In a few short months, 2009 will be upon us. So, EasyAutoSales.com thought it would be nice to prepare those of you looking to purchase a new car at the beginning of the year with the most fuel efficient vehicles sold in the United States (since fuel efficiency and saving money seems to be American’s primary automotive goals currently). To help come up with our list, The Environmental Protection Agency just released their 2009 EPA Fuel Economy Guide (Click here for the 2008 version). This guide only gives a list of fuel mileage but gas guzzler taxes on cars, annual estimated fuel costs and information about topics like alternative fuel tax credits, biodiesel, ethanol, environmental protection and numerous other helpful topics when you’re looking to buy a car and care about annual fuel costs. Interestingly, cars like the Tesla and the Honda Clarity FCX are in the report, though their ranges are missing, oddly enough. As for regular petrol cars, the top 10 list is as follows:
1. Toyota Prius (Hybrid) 48/45
2. Honda Civic (Hybrid) 40/45
3. Nissan Altima (Hybrid) 35/33
4. Ford Escape / Mazda Tribute / Mercury Mariner FWD (Hybrid) 34/31
5. Smart ForTwo Coupe/ Convertible 33/41
6. Toyota Camry (Hybrid) 33/34
7. Volkswagen Jetta / Sportwagon (manual, diesel) 30/41
8. Volkswagen Jetta / Sportwagon (automatic, diesel) 29/40
9. Toyota Yaris (manual) 29/36
10. Toyota Yaris (automatic) 29/35
With the list above in mind, what car would you take? There’s quite a few Toyotas in there so you know you’ll get super reliable cars there. The Volkswagon‘s are amazing highway cars that have dead reliable oil burners. What can we say about the Smart cars, with their quirky looks and super small foot print should get you around the city with ease. With gas pricing coming back down to reasonable levels, gas mileage has become less important that is was when we were all paying $4.00-5.00 a gallon. Check the answer you’d go with?

Lastly, if you’re looking for a specific class of car (you need that pickup for work or you have a family that needs a 4-door sedan) then check the following list:
Two Seater – Smart Fortwo Coupe / Convertible 33/41
Minicompact – Mini Cooper (manual) 28/37
Subcompact – Toyota Yaris (manual) 29/36
Compact – Honda Civic (Hybrid) 40/45
Midsize – Toyota Prius 48/45
Large – Hyundai Sonata (automatic) 22/32
Small Station Wagon – Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen (manual, diesel) 30/41
Midsize Station Wagon – Kia Rondo (2.4 L engine) 20/27
Sport Utility Vehicle – Ford Escape / Mazda Tribute / Mercury Mariner FWD (Hybrid) 34/31
Minivan – Mazda 5 (manual) 22/28
Small Pickup Truck – Ford Ranger / Mazda B2300 2WD (manual, 2.3 L engine) 21/26
Standard Pickup Truck – Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra 2WD Hybrid (automatic) 21/22