vehicle for tall driver
 

Here's the whole deal, I went form almost no commute to a just under 30 mile commute. Been driving a chevy venture van and getting 20-25 mpg. Looks like the headgasket is going at 180k. So I'm looking for something with decent gas mileage, that can be modded to get even better. My problem is i'm six five, i'm fairly balanced as that height is divided evenly between legs and back. But my main problem is i do have some back/hip issues. I can't have a vehicle that sits low to the ground. I also have some carpal tunnel issues so a manual is iffy depending on the vehicle. my drive is half hills, half flat. Any ideas on vehicles to look at would be appreciated. Am on a pretty tight budget at the moment. Older cars are fine, i do alot of maintanence on my own vehicles.

People seem to have had some luck modding the Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe. Not sure of the seating, but I know they are one of those "It's a lot bigger than it looks" cars. Just perused the Florida Craigslist and prices start at $1,500 for a high miles/needs work. Looks like $2,700 and up for a drive it now rig. I'm 6'2" with a 30" inseam pant size, so I need head room and my Honda Civic 2004 gives me that. I love how it drives and it gets pretty good mileage. Can't speak for the leg room.

Hope this helps, good luck.

I can't really offer any specific vehicle options, but I can offer a suggestion: Avoid cars with Sunroofs. The sunroof on my accord takes away 2.1" of headroom in the front, as compared to a sunroofless accord.

I am 6'3" and drive a 2006 Kia Sportage. (only gets about 26mpg on the raod)
BUT it has a TON of head room! I can wear a cowboy hat and not hit the roof.
Also it is easy to get into.

Can't beat a Ford Super Duty for room. I sit like a guy who is 6'10" and I have at least four inches clearance.

My F-350 diesel has been modded and I get 25-28 MPG all the time.

My brother just bought a Toyota Matrix, it's very upright, easy to get into, plenty of had room and nice cargo space.

6'2", 36" inseam, and drive a 2000 Civic.

When I was in Basic, the Drill Sergeant told me to pull up my dress pants. I had people make fun of me for not sagging my pants, but never thought I would wear them too low!

I hope you find something that works well for you. I hope I did not distract too much.

Honda Fits seat upright with plenty of headroom and get decent economy.
There are Fit owners on this forum that have done some mild modding.

Thank you all for some really good suggestions! Got busy the last few days after the first post so i didn't get a chance til now to read them. Definately gonna look up all your ideas and see what's available in my area.

I'm not especially tall at 5'10" but in my Forester there's a stratosphere of headroom above me. And getting out is super easy. That's a '98, newer ones drive higher but I don't know what the headroom is like inside. Stay away from first-gen Foresters.

I took a first-gen xB for a test drive and it was like sitting inside a garden shed. It has a ridiculous amount of headroom inside and unlike a Forester, they can be teased into pretty good fuel economy. There's at least one first-gen xBox that delivers in the middle 40s. It stands fairly tall too, so getting in and out is, again, pretty comfortable.

I am 6'-4" and my brother is 6'-6". His thighs are the difference in our height - my inseam is ~36" and his is ~38". I fit in a Scion xA or xD, but my brother doesn't fit comfortably. He drove a Honda Fit (2nd gen), for a while, and then got a Mitsubishi i MiEV. He now drives a BMW i3 and has more room than any vehicle he has ever owned.

A Smart ForTwo has a lot of room.

My nephew once commented that I did not have much head room in my Forester. He told me I could never wear a hat. I regularly wore my fedora to Church on Sundays.

Kids say the darndest things.

I liked the car, but the hoses and plastic bits are biodegradeable and soy-based; I needed to replace a number of them, spending $600 on hoses alone, not counting labor, etc. Then there was the bad head gasket.

My nephew once commented that I did not have much head room in my Forester. He told me I could never wear a hat. I regularly wore my fedora to Church on Sundays.

Kids say the darndest things.

