Gas Money Savings..........

[FinanceDude]

18 months ago, I downsized from a Buick Rendevous to a Honda Accord 4-cylinder:

Here are the real world stats:

Miles driven: 33,000.

Average MPG: 29 (versus 19 for the Rendevous)

Average gas price: $3.00 ( average)

Savings by driving the Accord over the Buick: $1796.79, or about $1200 a year, $100 a month.

The savings is being reallocated to pay off the loan on the Hondy Odyssey I recently got quicker. Hey, every little bit helps........

 

[MasterBlaster]

Somehow I don't think you came out ahead.

You are probably paying (more) for the new Accord than for the Buick. When you add all the costs up (that's payment/interest/depreciation/insurance/registration/repairs/maint/ and gas) I suspect that you are paying more.

Buying a new car rarely is a financial saving move. But oh that new car smell, it is intoxicating.

 

[FinanceDude]

Somehow I don't think you came out ahead.

You are probably paying (more) for the new Accord than for the Buick. When you add all the costs up (that's payment/interest/depreciation/insurance/registration/repairs/maint/ and gas) I suspect that you are paying more.

Buying a new car rarely is a financial saving move. But oh that new car smell, it is intoxicating.

The Accord was used, an 2003, and I paid cash. The Odyssey is a 2006, and I bought it from a friend for the wholesale price the dealer was giving him.

No new cars in my household..........

 

[dex]

Masterblaster may have a point depending upon the net profit/loss on the car switch.
+ money received from sale of Buick
- money paid for buying other car (include incremental costs)
# total
Divide by 1,200/year gas savings
= break even point in years

 

[Texas Proud]

Well..... some people want a new car every once in awhile.... so I don't see that math as being relevent....

 

[TromboneAl]

Depending on how much is highway driving, by dropping your speed to 55 MPH, you could increase your savings from $100 / month to $140 / month (i.e. you could increase your savings by an additional $40/month).

Drive 55, save gas -- get flipped off / Trip shows slowing down boosts mileage but can make you unpopular on the road

 

[dex]

Whenever I run the numbers it never works for me to trade in my pick up and get another new or used based upon MPG.

Current
Estimate


20,000 Miles 20,000


17 Avg MPg 23


1,176 Gallons 870


3.00 Price 3.00


3,529 Cost 2,609 921 Savings/Yr.





5,000 Trade in Value


(23,000) Purchase Price


(18,000) Out of Pocket Costs


921 Annual Gas Savings


(19.55) Years to Break Even

 

[FinanceDude]

Masterblaster may have a point depending upon the net profit/loss on the car switch.
+ money received from sale of Buick
- money paid for buying other car (include incremental costs)
# total
Divide by 1,200/year gas savings
= break even point in years

Buick was a lease that was up. Paid cash for the Honda, which was $15500 + tax, or $16368.

Buick payments were $420 a month. Accord payment is $0............

How is it fuzzy math? I am assuming oil changes, insurance, etc to be the same. So a 10mpg increase on 30000+miles isn't a savings? You guys crack me up.............

 

[bright eyed]

Buick was a lease that was up. Paid cash for the Honda, which was $15500 + tax, or $16368.

Buick payments were $420 a month. Accord payment is $0............

How is it fuzzy math? I am assuming oil changes, insurance, etc to be the same. So a 10mpg increase on 30000+miles isn't a savings? You guys crack me up.............

lease a buick?

 

[TromboneAl]

Whenever I run the numbers it never works for me to trade in my pick up and get another new or used based upon MPG.

Not surprising for a change of only 5 MPG. But let's say you trade it in for a an Echo (or trade in second car so you still have a truck when needed):

20,000 Miles 20,000


17 Avg MPg 42


1,176 Gallons 476


3.00 Price 3.00


3,529 Cost 1,429 2,100 Savings/Yr.





5,000 Trade in Value


(14,000) Purchase Price


(9,000) Out of Pocket Costs


2,166 Annual Gas Savings


(4.3) Years to Break Even

 

[OAG]

On our last little trip from Central OH to Northern VA (About 425 miles, one way) I took the back roads both way. Very nice drive but the road was VERY slow through the mountains. Had all the time in the World so it did not bother me much. Don't know how much gas I saved but the average speed was something like 53 miles an hour and a lot of that was at each end. In mountains I doubt it was over 30-35 MPH. At least no one was "pushing" me except for a couple of nuts in the mountains -- kept running into them again up the road in some small town. As long as there is gas without lines I expect we will not see any concerted effort to slow down by the general public. When the lines form maybe that will get to people, apparently price does not.

 

[dex]

It appears that it will take you less than 3 years to begin to see savings.
(How do you post an excel spread sheet?)

16,368 Accord Purchase Price



818 Yr 1 Opportunity Cost of purchase - Assume net 5%
(1,200) Yr 1 Gas Savings



818 Yr 2 Opportunity Cost of purchase - Assume net 5%
(1,200) Yr 2 Gas Savings



818 Yr 3 Opportunity Cost of purchase - Assume net 5%
(1,200) Yr 3 Gas Savings











15,223 Subtotal 1













5,040 Yr 1 Buick Lease Costs



566.4 Yr 1 11,328 Base Opportunity Income - Assume Net 5% 5,040 Yr 2





314.4 Yr 2 6,288 Base



5,040 Yr 3





62.4 Yr 3 1,248 Base











16,063 Subtotal 2













840 Variance

 

[dex]

Al,
I don't think I could tow my RV with an Echo.
Don't forget the opportunity costs on the 9K.
Thanks

 

[justin]

I did a little spreadsheet earlier that shows how little one can save by driving slower. I did an estimate for 100 miles driven at 55 vs 80 mph. I assumed 33 mpg at 80 mph (about what I get highway mpg in my 2000 civic) versus 43 mpg at 55 mph (way higher than what I would realistically get, based on a 200 mile test run at 55 I did a while back). Assumed gas would cost $3/gal.

Driving at the slower speed would consume an additional 0.57 hours of my precious, valuable time, while saving me only ~$2 in gas. That works out to valuing my time at $4/hr.

Definitely not worth it in my case, even using unrealistic gains in gas mileage due to slowing down significantly. Add in the fact that my wife or a business companion is usually with me for car trips of any length greater than 100 miles, and our per person per hour savings rate is $2/hr. Now if I really enjoyed driving or was indifferent to driving, it would be slightly beneficial to slow down. Maybe if gas was $10-20 per gallon, I'd slow it down a bit.

Has anyone actually seen any good statistics on improvements in gas mileage for today's fleet of aerodynamic cars? Is the difference in gas mileage really that great?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Here is one study on the subject. It goes without saying that your mileage for your car depends on many factors including the amount of aerodynamics, and engine your car has. ie - "your mileage may vary"