I'm a high school student and I'm looking for a cheap car to get me around. In addition to price, may main concern is the MPG. Which models get good mpg?

A 1.6 liter manual tin can from Japan.

Saturn S-Series. Cheap cheap cars and excellent gas mileage. My dad's best is 51 mpg and gets roughly 42-44 on a daily basis (travels mainly on highway).

A 1.6 liter manual tin can from Japan.

The 1.5 liters are even better :)

Although in my experience they constantly need costly repairs just to keep them on the road.

My '91 Tercel cost me over $900 in 2 years, and that was me doing the work myself (valve cover, alternator, P/S pump, radiator, timing belt, washer reservoir, head gasket, starter, clutch, alternator again, replaced bad primary wires, wiper motor, brake lines/hoses, LF caliper, and a motor mount, plus stuff I've forgotten). That's not counting the 2 qts oil I had to add between changes. And because I know someone will bring it up, only 91,000 miles on the car. And it was from early '00 to late '01, so the car was the same age as my Beretta.

My '96 Beretta has cost me $130 in a year and a half for a hub assembly and front brake pads. Plus it's got the insane power of the huge 2.2l engine! :wink:
Tercel 1.5l M/T 41 MPG
Beretta 2.2l M/T 36 MPG

What you really need to ask is what car is the cheapest to operate overall. I'm sure that debate would go on for years.

You're not getting 36 mpg in a Beretta unless you weigh dramatically less than me or it's a 5 speed cruising the highway at 50 mph in 5th. The 3-speed kills the fuel economy in the auto.

You're not getting 36 mpg in a Beretta unless you weigh dramatically less than me or it's a 5 speed cruising the highway at 50 mph in 5th. The 3-speed kills the fuel economy in the auto.

You're right, I'm not... anymore. I rolled the car which increased the wind resistance considerably. Prior to that, I was averaging 36 going easy on the throttle. You'll notice in my last post I said "M/T" for both cars, which is mechanic shorthand for Manual Transmission. That is almost entirely highway, but at about 60-65mph, and only 15 miles at a time with 1/2 mile of city driving at both ends.

Didn't read because I saw the word "Tercel".

Didn't read because I saw the word "Tercel".

Haha. Yeah, they really suck