When I was young and cute, my long legs where great, now at 71 I find that I need a car that I don’t have to fall into. I’m driving a van, which is fine, but I want to buy a car that gets good gas mileage, and I can just scoot into, not fall. I will pay as much as $10,000 for one, and I hope it lasts another 10 years. I am not car proud, so it can look ugly, but must be comfortable. Any suggestions?
Most cars that get good gas mileage sit low to the ground. A good compromise might be an Escape/Mariner hybrid, but I don’t think those are in your price range just yet. Crossovers are gonna be your best bet to look at.
Thanks, I was afraid of that, there must be a lot of us dropping into our seats, hoping to avoid the brake. Maggie
My wife and I have the same problem that you do. We have a Chevrolet Uplander minivan and a Toyota 4Runner SUV. I know that these vehicles take a little more gasoline than many cars, but at our ages we feel we have the right to be comfortable.
The fleet of cars at our institution has Honda Civic Hybrids, Chevrolet Impalas and Ford Tauruses. When we have a choice, we both prefer the Ford Taurus because of the seating position. My wife compares driving the Chevrolet Impalas to gettng into and sitting in a bathtub. Neither of us care to drive the Honda Civic Hybrids because of the seating position. My wife spent quite a bit of time recruiting graduate students for our institution and had to drive long distances. If her back was bothering her, she would take the per-mile offered and drive our Toyota 4Runner. Otherwise, she would try to get the Ford Taurus. The Taurus does sit a little higher than the other cars in the fleet.
Thanks for your suggestions, I’ll go try a Ford taurus and see how it feels.
A good friend of mine was getting a new Toyota Prius, and was willing to sell me her 5 year old one for the trade in value. I was very sad to have to pass on this because of the position of the seat, couldn’t push it back far enough, and my leg didn’t rest on the cusion. Who designs these things? Maggie
Once you are inside, there isn’t much room either. Lately, the trend is toward Ford, so, naturally, I would try to sell you a Toyota Avalon type of car. Luckily, the Ford Taurus looks like a likely car. The new ones or the Ford Five Hundred, which was the former name of the new Taurus, same address of course.
Power seats should help a lot once you get inside. If you can afford the fuel, the Grand Marquis is in your price range. The gas mileage isn’t terrible, but it isn’t great either. It might get 24 MPG highway.
I assumed that you meant to say that you already have a minivan and not a full size van. I’m sorry for my large car recommendation. I figure that if you want a fuel efficient car because of the environment and not for budget reasons, that I could mention that the environment is already gone. Do not resuscitate, it’s hopeless.
As far as Prius designs go; see my remark about the environment. The outside has improved. It no longer looks like “MacArthur Park”. “Someone left the cake out in the rain.” It doesn’t look like it drooped anymore.
You are still one of the young chicks at the golf course.
There were a couple of years recently where the Taurus was called the Ford 500. It is now back to being called a Taurus. The Ford 500 may be in your price range. I think that the Taurus got married, changed its name to 500, then got divorced and took its maiden name back. That’s the only reason I can think of for the name change. I think it was about 2005 that the Taurus bacame the 500 and about 2007 when it was renamed the Taurus. The Mercury equivalent to the 500 was called the Montego.
Volvo Cross Country wagons and Subaru Outback wagons are set up a few inches higher than standard cars and are easier to get in and out of. Unfortunately the Volvo’s are unaccepatably high maintenance cars that cost a bunch of money and need frequent repairs.
These wagons have spawned a new group of “crossover” vehicles that sit higher than standard sedans. If you get them with FWD they are not too expensive. Toyota has a Venza, Chevy Equinox, Ford Taurus X. Some of these newer models and may not yet be in the 10K price range as used cars.
Thanks, this imput is all helping, gives me a starting place. More please if it’s out there. I do have a Plymouth voyager, which I bought after posting here a few years ago. I had wanted to buy a Honda van but the responder’s suggested the Plymouth. And I must say it was a good choice. I sell at crafts markets so must have a van, but don’t need it to tootle around my small town. I had an 89 toyota station wagon, which looks to go forever, but crawling out and dropping in became just to much.
That’s the main reason I’m getting rid of my Civic and going for something with a bit more room in it and sits up higher.
I’m 6’3 with a 36" inseam. I’ve had no problem driving comfortably in my wifes 87 and 96 Accords or my wifes 07 Lexus Es-350. There are plenty of smaller cars out there that will easily fit tall people.
no doubt about it theres alot of us im 18 6’7" and i used to own a 97 mustang lets just say i didnt need my hands all the time to drive it and a couple occasions i couldnt get out of the car.
But she also wants one she doesn’t have to fall in/climb out of. The Accord sits almost as low as a Civic, and the ES350 is a gussied up Camry, which sits a bit lower as well.
Since we can’t measure her legs/height over the internet, we’re stuck speculating as to what she considers too low. That’s why I mentioned the Escape/Mariner since they’re a little higher off the ground, and the 4cyl FWD gets decent mileage for the vehicle.
I am 5’81/2" tall and my inseam is 32". Which makes me long legged, short body. I have a hard time squatting. When I get into the swimming pool to do laps, it is hard for me to bend my knees and hips to get to the edge of the pool. I am stiff. I do yoga, swim etc. but I am still stiff. I want the decent mileage for the vehicle because of cash flow, as well as the environment. I also ride an electric bike, but can’t do that all the time.
Anyway I am very thankful for the input from all of you, keep it up. I am writing down suggestions and plan to go to a used car lot and just get into various models that are on the list. Maggie
“. . .but I want to buy a car that gets good gas mileage, and I can just scoot into, not fall”.
This has been a problem with the way most cars have been built for a long time. In a 1992 issue, Consumer Reports tested some mid-priced cars–a Mercury Grand Marquis, a Buick LeSabre, an Oldsmobile 88, and a Buick Roadmaster. For comparison, they searched out and found a 40 year old 1952 Buick Roadmaster and did a comparison. The seating position in the 1952 Buick was much better than that in the crop of 1992 cars that they tested. The acceleration, handling, etc of the 1952 was obviously not up to the 1992 standards, but the seating was better.
I remember when I graduated from high school in 1959, my dad was going to buy a new car. He had a 1954 Buick and we all went for a test ride in a 1959 Buick. The 1954 was so much more comfortable to ride in than the new car that my dad decided to keep the 1954. I remember that the seats of the 1959 Buick were hard in the middle position because they had lowered the car. My dad said to the salesman “I’m not paying $3300 for essentially a 4 passenger car”.
You may be out of luck finding a modern car that you can scoot into and not fall. I think my first car, a 1947 Pontiac that I bought in 1962 for $75 to get me to graduate school had more comfortable seats than any car I’ve owned since that time.