[Flakbadger]

Well being that you're a fair bit taller than me (I'm 5'9"), I'm pretty sure the Yaris is out of the question... but I will say that I traded a 16MPG pickup for my 40MPG car and have made my car payments (and saved money on top of that) with the gas I wasn't putting into my truck.

You don't necessarily need something that gets into the 40MPG range to make up for the cost of a newer vehicle. Newer Insights aren't bad, nor are the various Prii, but I would respectfully disagree with Metro about the VW's. Two different friends, two different sets of shop bills. Replacement parts are also not cheap.

You might also look at the Honda Fit. Reasonably small car with plenty of room inside. Anything with a manual transmission has the potential for more MPG, but they are hard to find.

If you want to get REALLY serious after you get a newer car, a fuel economy gauge will save you even more.

Good luck!

~Matt