Kiplinger's offers its top auto choices

Here is the Kiplinger's Personal Finance list of best automobile picks:

Looking for a super-green car? The cleanest internal-combustion vehicle on the road is a Honda Civic — but it's not the Civic Hybrid. It's the Civic GX, which runs on natural gas.

Driving a GX feels no different than driving any other compact; the only telltale sign is a trunk that's about half the size of the regular Civic's, to accommodate the greater volume of natural gas.

The Civic GX costs less than $700 a year to fuel — about half the cost of fueling its conventional sibling. You'll be hard-pressed to find natural gas at your neighborhood filling station; to fill up, you have to buy or lease a natural-gas dispenser and tap into your local utility line. The dispenser, called Phill, costs $3,200 to $4,000 (or $40 to $70 a month to lease, depending on local clean-energy incentives). Refueling at home takes up to 12 hours, and your driving range is limited to about 250 miles or less.

The Civic GX is available only in New York and California (check www.honda.com to locate dealers). It costs $25,185, or about $7,000 more than a gas-powered Civic LX and $2,000 more than a Civic Hybrid. But generous federal tax incentives of up to $5,000 help bring down the cost.

After carmakers perfect plug-in rechargeable batteries for hybrids, expect to see more purely electric cars that go beyond golf-cart-like "neighborhood electric vehicles."

At last fall's Los Angeles auto show, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger demonstrated one highway-worthy electric car that's available now to enthusiasts with deep pockets. The Tesla Roadster (www.teslamotors.com) is built by Lotus in Great Britain. The company says the two-seater can top 135 mph and travel 250 miles without recharging. Plus, it goes from zero to 60 mph in a breathtaking four seconds. The price: $99,000.

In our comparison of a dozen midsize, mid-price sedans, the Nissan Altima (starting price for the V6 model: $24,625) clobbered the competition. Among crossover SUVs, the Hyundai Veracruz ($27,000) can be accessorized to compete with much pricier luxury crossovers, and a third-row seat is standard.

Want a fuel miser? Toyota's affordable Prius ($22,835) still consumes the least gas.

With the BP Rewards Visa, you earn 5 percent on gas you buy at BP stations, plus 2 percent on airline tickets, lodging and rental cars.

GPS

The Magellan Maestro 4050 is a portable GPS navigator that has a 4.3-inch touch screen that's big, bright and easy to operate. The unit gives voice directions using street names — "turn left at First Street" — and up-to-date travel information from AAA, including restaurants, hotels and campgrounds. Price: $550-$650.

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Mark K. Solheim is a senior editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. Send your questions and comments to moneypower@kiplinger.com.