Best car: Honda Civic

When buying a car, consider the total cost of ownership: not only the sales price, but also insurance, fuel costs, maintenance, and repairs. So the best car is a relatively inexpensive, fuel-efficient, highly reliable car. Honda makes one of the most reliable, fuel-efficient line of vehicles out there, and the Civic is no exception. I've owned my 1999 Civic HX for 10 years, and the only major work done on it (excluding standard maintenance) was covered under warranty.

In this era of $4/gallon fuel, the Civic gets great mileage -- over 30mpg on average if you get the manual, and slightly less for automatic. I've been averaging 33-35mpg over the life of my Civic.

The Honda Civic is Consumer Reports' top-rated sedan under $20,000 in 2008, and it has been recommended by them for well over 10 years (though my back issues of CR only go back to 1997). Also highly rated by Edmunds, US News and -- perhaps most telling -- by actual owners.

If you're looking for a more environmentally friendly car, then consider the Civic hybrid. Or for those of you in California, get the most environmentally-friendly mass market car available: the Honda Civic GX which is fueled by natural gas.

Get a Honda Civic near you