Consumer Blog
Should you buy a more fuel-efficient car?
You might be surprised at the answer. In most cases, it's going to take you a long time to see any savings.
Here is a calculator that can help you decide if buying a vehicle with better gas mileage would actually save you money. I tried it with my car. I went from a car that gets 22 mpg to one (I just made this up) that gets 32 mpg. It said it would take me more than 6 years to recoup my additional investment!
And mine was a modest investment. I figured I'd buy something used that would only cost me $4,000 after trade in.
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Posted by on July 31, 2008 11:16 am :: Comments (2) :: Permalink
2 Responses to "Should you buy a more fuel-efficient car?"
says:
July 31, 2008 11:52 am
Does the calculator use the current price of gasoline as a factor? The caveat would be if the price of gas goes up or down.
says:
July 31, 2008 10:11 pm
I would suggest that even at 3.5 a gallon it would take a long time to recoup that investment. Seeing that there are several different methods of fueling cars now (not widly accepted in the U.S.) this might not be a great idea. I currently use a 18 year old car that is getting 32 mpg. even with 263 thousand miles on it unless the care gives out (this should not be a problem seeing I am taking good care of it) there is no reason for me to get a new one. I would like to be able to wait for a hydrogen car, but I think the pumps for getting the hydrogen would drive the cost up. I do understand there are several different models of hydrogen engines out there but I think seeing the tech is there to make these cars as good as the ones we are using now and don't is foolish. just my 2 cents KSR
