Cost Up/MPG Down

Cars seem to cost more and more but get lower and lower MPG. My 1985 VW Golf, 1995 VW, and 2005 Civic all got 33 MPG. Of the seven cheapest cars on the market, only two got similar MPG, and all are far smaller than the Golf/Jetta/Civic. Even our big Honda CRV SUV gets comparable MPG as three of the cars on the list.

Here’s the list, with the suggested price, city MPG, highway MPG, and combined MPG. I’ve added the Honda Fit and Civic at the bottom.

12800 27 36 30 Nissan Versa (size ok)

12995 31 39 34 Chevy Spark

13790 34 42 37 Mitsubishi Mirage

14020 34 38 36 Smartcar Pure (tiny)

14700 28 36 31 Kia Rio (size ok)

14925 27 38 31 Ford Fiesta

14995 26 35 30 Chevy Sonic

15425 27 35 30 Honda Fit

18190 28 38 33 Honda Civic