Good fuel efficient sedans/coupes?

[Cryptinox]

I am a young man who has been looking into options for cars. I don't like hatchbacks for the most part. I want to know of a good sedan or coupe that can get very good mpg without the modifications most people on the street would cringe at. I know of the Metro and HX but I want to know more.

[rmay635703]

What do you consider good fuel economy?

If you give this a paint job is it cringe worthy ?
https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...ver-39752.html

Standard economy cars that can get good fuel economy are a pretty long list of manual transmission vehicles

Yeah Olde Saturn
Cobalt XFE
MITSUBISHI MIRAGE

How old do you want to go

[Ecky]

How about a Camry or Corolla hybrid? Less storage than a Prius and lower fuel economy, but they're still among the best passenger cars.

[freebeard]

...looking into options for cars. I don't like hatchbacks for the most part. I want to know of a good sedan or coupe...

Thanks for asking. Understand use case and total cost of ownership.

Use case: the 80/20 rule. Don't go oversized or too small. Consider the average occupancy and cargo.

TCO: All cars depreciate on a descending curve, but some go back up later. My favorite example would be the Type III Notchback, Squareback and Fastback. They represent the three categories although the Squareback is technically more of a shooting brake. The Fastback I think is too fast, like a Beetle. You can check with aerohead.

Anyways, if you get a 50-year-old car that only gets 40 MPG and maintain it, the resale value goes through the roof. Old VW buses are unobtainium at this point.

Would you drive this?



A $5K car in 2015. I had one the same color. Looking at www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/newads.php?type=cars, I find one Type III, a red Fastback.

www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2503823


California car, the tree jumped out in front of him. Parts included, if it were driveable and in Michigan it would be a good example of sweat equity.

Check out the TheSamba ads. There's a Porsche 356A for $157K. the 1964 Karmann Ghia has a nice interior, but they don't show the exterior: $17K.

[Ecky]

Heck even an early 90's Civic is selling for nearly 10 grand lately, if they're largely intact. Unfortunately none of those came in a high fuel efficiency version in either sedan or coupe body styles.

[Cryptinox]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

What do you consider good fuel economy?

If you give this a paint job is it cringe worthy ?


Standard economy cars that can get good fuel economy are a pretty long list of manual transmission vehicles

Yeah Olde Saturn
Cobalt XFE
MITSUBISHI MIRAGE

How old do you want to go

My range is 1995 at the earliest. I tend to like older cars. I am now considering the Versa as an option if I could modify it like that poster here is doing and preview potential modifications some way. I consider 30 mpg in city to be good mpg and 30 something or more on highway to be good.

[Isaac Zachary]

I had a 1993 Mazda 323 with 5 speed manual (admittedly hatchback, but there is the Protogé which is the sedan version) and got great fuel mileage (around 40mpg) by advancing the timing a little and hypermiling.

I also got a solid 30mpg out of a 1972 VW Super Beetle.

My best fuel mileage was in my 1985 VW non-turbo diesel Golf (again, there are sedan options if you don't like the hatch).

[R.W.Dale]

I drive a Saturn I picked up only because it was cheap and checked the correct equipment boxes of manual trans + 4cyl

I think the sweet spot in economy is a car new enough to be OBD2 and old enough to be a tinfoil deathtrap in a crash. This realistically puts you in roughly a 10 year range from 96 to 06 give or take.

As long as you avoid anything Mitsubishi or Chrysler Corp it’s actually a pretty good bet that a 4cyl 5 speed car will be a fairly reliable machine

Those are your criteria 4cyl 5 speed, late 90’s to early aughties. One car that strikes me as slept on as a small fuel efficient sedan that’s still cheap and doesn’t have a cult following is the B15 Nissan Sentra

[MeteorGray]

I chose a Mazda3 sedan as a great combination of room, reliability, price and economy. It's my second Mazda, and I've never been disappointed in them.

[Autobahnschleicher]

Originally Posted by Cryptinox

I am a young man who has been looking into options for cars. I don't like hatchbacks for the most part. I want to know of a good sedan or coupe that can get very good mpg without the modifications most people on the street would cringe at. I know of the Metro and HX but I want to know more.

Passat B5 1.9 TDi would be great for highway fuel economy right from the factory.
Plus it's a very reliable car.