Used Compact Cars With the Best Fuel Economy
With used cars in high demand and gas prices soaring, focus on these fuel-efficient and reliable 5-year-old models
Buying a well-maintained used vehicle can be a smart move because it has gone through the most significant part of the depreciation cycle by the time it’s 5 years old. This means you’ll get many of the modern convenience and entertainment features found in brand-new models but at a lower price.
Used cars are an even more compelling choice right now because of both the spike in fuel costs as well as the global shortage of the chips that has caused shipments of new cars to be delayed or coming in at lower-than-expected volumes.
To help steer you to the best choice, we’ve assembled a list of the most fuel-efficient 5-year-old compact cars. These are all traditional cars, no hybrids. (See the used hybrid sedans and hatchbacks with the best fuel economy.) All performed well enough in our tests to be recommended when new, and all have average or better reliability according to CR’s Annual Auto Surveys, where we ask CR members to tell us about what went wrong with their own cars.