No, cars haven't been good enough for years. There's tons of fuel savings technologies being developed and added to reduce carbon emissions and pollution as much as possible (widespread turbocharging, start-stop, mild hybrid and full hybrid, smaller displacement, particulate filters). Not to talk about safety, with the forward-collision warning etc.

You can always get a 20 year old Toyota, and that will be more-or-less what you described. But if you want to buy a modern car and drive it on public roads, you have to abide by the rules.