My most recent car change was rather unusual. We bought the 99 Maxima new when the 2000 models were out and they were trying to get rid of the left over old models.
Paid 17.8k for this one (in 6-99 made 2-99). The window sticker was 24.3k. At 60 k miles we sold it to our then future (now father of two fantastic grand kids) son in law just before they got married for $6000 (60k miles), much less than it was worth on the retail market.
Now we traded him the 08 Altima for the Max and some cash. The Max is the last car we owned when my wife's parents were both alive and the sentimental value to her is priceless.
I think the 99 Max was one of the best cars ever made including every manufacturer and every year ever produced. I would like to see 30 MPG average and I am hoping the front end alignment correction will get me there with higher tire pressures.
While the mileage hit versus the Altima is about 10%, my wife can drive this car without any issues which is something that is important to us. The difference in value will also buy about 2000 gallons of fuel and I ride the bikes more than anything else as long as the weather is not to bad.
Back to the OP:
My standard over the last 30 plus years was to be able to beat the EPA highway rating while driving locally and on trips as an overall average. I did it in my 84 CRX, the 94 VX, and the 02 Insight. It's fairly consistent but much more difficult with the introduction of E10 here several years ago. The old EPA on the Maxima (highway) was 28 MPG. I think with the front end alignment correction I did yesterday (in the driveway with a tape measure
) will get me close to 29-30 MPG on the old Max with 140k on the odometer. I did have to get the EGR passageways cleaned to kill the CEL.
The hubcaps are cheap Wally World that cost something like $5.20 each. They look almost exactly like the trashed originals.
First tank on the Vulcan was 59.1 MPG.
regards
Mech