I have always taken pride in my fleet. I have had Corvette's, Lightnings, F250's etc. Always clean and fun rides. Well, with the fuel crisis I am looking at a meek fuel saver. It is a fine line on how much to spend and how long the payback is... If you spend 20 grand on a car to save gas you are not really saving IMO.
The Smart car is 40mpg but 5 month wait and 15-18K!
Honda Civic is nice but used are selling higher than new it seems 14-18K.
A F250 buddy bought a Toyota Yaris 16K and 38mpg.
So what do you guys have on your list of fuel savers?

My smart car is a 1987 Toyota Camary gets 38 MPG and its paid for, runs good, 200k miles on it , and new tires . Works for me back and forth to town, 50 miles aday......Bob

For now it's my F-250. I was in a brother-inlaws car yesterday, a KIA Shoebox. Man! Was that thing tough on my back. Picking a matchbox, then taking it for a test drive, you may find yourself going a little bigger. That little KIA road worst then my old Kawasaki 3-Wheeler.

I've sort of looked into, but I'm going to hold out for better selections. I know I can't get much for my big gas guzzler, so I'd lose money on it. The next thing is payback. For argument sake, let's say I drive an average of 12,000 miles a year and my average fuel economy is 14 miles to a gallon. Presently, at $4/gal., my annual fuel costs would be $3,429.

Now assume you find a car with higher mileage to commute. Let's double the average fuel economy and say it gets 28 mpg. Your fuel savings at $4 is $1,700 per year. That's a 15 year payback at a 3% discount rate. Add in the loss of value on your trade and it may not be in your best interest to get that econo-car yet. Granted, gas prices will probably go higher and change some these assumptions, but even running the numbers at $6/gal, the payback was 9 years. At $10/gal, the payback shortens to a little over 5 years.

Just food for thought. I'm going to keep my behemoth a few more years.

Well Put Cajun.... Rachel and I have been thinking about getting her a small vehicle to go to work in rather than the Dually... But your math makes sense... she only goes about 25 miles per day round trip....

Well right now my diesel is 210 a fill up and avg 4.70 a gallon. I am building a house in the country and my daily commute will be at least 70-80 miles a day. Right now I average 20K per year which at 14mpg is about 6,700 a year in fuel. The cars I am looking at are in the 30-38mpg range. At 34 mpg and 3.85 a gallon that is about 2287 per year. At 4400 a year savings that would pay for a 10K car pretty quickly. Even faster once I move to the country and double my commute...
Right now we are budgeting 12-1300 bucks for diesel fuel to make our Colorado trip. Ouch... last year was 700 bucks.

I would have to agree with you, given your scenario. Higher mileage will decrease the payback period. Buying a used car for the daily commute and keeping the gas guzzler for when you need it makes a lot of sense. That's probably the tact I'll eventually take.

I just wanted to point out the economics of making the decision. Not every one will have thought it through as you have.

Find a used VW diesel. I had a 98 Jetta 5 speed. It would get me 41 MPG in town. I think they're good for around 49 to 50 on the highway. You turn the A/C on and the motor doesn't even notice the extra drag. The hybrids only shine in the city. If you get a diesel you need to get a oil seperator for the crankcase vent to the intake system. If not it takes the crank fumes and pumps it through the intercooler and the intake runners where the oily air will eventually gum up those areas. It's an easy fix. Search on FREDSTDI website. Good info over there. Good luck on the search.

Agree with a diesel, have to consider repairs will be higher though. I find that ten year old GM products with the V-6 to be cheap to buy, and my 89 pontiac consistantly gives better then 25 MPG, and thats with the lock-up unpluged. Cheaper to repair then diesel, and cheap to buy. I need to upgrade mine into a airbag car though. Looks ain't a concern of mine. Had a diesel Rabbit once. Great rig, kids did it in though!

How about another idea? How about a motorcycle? Or in my case a scooter. Been looking at a Suzuki Bergman 650. I drive 40 miles round trip a day. Just something to think about.

I been driving the wifes car to work lately gets 24 mpg and with a 35mile round trip that saves me a lot bucks. She dont work so now she stays home all day and that saves me even more money

quote:

Originally posted by Warith:
She dont work so now she stays home all day and that saves me even more money

Especially since she's on foot.

After working at a Toyota Dealership
I was impressed with the Tercel for
just basic transportation

So I went on line and found a 1 owner '96
with a 112k up in Vegas for $2500.00

I'm getting about 28mpg in town and 38 on the road it's the base model with a 4spd, but the A/C blows cold

I also put a new set of tire's on for $100.00
it was cheaper to put tires on this then the
Big Horns on my Rubicon

Now the K-2500 rests until it's riding time or the neighbors need something moved


click on Sparky for a better view

Yes, I thought about a bike or scooter. The scooter only does 35-45mph. I need something highway worthy. Also a bike is horrible for sitting in 110 degree Texas traffic. You can't carry groceries or cargo in the motorcycle. I had a few CBR's in my day and liked the idea of a brand new 08 1000RR

I drive "The Clean 1 Owner" a 1988 Mazda MX-6 with 204,000 miles. Gets about 35 MPG. Looks bad but saves as I drive 65 miles round trip a day.

This is what I have

76 Civic, fill it up and it goes 2 almost 3 weeks. 34 mile round trip to work and back. It's a go cart that does 80.

quote:

Originally posted by TX Camo:
Yes, I thought about a bike or scooter. The scooter only does 35-45mph. I need something highway worthy. Also a bike is horrible for sitting in 110 degree Texas traffic. You can't carry groceries or cargo in the motorcycle. I had a few CBR's in my day and liked the idea of a brand new 08 1000RR

This bike has a top speed of 110 mph. You need to get one 400cc or greater to achieve highway speed. And yeah, I agree with you on that good ole hot and humid Texas heat. It gets that bad up here also.

Wellguys i took the motorcycle route I usually drive an 07 chevy dually that gets between 5-10 mpg it was costing roughly 150 wk to get to work and back only and then if we go riding it even more so wendy and I decided to get a motorcycle we chose the 07 ninja 250 gets 60-70mpg and it only cost 2950 out the door new it will carry both of us if we go to like dinner or the store or just to run around , so not only do we save going to work but also on some of our play time , and that leaves more money to be able to haul our atv and utv to to trails and still enjoy them , the only down fall is it takes longer to get to work ,since i really don't feel save riding the frwy in DFW so i take the side streets. anyway hope this helps with the saving gas question. by the way the bike will do around 110mph and will cruise at 80 allday long so it is hwy worthy. just gotta watch the traffic.

Wouldn't mind getting another bike, but IMHO for me anyway the fact that where I live they just can't be used much more then 4 or 5 months of the year. Another reason to head to AZ!!

The Mazda 3 hatchback looked like the best fit for me. But I may pay off the F250 and just consider the fuel bill my car payment It is too hard to justify buying a nuther vehicle just to save gas money...