NEW CAR BUYER'S GUIDE

Sedan, or, in Great Britain, saloon car: A four-wheeled conveyance primarily for four to six people and a reasonable but not excessive amount of luggage. Generally speaking, a sedan is of a "three-box" design, with a central passenger compartment, an engine compartment usually in front of that but in some models behind, and a luggage compartment at the other end of the vehicle from the engine compartment. The sedan is the most popular car body style, and offers interior space and access through two doors on each side (or more rarely one) and luggage security because of a locking, covered luggage compartment separate from the passenger compartment.

Sedans come in all sizes. Small examples include the Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Midsize sedans are the best-selling, with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord leading. And large sedans, once the staple of the American industry in the 1950s and 1960s, refuse to die, keeping limo drivers happy in their Lincoln Town Cars, and police officers in their Ford Crown Victorias.