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Ford Focus
Mazda Protege, 626, 929
Infiniti G20, J30
Nissan Maxima w/ V6 and 5 speed will be more fun than any Accord or Camry
Nissan Sentra
I hate the way all of the 3800 V6 powered FWD GM crap boxes drive. I've driven plenty as rentals and the inlaws seem to buy them for reasons I can't begin to imagine...
Honda/Acura.
Cheap to get - cheap to fix - cheap to maintain - cheap to upgrade - cheap to insure.
P71 wrote:Look into the Grand Prix GTP as well. It's an excellent highway cruiser. The looks are unassuming (especially in Silver or Black) so you can glide by the cops, the Supercharged, GN-based, 3.8L V6 makes great torque and HP, mods are plentiful, and the interior is large and comfy. We've road tripped Audra's non-S/C GT for 300-mile each-way trips and had a blast. Dual-zone climate control, sunroof, leather, and CD changers are some of the options you can find. $5K will net you a mint example in your year choice. Plus 2-door or 4, take your pick.
My dad owned an '00 GTP. Red sedan with chrome 5 spokes and tan interior. Very fun car. I liked it quite a bit, but he sold it a few years later. They later came out with a recall saying that the supercharger could cause the car to overheat up to 20 minutes after the car was turned off and catch fire.
I drive about 2000 miles a week in the P71s civilized brother, my Town Car is bulletproof, comfortable, good mileage and seats 6. Great in snow, highways etc, fails a little in the curves and outright power, but you didn't state they were important requirements.
That would be bad, catch fire to the car and garage 20 minutes after being in the house. As far as a good MPG car that is great for the long haul, I too would go for a Mazda Protege. Low cost, almost 30 MPG, good looks, ok power, lots of cargo, and low maintenance.
I would put a vote in for the BMW 7 series. They are SURPRISINGLY fuel economic for their size and are comfortable and look damn good. They can have issues, but for 5 grand, you can get yourself into a very reliable 7 series that, at most, would just need an oil change.
I would say, however, keep it to the E38 and E32 . . .I prefer the E38, that's a man's car!
pigeon wrote:I agree with the Volvo 850 or even a S70/V70 (I don't know what pricing is like on those these days). Volvo seats are orthopedic and sooooo comfortable, especially with the seat heaters on for a bad back, and the cars are basically reliable and get decent mileage. I also like the idea of the LS400 for a car to eat highway miles but I don't know what the mpg is like on them.
LS400s get surprisingly good MPG, they had a drag coefficient of only .29 or something around there and the engine was really well engineered so they manage 25 mpg on the highway not bag for a 3800lb luxo-barge!
SVreX wrote:I'll sell my 5 spd SVX in that price range, but it's not too good on gas. Huge in the giggles department, definitely comfortable for the long haul, but not too good on gas.
So I finally get a price out of you! 
JeepinMatt wrote:They later came out with a recall saying that the supercharger could cause the car to overheat up to 20 minutes after the car was turned off and catch fire.
Absolutely, positively, ridiculously FALSE. The recall is on all 3.8 (NA and SC) GP's (and other W-Bodies). It's about a stupid plastic spark plug wire retainer by the valve cover. If the valve cover gasket fails and pukes oil, the oil will collect in this plastic shelf, and then leak onto the exhaust manifold. The recall is the remove the tray and install normal wire retainers, something I did to Audra's within a week of bringing it home because the stock piece was busted anyways.
My mom has a GTP, and its not bad, but I wouldnt buy another one. The ride on bumpy roads is horrible (it does have GMPP konis and springs on the front, but the rears struts and springs are stock), but even a minor bump makes it slam hard onto the bump stops both front and rear, and if you are in the back seat (at least if you are tall) you will keep hitting your head on the back window. As long as you oonly drive on smooth roads, and handling isnt important, its a decent car though. If you drive on a bumpy freeway, it would be a horrible choice from what i have seen.
the answer is audi 5000T......
