Sedans with less road noise

@Triedaq,shades of steel wheels,you still have the F12? Is the new Civic quieter then the 2008 model,my wifes car was very noisy with old tires on it.My Dakota is fairly quiet as long as the tires are not very aggresive,so tires do make a big difference,sorry if I got off of topic-Kevin

@kmccune–I moved out of the country 36 years ago after losing my first wife to cancer and becoming a single parent and realized that I couldn’t take care of my 5 acre mini-farm, my son, and work a full time job. The F-12, the 1950 Chevrolet pickup truck and all my other precious junk went to new homes. My present wife, who is the best thing that ever happened to my son and me, grew up in the country as well. We thought about finding a place outside of town, but we both had demanding jobs, so we decided against moving to the country.
As far as the Civic is concerned, the 2013 Civic seemed quiet to me. I have two friends who both own 2008 Civics and the 2013 is much quieter. The institution where I was employed before I retired had Civic Hybrids in the fleet. I am not certain about the year, but I guess that they were made between 2006 and 2010. I drove one of these Civic hybrids on a road trip to a convention and I thought it was rather noisy and was not comfortable for me to drive because there wasn’t enough leg room. However, I did find the 2013 did have enough leg room for me.
I am sure your Dakota is quieter than the 2001 Chevrolet S-10 pickup that my son bought last summer. His is the 4 cylinder with an automatic transmission and it is a little noisy on acceleration.
The noisiest tires I remember were the snow tires we used to put on the rear wheels back in the 1950s. On dry pavement they would really sing. I found the Atlas tires sold by Standard Oil stations rather noisy as well. I got a good price on these tires for my 1965 Rambler back in the early 1970s. These Atlas tires were particularly noisy on wet pavement, but they did seem to have good traction.

A mercury Marquis

Plenty of sources test cars and one of the things they test is noise levels. Just go get the Consumer Reports car buying guide and you’ll get their opinions on all the cars in your price bracket. In my experience there isn’t a dramatic difference within a particular category. Luxury cars have more sound insulation, and are quieter, but that adds weight and cuts fuel mileage. Hondas may have more road noise (which is mostly tire noise), but they have very smooth, quiet engines. That’s mostly noticeable when you’re accelerating. When you’re cruising at a steady speed it is mostly tire noise you hear. Sedans are almost always quieter than hatchbacks/wagons/SUVs because noise doesn’t travel as readily from he rear tires through the cargo areas on a sedan.

Since they vary only slightly, I’d be more concerned with reliability, comfort, resale value, etc. If you haven’t checked out the Hyundai Elantra, you might give it a look. It’s always near the top of the Consumer Reports small car ratings and has an unusually nice interior with plenty of standard equipment for its modest price. Good reliability, too. It’s not at all sporty to drive, but rides well and has a usable rear seat, better than most competitors.