Soon to be Q Owner

[rmmagow]

Well, my 89 Mazda 929 has finally reached the end of its practical life. I own many cars but like to have at least one luxo-barge for long comfortable trips. Although I like the Maxima, a Q-ship has always been on my radar. I have begun the search and am wading through the NICO posts to see where problem areas exist. I fix and maintain my cars and the Q will be no different.
I am going to spend no more than $7000 and from craigslist searches I think I can get a pretty decent Q for that kind of money. The Q is easily one of the most understated cars of its type and I like that. At this point my only question is related to gas mileage, can I expect to get 20-25 MPG highway in one of these? Will it run OK on mid-grade gas?
Wait.. one more, how hard is it to change the plugs on the V8?
Thanks and I hope to be a contributor as soon as I have a clue.

[masshead87]

Unless you live in AZ or NM high country, premium (91 or higher) is required. I ran on 89 for 4 months and blew out my oxygen sensors, no real savings in the long run.
Plugs aren't easy but if you could get to them in the 929, you shouldn't find them much more difficult to get to, if at all.
If you maintain the car well, there's no real reason you shouldn't get 20+ highway MPG.
For a $7k purchase budget, be nice to yourself and get a 2002 or up. Either that or a 2000 anniversary edition, it's a pretty attractive ride. The earlier Y33s aren't as sporty to drive and the G50s are getting to be sort of a pain to find parts for. The OEM oxygen sensors took almost a month to get to me.
No matter what you decide to get, make sure you have a decent maintenance history on it. The bigger the pile of receipts the better.
Sad news about your 929. I was hoping to buy a 1994 model with 82k on the clock but the seller was on vacation and I needed a ride to get to school, so I went with the Q. I've since learned that the Q is actually cheaper to maintain over time than the 929, according to RockAuto.

[rmmagow]

Truth be known, the 929 is only being put away, not put to sleep. I need to fix some suspension problems and am going to guinea-pig it for some rust repair. It still runs fine at almost 200K but it's not reliable enough as a vacation car. I'll probably keep it for quite a bit longer. I drove it to work today, 85 MPH and ran fine. I've owned 929's since 1990, all 88's or 89's. Parts are getting hard to source now though.

[VA99Q45]

The Y33s (97 -01) are bullet proof. Beside the tires and oil changes, I have spent just less than $500 on maintenance for that 9 years. I replaced the plugs 9 years ago and they are not that hard. It took me about 3 hours. When you replace the plugs, be very careful with the coilpack. They can be damage and end up with a misfire. These car can easily go to 200K miles. I am still 105K right now. I think I will keep it for another 10 more years

[rmmagow]

Going to look at a 97, 160K asking 1875, if it's decent I may offer 1300 and work from there.

[wjk0817]

Holy crap, did not know (91 + ) premium gasoline was mandatory!
Anyways I thjnk q45s are troopers.
I come from rotories so my q is like a bently to me but I have 250,xxx miles and still running like a champ