So my parents changed cars... sort of!
The well-used 2002 with 340,000 km (211k miles) which was the subject of this thread was traded for an immaculate 2005 with 135k km (84k miles).
In the fuel economy department, the "new" car surprisingly lost the dashboard fuel economy gauge. But on the plus side, it gained a 5th gear in the automatic transmission which adds 2 MPG to its highway rating.
Ratings went from:
2002
EPA city: 21 mpg (US)
EPA highway: 29 mpg (US)
EPA combined: 24 mpg (US)
2005
EPA city: 21 mpg (US)
EPA highway: 31 mpg (US)
EPA combined: 25 mpg (US)
I tried to convince my dad to consider a 2007+ Camry hybrid, but he was adamant about staying with the same generation he was used to. Darn octogenarians stuck in their ways!
The "new" one is even
exactly the same colour.