I know it is a tall order, but I’d like to get something close to 25 mpg in the city, and more on the highway.

I also have just $10,000 to spend. No more than that.

Any suggestions, please?

Some folks told me that you can’t sell your hybrid car after it has been used for a while, and they reckon the battery becomes useless after just a few years. And what is more, it costs BIG money to replace the battery.

After all is said and done, should I still buy a Toyota Prius or a Honda Civic in order to save gas?

Two top fuel-miser vehicles leading the revolt against traditional gas-guzzlers, are the hybrid fuel-electric cars from Japan, the Toyota Prius, the smaller Honda Civic the Nissan Altima.

Toyota’s Prius is a completely hybrid motor car, built from the ground up to combine its fuel-saving 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine with batteries and an electric motor. So it’s a two-motor car, actually one motor and one engine. (I couldn’t resist.) The Toyota Prius achieves an EPA fuel consumption figure of 48 mpg in city traffic and 45 mpg out on the open road.

The much-loved Honda Civic is now available as a hybrid car, too. I comes with a slightly-smaller 1.3 liter 4-cylinder engine. Its EPA figures are 40 mpg city, and 45 mpg on the highway. (For comparison, the better-known gasoline-powered Honda Civic model does 26/34 mpg, which is very good for a petrol engine.)

The Nissan Altima Hybrid is a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder car which manages an EPA 35 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway. It does have an electric motor like the other hybrid cars, but it fails to match their super fuel economy. Instead the Nissan Ultima is a lot more powerful than those hybrids. But doesn’t that kinda defeat the whole idea of having a hybrid vehicle … I mean, they’re meant to save you gas.

Other non-hybrid vehicles in the best gas mileage category include the eye-catching Smart Fourtwo, a tiny gasoline-powered car that is often mistaken for an electric vehicle. The Fourtwo has a 1-liter, 3-cylinder, 71 horsepower petrol engine that delivers 33 mpg in the city and 41 on the highway. There is a diesel version of the Fourtwo Smart car, but only in Europe at the moment. American motorists will have to wait and see if the Fourtwo diesel ever lands in the United States.

The Volkswagen Jetta TDI is a 2 liter 4-cylinder turbo-diesel passenger car which rates 30/41 mpg city/highway with its 6-speed manual gearbox. But the automatic transmission still manages to deliver 40 mpg on the highway, according to the EPA. This modern Beetle is a serious contender in the best gas-mileage cars stakes.

The Toyota Camry Hybrid car does 33 mpg in the city and 34 mpg on the highway with its 2.4 liter 4-cylinder engine. It looks just like any ordinary Camry, which is a plus if you don’t want to stand out from the crowd. But its a minus if you want to show off your “green” credentials.

The sporty Mini Cooper delivers 28/37 mpg city/highway from its 1.6 liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine. The Mini Cooper seats four adults comfortably and gets you from A to B in style and with great fuel savings. It is comfortable, too, and has a lot more room inside than you’d think to look at the little beast.

The tiny Toyota Yaris gets you 29/36 mpg (city/highway) mileage from its 1.5 liter 4-cylinder engine and manual transmission. The 4-speed auto gearbox is almost as economical on gas, and returns an estimated 35 mpg on the highways. Like the better compact cars, the Yaris has more room on the inside than it would appear from the outside. It truly deserves to be on the list of best gas mileage cars.

The Toyota Prius has an EPA mileage score of 48/45. That’s 48 miles per gallon (mpg) in the city and 45 mpg on the highway. That’s extremely impressive. The Prius combines a regular 1.5 liter, 4-cylinder gasoline powered engine with a bank of batteries an electric motor. When you brake in traffic, the power that is normally wasted as heat in brake drums is used to charge the hybrid car’s batteries.

The hybrid Honda Civic achieves an EPA mpg score of 40/45 mpg and is powered by a 1.3 liter, 4-cylinder gasoline engine plus an electric motor. It looks identical to the regular gas-powered Civic (detailed below), except for a badge which says Hybrid.

The regular Honda Civic shows an EPA score of 26/34 mpg (manual) or 25/36 (automatic). It is small, stylish and luxurious, and Honda sure know how to make this baby squeeze every yard of travel from each drop of gasoline it burns.

The sporty Mini Cooper has an EPA mileage score of 28/37 mpg (manual) or 26/34 mpg (automatic). This modern remake of the famous 1960s British “Mini” car is actually built by BMW these days. It is a tiny vehicle with a surprising amount of room when you sit inside it. And like the little Cooper S model of old, this baby can accelerate and corner like a real sports car. It is certainly one of the best fuel economy cars, just as the original British mini was back in the 1960s and 1970s.

The Toyota Corolla just goes on and on as a reliable cheap-to-run favorite vehicle. It does 26/35 mpg (manual) and 27/35 mpg (automatic) by EPA figures. That’s truly excellent fuel economy. The new 2009 Corolla is roomy, affordable and comfortable. And its reliability is legendary.

The Nissan Altima achieves an EPA 23/32 mpg (manual), 23/31 (automatic). Like the hybrid cars above it has a continuously-variable transmission (CVT) which has no obvious gear changes – since it is making infinitely-small gearing changes all the time.  The Altima is a mid-sized car with a 2.5 liter engine, and it squeezes every inch of power out of it while delivering excellent fuel economy.

The Mercedes-Benz E320 Bluetec does a respectable 23/32 mpg on the EPA tests, and does it with luxurious style inside and out, powered by its 3 liter V6 engine which makes you think you are driving an 8-cylinder monster.

Fluctuating gas prices and the worldwide financial crisis are both making US motorists think again about their big gas-guzzling automobiles. And while foreign imported cars were cheap in looks and quality some decades back, that is no longer the case. The quality is now excellent and the savings are too good to ignore. That’s why it’s time to look for the best fuel economy cars you can get. At present the main ones are all made overseas, but you can expect this to change real fast.