have you had a chance to verify the accuracy of the OBC fuel mileage? My M3 typically reads optimistically. (real world avg of 25.9 mpg in the M3 over about 14000 miles, average of fillups vs. odo. The OBC is 27.x these days)
Nathan
The computer is pessimistic. Just over 600 miles on 20 gallons of gas was what I actually used. The trip computer thought I was out of fuel and I still had enough to make it to the gas station on my way to work the next day.
And I do that trip fairly regularly (Baltimore to Hartford and back), as well as trips out to VA Beach and Richmond. This is what it gets on the highway at 70-75 mph.
I calculate it, and never use that readout. That pic was from another board member.
This is typical in these cars.
Awesome.
And again you go an make me ponder the "necessity" of a 540/740 for my wife. Thanks a lot.
