RussSpencer's Blog

I have done the math with regard to the purchasing a new economy vehicle to reduce individual fuel costs. Let's review a hypothetical situation and let's say you were to purchase a $15,000 economy vehicle (as the list prices rise) simply to save money due to the rising oil prices. You currently drive a truck or SUV that gets 15 MPG on an average city commute with an average daily round trip of 60 miles. At $4.00 per gallon your daily trip in the truck/SUV would use 4 gallons of fuel daily with a daily expenditure of $16.00 per day ($75 per week). If you were to purchase a vehicle that gets 28 MPG you would utilize 2.1 gallons of fuel daily at $8.40 a day ($42.00) per week. Now as you can see, we would save $33.00 per week in fuel. If you multiply $33.00 times 52 weeks in a year is $1,716.00 fuels savings for the work commute. In order to recoup the $15,000 expenditure for the economy vehicle, you would have to drive the vehicle for 8.7 years before you broke even on your commute. This case scenario assumes that your current vehicle is paid in full. Just some food for thought---- I just saw the Fox 5 news this evening and realized that dealerships are offering good incentives to purchase trucks and SUV’s. This is certainly the time to “wheel and deal.”
P.S. I was not a math major, so there are no warranties expressed or implied with regard to any of the information I have provided.

My Accord is paid for, so I will stick it out and keep filling it up. I was playing around the other day and called several dealerships trying to find a hybrid civic. I was told that if I did not care what color the car was that I could have one in eight to twelve weeks. If I wanted a certain color I would have to wait around eight months.

I've quit being so concerned that the paint is starting to fade on the trunk. It starts, and I get fairly descent mileage on a full tank.

I have a friend at work that just went in debt for 13,ooo dollars to buy a car that got better gas mileage. That just does not make sense to me. I don't see how you can save that much to make up for it.

I live about 45 miles to the closest Wallmart. My Ford SUV is older and gets 15 mpg. 6 gallons a trip. Instead of driving 3 trips a month, I now drive one. 12 gal x 2 trips + $48 a month. Every two - three months we would go to Stone Mountain, Atlanta, Augusta etc on mini trips for fun. Those days are gone. Started a good sized garden.
We have figured out ways to break even with the high price of gas. Now I wonder just how high propane and electric will go up.

I believe in 4 cylinder subcompact to midsize cars/compact suvs with good mileage. Part of our gas problems came from many folks buying and driving those huge gas guzzling SUVs which drinks up our gas.

One idea to share is that I take a day off from driving out of my weekend (unless I am out of town). That, along with driving a gas-saving 4 cylinder compact, helps me manage my budget and eases the pain at the pump.

I bought a Honda Fit last summer. It's a cleverly designed car that gets 40 mpg. And it makes me feel pretty smart. I only wish I had the same foresight with respect to the stock market.