Saab?
2002-2003 Hyundai Elantra manual trans. Upgrade the rear sway bar ($35, junkyard) and some H&R Springs ($200) and away you go. 35mpg, power to do whatever you need. Comfy, reliable. and with the above mods and a tire that is not complete crap, you'll have fun in the twisties as well.
We have used mine for the last 7.5 years, 114k miles and it's been from Indy to FL 3 times, Outerbanks, NJ, NY, PA and been my 50mile per day DD for the last 4 years WHILE serving DD as my auto-x car. There isn't a person in the world I would not recomend this car to.
karlt_10 wrote:Honda/Acura.
Cheap to get - cheap to fix - cheap to maintain - cheap to upgrade - cheap to insure.
I would love to know what you;'re on..... You can't find a used hondar in this area worth buying for $5k, ACura's are even higher. Most have been riced. Transmissions are really expensive. EGR clogging across the board gets tiresome and the high theft rates makes their insurance a bit more than the norm.
A TDI does the long-distance commuting thing for me very well... although finding a good one in your price range may be tricky and time consuming... Not being able to find a decent Passat TDI wagon back in '02 was what led me to eventually buy my '03 TDI wagon new.
any used car for $5K is going to be a crap-shoot... I have no idea what I'd get... 
3 miatae?
I would say a 99 SAAB 9-3. With a 5 sp mine gets mid to high 30's on the highway and it has the mosr comfortable seats I have ever sat in. On the reliability side. If you get one that was taken care of they will last a long time, mine has @190k on it and I have only had to put an AC compressor and a fuel pump in it.
My '01 9-3 provided me with lots of smiles, as did my '94 Protege DX. Both were loads of fun to drive and got great fuel economy. I wouldn't recommend the LS400 just because of the fuel economy and the fun-sapping automatic. I averaged ~20MPG with mine. Your friend may think that's okay. I didn't.
I have to say that I'd consider a lightly-modified Protege5, too. Here is my friend Jason's car with my Miata in North Carolina last weekend:
Coilovers, header, intake, harness, sticky tires... The thing is a blast.
X300 Jaguar XJ6 from mid-90’s. It was the last and the most refined evolution of the straight-6 engine, which has been produced since the stone age. The lump is bomb proof and I’ve seen these cars with well over 250,000 miles still running strong. Classic exterior shape, traditional british interior, and superior ride quality – all you’d want in a long-distance cruiser. Oh, and the best part, you (your friend) won’t be driving “just another civic/corolla/camry/accord/another-invisible-gray-car-in-the-parking-lot…
p.s. If one looks hard enough there are also sub $5,000 XJR’s to be had out there… ;)
E34 5-series: the 2.5 M50's are fuel efficient, the 4.0 V8's are fun... Both handle reasonably well. I just picked up a 535i 5-speed parts car that I wish was driveable...
Nathan
marktmv wrote:X300 Jaguar XJ6 from mid-90’s. It was the last and the most refined evolution of the straight-6 engine, which has been produced since the stone age. The lump is bomb proof and I’ve seen these cars with well over 250,000 miles still running strong. Classic exterior shape, traditional british interior, and superior ride quality – all you’d want in a long-distance cruiser. Oh, and the best part, you (your friend) won’t be driving “just another civic/corolla/camry/accord/another-invisible-gray-car-in-the-parking-lot…
p.s. If one looks hard enough there are also sub $5,000 XJR’s to be had out there… ;)
Any idea what a transmission costs for a XJR? There is one locally in need of transmission.
I believe that falls into the drop-your-drawers-and-grab-your-ankles price range. But isn't that most things British?
Didn't a fair amount of Jags use GM transmissions?
MrJoshua wrote:Didn't a fair amount of Jags use GM transmissions?
http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/jaguar/xjr/r19990/comments/
I was wrong-Mercedes and very very expensive.
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