The Chevrolet Aveo we test drove. L's car has about 110,000 miles on it, and after the trouble we had getting to Michigan (which wasn't very serious, but still), we decided we'd take the entry model Chevy for a spin when we went to the dealer to pick up the new part. The Chevy Aveo is basically a revamped version of a Daewoo, but according to Motorway, it's a much better car than the Daewoo was. Perhaps that's true, and it did seem like a fine little car to drive. The price is right at $9995 to start, but the car has one huge drawback: As one of the smallest cars on the road in the U.S., this thing should get much better fuel economy! It's rated at 27 mpg city/32mpg highway—and that's with a manual transmission. As a measure of how bad that is consider that the old VW Beetles did almost that well 40 years ago.

Needless to say, we won't be buying an Aveo. We won't be buying anything, for that matter. However, if you're in the market, you might be interested in this list of cars with the best and worst gas mileage estimates. How cool is the Toyota Prius hybrid? It gets better mileage in town (60 mpg) than on the higway (51)! Annual fuel cost: $524. Compare that to the least efficient midsize, the Bentley Arnage, at an annual fuel cost of $2636. A more average midsize sedan costs about twice as much as the Prius to operate at around $1000/year for fuel.

Speaking of hybrids, welcome entry to the short list of more economical vehicles is the new Ford Escape Hybrid which is supposed to get around 35 mpg around town. That's not so much to brag about, but it's at least 10 mpg more than its gas-guzzling siblings, so at least it's a start.