I liked the car, but the hoses and plastic bits are biodegradeable and soy-based; I needed to replace a number of them, spending $600 on hoses alone, not counting labor, etc. Then there was the bad head gasket.

so far, haven't found much in my area, most of the cars mentioned that are available are about a two hour drive away and even though we have some decent sized cities near where i live there's not alot of selection if you don't drive one of the big three. I'll keep looking and if i don't find anything local very soon i'll take a trip! Have tried a couple different vehicles so far, mainly cars but with my hip it's tough to get in and out of. So i guess i've gotta get something that has a little height to it. Another thing I've found is most modern bucket seats the side cushions dig into my hip and cause problems, so i'm also looking for a fairly flat seat cushion.

If you are willing to work on diesels one big car option would be a Mercedes 300SD or SDL. The SDL is longer by a few inches (L stands for Long) and has a few aluminum parts in the engine that give it better MPG. Non-hypermilers claim 30+ with the SD and a few better on the SDL. I have often wondered how good a hypermiler could do... maybe put some fender covers in back and a fishtail.... ahhhhh now you are cooking with... um... diesel

Craigslist has many of these SD and SDL for around $2000-3000

Poodwaddle

are there certain years that are better than others? I've never even ridden in a mercedes so i'll put it on my short list but i need some ideas on which ones are good bets.

thanks

VW Baja bugs use a body lift kit that adds 2-3" between the body and pan. It's done for fender clearance in Class 11, but adds interior volume. The suspension lift makes it as easy to slide in and out as a pickup truck.

The SDL was available only in 86 and 87 I believe. The engine was a 3.0 Turbo diesel 6 (engine 603). The aluminum head made the engine lighter, but if it ever overheated then it might have warped, so check for that when buying. The thing about buying a Mercedes is to be careful. They are such beautiful cars that it is tempting to overlook the defects. To fix a "Minor" problems can cost as much as the car is worth. The best Mercs were owned by grandma who drove it 2 miles per week. It is one of those cars where you can get a bargain...or a lemon with little visible difference. Do a CL search for "SDL". I am really not sure if the same engine with the same aluminum parts was used on the SD in any years, perhaps '88+ it was.

that 6 pot benz oil burner was a turd. A friend of mine had one. Cracked heads every 80K or so, he said. It made nice power and good mileage, but the maintenance would kill you. If you want to look at an old benz, the 240D or 300D with the all cast iron 617 5 cylinder.

But remember, these things are elderly. Even the very well maintained ones will require lots of maintenance. These vehicles are old enough to run for president. Every last hose will need replacing, electrical connections will fail. They are without doubt, fantastic cars, but if $$$ are a concern, I would walk away. Make that run away.

freebeard, love the idea, friend had one for years and i know alot about them
i had the same idea, just don't know if i can drive a manual due to hip/shoulder issues, although i may try to find an old bug and see if i could drive the clutch ok.

i will keep the mercedes in mind, we get some dirt cheap ones around here and almost nobody works on them around here. but i would have to find it super cheap as i know parts are pricey.

Not very "eco", but my wife's '06 Saturn Vue (SUV) has headroom (i'm 6'2, long torso), a flat, wide seat, should be plenty high enough off the ground, and, with the 3.5l VVT Honda engine, gets better MPGs than most v6s, even with the automatic transmission. (it's only spinning at ~1800 rpm at 60mph).

I would also recommend the Scion xa and xb which have oddly big space for such small cars. The xa is far more fuel efficient than the boxy xb but I mention it only because of it's seating space and position. These were the first cars I ever saw where you don't have to lay down to get it and us short people have so much head room it feels like there is a second floor. I remember when they first came out I thought they should be marketed to old people because they are so easy to sit into. The xa gets 30-35MPG. Of course if you get a box xb then you could never show your face in this site again... just kidding. Hmmmm that makes me think... What would a Scion xb with a fish tail look like?

Jack Rickard on EVTV spent some time comparing ingess/egress on his Tesla and a smart fourtwo. He's a big (around) guy and getting into the Tesla is [almost] comical. The smart OTOH has a door that's half the length of the vehicle. You just walk up and slide in.

I always wanted to see one with a 4ft boat tail.