Buying a "new" car.

[MadisonMPG]

My dad and I love to hypermile, but we can't get enough out of a automatic car with power steering. So we've been looking on craigslist and we were wondering what good hypermiling cars are.
Our list:
Geo Metro
Honda CRX HF
Honda Civic
Toyota Camry (pre 95ish)

There is a 88 CRX HF close to me with 177k miles for sale, should I buy it?

[SVOboy]

The 88 HF was the best. I looked for one for month before I settled on a 91 auto dx

[MetroMPG]

I'd say any of the first 3 would be good choices for great MPG (depending on transmissions in the Hondas).

I don't think the Camry ever came without power steering. I had an '85 5-speed, but it had p.s.

[Johnny Mullet]

Geo Metro 3 cylinder 5-speed would be my choice. With some experimenting and mods, you can really get good MPG numbers.

[igo]

if the HF is nearly rust free then buy it. The civic cx / vx are also awesome mpg machines.

[MadisonMPG]

He wants 2k for it...

yikes

the door is all messed up and it will need body work. doesn't seem like a good deal.

[Bicycle Bob]

He can ask semi-classic prices for a CRX, and it still has a lot more engine and tire than you want for best economy. The Metro has the same general mileage, with more carrying capacity, although it is usually wasted anyway.

[theunchosen]

The civic crx hf epa was 51 highway. . .thats not hypermiling. . . thats without any mods. Its a great place to start. But if as you say the car is pretty messed up might want to reconsider. Also might want to see if you can line up parts from salvage yards.

Thats pre-90 so its outside my Honda experience, but you might look at swapping parts out from a standard old civic from that year. Honda is pretty friendly for using the same parts on multiple models. It makes fixing them very convenient even if the part new is expensive you can always find a wrecked civic. . .

[Daox]

In the Toyota ring there is of course the Tercels, Paseos, and Corollas that are all pretty good. You will need to use pulse and glide with them to wring out the great mpgs. However, you'd need to do that with the Metro as well.

[Johnny Mullet]

Originally Posted by Daox

You will need to use pulse and glide with them to wring out the great mpgs. However, you'd need to do that with the Metro as well.

Not really. I do not EOC or P&G my Metro and achieve great MPG numbers. Of course the car is highly modified for fuel economy. I drive very conservatively and get great numbers, but I wanted to test my car's MPG by having the wife drive the Metro for a week. She drives normally and still got 53 MPG

I suppose if the Metro was bone stock, I would still be seeing 50+ MPG with my driving style