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So I bought a 2000 Honda Civic EX Auto trans with it's own bag of problems for $700, I have a unique purpose for the car. I live in Ohio and want the car to remain in Washington state, I live here, but family lives there and it's better to fly than drive all the time. So my solution was to procure an illustrious rice chariot on the cheap, whip it in shape and task it with eating the continent on its way to a new home. I bought it with 233,000 original miles on it, in the condition that it needs a new water pump/timing belt kit installed, the basics of a tune up, a new muffler, and the authentic Honda rust hole on the fender to be addressed. The rest is petty cosmetics.

I bought the car with an expectation I'd be able to get 30+mpg on the highway. I'm not an eco-sensitive driver, but I do like fuel efficiency. I'm not a stranger to pushing a car and causing it stress with speed, but I know that has a cost of efficiency. I've read about different mods or hacks that interest me, things like the EX to HX head swap (which I don't really understand), aerodynamic mods, low rolling resistance tires, and trying to get a vehicle to lean burn. Are these considerations anyone believes would be worth my while?

I'm looking for suggestions on what to do to improve fuel economy (short of nursing it along at 60MPH, that I can do when I must). Things to look at for reliability and keeping it on the road for a while. I'm also open to hearing about common things to be mindful or weary of on a Honda of this make/model/year at 200,000+ miles.

 
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Welcome.

A transmission drain and fill would be good to do.

 
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-Tires to 40psi, while weather is good
-weight reduction

 
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Depending on how much time, I would probably replace plugs, wires, cap,rotor and spark plugs for bet ignition and optimum spark. Then I would check for leaks like valve cover and oil pan and replace those. The rest was said above, good alignment, tire pressure and you should be getting the best mileage that car will produce.

 
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You should check the condition of the fuel lines and rear brake lines which all run together under the car.
If you're handy you can replace all these relatively inexpensively.
For my fuel lines I used a nylon line for the supply, and fuel-rated hose for the return and vapor lines.
For the rear brake lines I used cupronickel. Bends by hand easily, essentially like flexible copper tubing.

 
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Thinking of other things after re-reading this: Mine is a 99, and things that I had to "clean" up when I got it were all minor but took a little time to get straightened out (these didn't help mileage but made the car behave better): I noticed odd lights dimming and uneven blinkers. It turned out that over the years previous owners were inconsistent with replacement bulbs, using ones that were close but no the same. I checked each and replaced them with correct model and same maker of the bulb, and my problem went away. Later, I added an upgraded stereo and subwoofers, which produced the oddest side effect: the ABS light would come on randomly and flicker. Reading a bit on this, it seemed to lead to a power problem. Checking both the battery and the alternator, it seemed to be the alternator, so I replaced it and the problem went away, along with the weird idle I'd been dealing with as well. Finally, the last little thing was the shifter. Mine is a manual, and I noticed that although it went into gear, after each shift the stick shift would move after taking my foot off the clutch. It didn't come out of gear, just moved and shook. Getting up the car, I saw that the shift linkage (some rubber parts on each end of it specifically) was really soft and worn, and so I replaced them. The shifting then became crisp like a brand new car. The last thing I did was replace the headlights. They were just getting so discolored and dim, it was cheaper to buy some on Ebay for $30 than bother repolishing them. I bring all these up as they might also be common things for our age vehicles. I like these little cars so it's nice to see one being brought back into service, since overall they will run for a long time and are generally easy to maintain. I've driven mine on several 3000 miles cross country trips and it's been a very good car. Even sleeping in it at truck stops has been more comfortable than I thought.