What highway cruiser?

We are planning on seeing the families this fall. The wife asked what I thought about driving instead of flying. That's fine by me as I prefer to drive anyway. I'm guestimating somewhere around 2500 miles. Her Elantra though is not what I consider a good highway car. To me it's uncomfortable, it crashes over bumps and has bump steer issues. Lot's of road noise and that little engine doesn't make good sounds. The last similar drive we did in it left a bad impression on me.

So I've been daydreaming about what car I would prefer to make that drive in. Deans thread on his new S-type R got me lusting after those pretty hard, but I've also always wanted an XJR and I believe that would probably have a better ride on the highway. Of course the XJ8 would also do an equally good job without the premium a clean R would demand and less chance that it would have been hooned to within an inch of its life.

But there are lot's of interesting cars that sell for around what you can pick up a nice XJR or S-type R for. Plus things that I likely haven't considered.

So what would be your preferred mode of transport to carry three people and their things 2500 miles in complete comfort, quietly and without the driver being bored to death or breaking down in the middle of Arkansas.

CLS63. Hands down. Buy one just like Sonic did. Amazing cars. Not quite as cool at the R63, but amazingly comfortable and capable.

Budget?

I never realized how miserable I was commuting in my Integra till I bought the V. I love small, nimble cars, but with my commute, and frequent trips to Florida, I've really enjoyed my 400hp heated leather couch.

She's for sale, btw

Anything with Volvo seats.

Malibu. Cheap, reliable, ubiquitous, and damn near invisible.

LS400.

Pete Gossett wrote: Malibu. Cheap, reliable, ubiquitous, and damn near invisible.

My 2006 was a miserable place to be. The newer ones might be better, but I think you are describing the Impala

In reply to Dr. Hess:

I knew you were going to say that

Dude.

It's right there in the name.

In the budget realm, I've been pretty happy with the P71, but the civilian Crown Vic would probably be better for eating large numbers of interstate miles. Where the P71 falls short, is in road noise, probably due to the lack of insulation and carpet.

Hard to beat a lexus for reliable and comfy

A 90s Mitsubishi Diamante is a little long in the tooth but practically free these days and capable of fooling you into thinking you are in an E39 5 series BMW. Fast, comfortable, economical... Weird. All win.

I may try to work a trade with the Civic for something like a crown Vic or something equally cheap. The hard part would be convincing her that a cheap old car would be reliable enough for the journey because she trusts her car.

If some things fall in line I may be able to up the budget to get into something in the 10-12K range.

Just getting ideas now.

My cl600 eats up the miles...would make an excellent road trip car. Btw the current cannonball record holder did it in a w215 cl55.

Twin turbo V12 Benz with a tune, a V1 and jammers. 100 MPH never felt so easy.

Q45. Any year.

Delta 88

Like the rest of the big Mercs, an E55 is a wonderful place to spend as many hours a day as you feel like driving. The seats are fantastic, the ride is comfortable yet communicative, you end the trip feeling fine and not all beat up, and you can pass anything. Anywhere. Anytime.

Except gas stations. But who cares? I would rather be able to average 85 mph over 1200 miles than get 30 mpg and avg 60...

I'm fond of Audis, so I'd say an S6. Any of the big German cars will do great at this, that's what they're built for.

I've done big miles in a number of cars, the two that stand out as the mostest comfy? My 92 Merc 300D. The seats just never seen to make your butt hurt, and 30+ MPG in a car that large is great. Add to that the solid feel, auto climate control and steel panel moonroof (hate a glass panel sunroof) and it's was AWESOME.
The other is my current DD. 2001 Volvo V70 T5M. The seats are very, very close to as perfect as the merc seats, but it has power to actually pass things on the highway.
I don't know what your budget it, but I'm sure you can find either one of these well within your budget. Do the trip, then sell it for what you paid and it's a win-win.

Lexus LS series with Volvo seats.

D3 Audi A8 - amazingly comfortable and quiet with good road feel. Strangely, more reliable than A4s or A6s.

You could also rent a Dodge Charger. If it's red, the cops won't bother you even on the Ohio Turnpike - they'll think you're the fire chief.

I wouldn't recommend one at this point (too old and you don't see any on the road so they must fall apart at some point) but I really liked highway miles in my Dodge Intrepid R/T. Big wide seats, plenty of power, and the slippery shape kept wind noise at bay. Just set the cruise at 85 and watch the miles slip away.

Pretty much any modern mid-to-full size sedan is going to be perfectly competent at devouring many many highways miles without drama. As we all name off what we've driven or want to drive I think the big questions get around to MPGs, FWD vs RWD, repairability, and style.

I know that with a 10K budget I'd rather spend half that on the car and a quarter of it on deferred maintenance and bank the rest against a failure (roughly).

Then it just depends on how a car fits you, I might say that the Audi A8 is the best highway cruiser ever built (and I'd be right) but if the driving position doesn't work for you then it's a lost cause. example

I wouldn't really consider anything with less than a turbo four but in that category you'll get the better MPGs (Saab 9-3 should get 35 hwy and a B6 Passat 2.0T turns a solid 30, the VW having a much larger back seat and trunk)

Lots of great options out there, but just came here to say I know what you mean about the Elantra. I use my '13 for 120 miles of driving per day, most of which is highway cruising. For that distance drive, I find the car to be just fine in general. That's because the highways are relatively smooth. Seats are comfy, at least for me, and I don't find the car to be excessively loud, especially now that I have new tires on it. But crash over bumps? Oh goodness, yes. Horribly so. And yes, that bump steer mid-corner is spooky. I love my Hyundai/Kia products, but they didn't do a good job at chassis control.