so my -cough- "dad"...
is looking to buy a new vehicle. a car this time.
we live a good 1-2 hours away from where he works, so
he does most highway driving. a commuter car i guess.
anyone have any recommendations for a cheap, comfortable
highway car? he drives an F-150 because he was crying
about having to drive his ford focus. he said it was too small
so he bought himself a truck. but me and my mom talked
him into a car. only problem now, is actually finding him
a car he would be comfortable with. i suggest an srt-4 with
viper front seats, so i could borrow it on the weekends ;]
but we might go test drive one, though he has a negative outlook
on neons due to a past experience with his head rubbing the roof
while driving.. that was quite a few years ago though.

could you suggest anything else? we might as well try em all
in one trip, right? all feedback is greatly appreciated!

 

i'll just add to this since i bet my continuous posting is probably rather annoying..

but i'm also in the market for some new brakes and shocks. they seem to work fine, but the shocks squeak a little and its embarrassing.. (as if my dents aren't embarrassing enough!)
the brakes work a little rough, and by that i mean i really gotta step on them to stop. when i hop in another car and step on the brakes, my face goes through the windshield because of the major difference! they also squeak as well.. yay.

where would you recommend shopping for brakes and shocks? do i need to replace them at all, or can i do something to the shocks to stop squeaking?

i have a mechanic who offered to get me a quote for brakes, but i feel guilty calling him, because he's a grouch and makes our conversations extremely awkward..

and one final note:
while washing my car, i found some good sized rocks that were glued to my wheel wells with mud. im guessing the previous owner forgot he was in a car as he steered off the road.. should i replace all parts of the brakes just to be safe? and could the dirt be the cause of the squeaking?

 

well, to pinpoint one of yer questions...

the suspension. The Neons don't have "shocks", they have struts on all 4 corners. If it's just squeaking u are getting, and not alot of bouncing and/or bottoming out... it is probably just the strut mounts that might need replacing. The struts themselves are quite expensive. I had squeaking going on... really annoying... especially from one side of the rear. every little bump in the road, it was constant. Had both top rear strut mounts replaced and now it's perfect.

You could also go with aftermarket struts, if you have money to burn. Most of these would give you adjustability and a lowered look. Altho, if you want the cool "lowered" look...you will pay the price with a harsher ride and having to be careful everywhere u go. You will be scraping on curbs, driveways, RR tracks.. and having to go slow over everylittle speed bump

Since u seem to have alot of questions about custom stuff, you also could try checking out
2gn.org

..and clicking thru thier forums.... especially the "picture post" board, lots of custom ideas there

 

unfortunately my tires are "over sized" so i was told that i cant drop the height of my car.. i go slow over speed bumps regardless, its a habit i picked up from my mom. i dont even go fast enough of dirt roads to cause dust, and i drive like that unintentionally!

i'll price out some mounts, and replace those to see if that fixes the problem. its a rather smooth ride, and so far i haven't bottomed out, so i doubt its the struts themselves. i also like to tell myself that im "broke". it helps keep me from spending a lot of unnecessary money, even though i just barely bought $20 clear front side bumper lights (could have lived without) but hopefully they're look nice.

glad you managed to resolve your issue though, hopefully mine works out just the same. and thanks for the link, i'll check it out. although its probably a bad idea since it will most likely give me more ideas on how to put money into my car..