Should you replace the SUV or car with a more fuel efficient car ?
A Car MPG Comparison Calculator. Use it to see if you save money:
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If Cost of Gas Averages |
Overall Savings |
Break even (years) |
Scenario: Gasoline prices go much higher and stay high |
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Gas prices spike, Keep Fuel Efficient Hybrid for 5 years after selling your SUV, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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Gas prices spike, Keep Fuel Efficient Hybrid for 5 years after selling your SUV, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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Gas prices spike, Keep Fuel Efficient Hybrid for 5 years after selling your SUV, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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Gas prices spike, Keep Fuel Efficient Hybrid for 5 years after selling your SUV, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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If the amount you drive increases
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Overall Savings |
Break even (years) |
Scenario: Your commute distance increases |
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Your commute length doubles, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the new hybrid car, you keep your more fuel efficient car 5 years after selling your SUV
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Your commute length triples, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the new hybrid car, you keep your more fuel efficient car 5 years after selling your SUV
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Your commute length quadruples, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the new hybrid car, you keep your more fuel efficient car 5 years after selling your SUV
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Your commute length quintuples, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the new hybrid car, you keep your more fuel efficient car 5 years after selling your SUV
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Years you keep the new car: |
Overall Savings |
Break Even (years) |
Scenario: You decide to keep the new car longer |
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You keep the fuel efficient vehicle longer, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the newer, more fuel efficient car, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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You keep the fuel efficient vehicle longer, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the newer, more fuel efficient car, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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You keep the fuel efficient vehicle longer, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the newer, more fuel efficient car, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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You keep the fuel efficient vehicle longer, the price of gas averages $4.50 for the life of the newer, more fuel efficient car, average driving of 15,000 miles per Year
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My situation and why I posted this calculator:
I have a large SUV, a Ford Expedition that gets 14 mpg. It has been a great
truck but is a bit of a gas hog. At nearly
100 bucks a tank to fill it, I wondered if it would be worth it to buy something more fuel
efficient. The days of the gas guzzling SUV appear to be numbered.
If I sold the SUV for $10,000 and bought a fuel efficient hybrid like the Toyota Prius
for $25,000 that gets 48 mpg, I wanted to know how long to payback the purchase price and after that how much would I save.
I plan to keep the new hybrid for 5 years.
I drive roughly 15,000 miles per year.
The calculator is preloaded with that exact scenario.
As you can see, I would save $2,076
if I keep the Toyota Prius for 5 years.
The payback time would be 4.4 years, the extra cost of the new car gets worked off
by fuel savings of $3,415 per year.
If I change the number of years I plan to keep the Prius to 7, I would save
$8,906. If I change the number of miles I drive per year to 30,000 and put the
years I keep the car back to 5, I would save $19,152 ! I also wanted to know
what I would save if gas spiked to 6.50 bucks a gallon. The savings would be $9,665
in 5 years.
Using the calculator it became clear to me that the best candidate
for a fuel efficient hybrid is someone who drives many miles. The price of gas doesn't really
matter that much if you aren't really logging the miles, but if you are, you
should RUN to get a fuel efficient hybrid.
One of my concerns was that many dealers are selling hybrids for 2-3
thousand dollar premium over manufacturers suggested retail price.
On the sell side, SUVs are taking a big hit, most are 3-4 thousand dollars below blue book value.
There is definitely a rush to get out of SUVs.
So the question becomes: do the long terms savings outweight the purchase price.
For obvious reasons, demand for the Prius has caused long waits.
I am not alone in wanting to replace my gas guzzler for a more fuel efficient car.
The two key factors that effect the decision:
The number of miles you drive per year and the length of time you plan to keep the car. The cost of gas is less important, suprisingly.
What about buying a hybrid SUV ?
Were I to replace my Ford Expedition with a vehicle similar in size, say a Chevy Tahoe, what would that look like.
The Tahoe gets 21 MPG and costs about $50,000.
The payback time according to my calculator indicates that it would take 24.9 years to payoff the Tahoe. After 5 years I would be down $31,964.
The only scenario I could find where the hybrid SUV would make sense is if I had to have a big SUV and I drove a ton. It would payoff in 5 years if I drove 75,000 miles a year
with gas at 4.50. If gas prices rose to $ 6 gallon and I drove 75,000 miles a year, I would save $13,571 even after
laying out $50,000 !
The combination of high gas prices and driving lots of miles make fuels savings really payoff.