Fuel economy of the VTi is above average compared to other 1.6 liter cars of the time.

The old Honda City? Nice little car... kinda cramped, but it's light and peppy. Steering isn't so good, though, and secondhand first generation City cars are very very expensive for such bare cars.

They're very reliable, since they're basically old Civics (EF, I think) with different bodies, but those bodies are kinda prone to rust, disappointing for cars from that time period. If you can find one with a good body, selling for 200k flat, okay, I guess, but for the 250-270k people are asking for it? No bloody way.