So I was watching the local news tonight and they had a story of a guy that had just traded his Jeep Wrangler that gets about 15 mpg for a Prius that gets around 50! Sounds like he'll save some serious change, no? Well, using a site I really like from Edmunds
http://www.edmunds.com/calculators/gas-guzzler.html I plugged in a brand new Prius and a 5 year old Jeep (my assumptions) and it shows that it will take him almost 8 years to realize a savings base on the price of gas at around $3.50. Granted, I'm making a few assumptions here but you can go to the site and plug some different cars and gas prices in yourself and see if you ever get a decent return on investment by trading a used car in for a new one based solely on the price of higher gas prices. In most cases you'd be better off keeping your old car tuned up and properly inflating your tires than by buying a new car.
3 comments:
I totally agree. Before the Japanese earthquake it took about 5 years to realize the ROI. After the quake Good Morning America said to expect shortages and price increases on the Prius because it's made in Japan. I think we're all better off getting a fuel efficient car until they figure out a way to make "green" more wallet friendly. :O)
Very true. Even better make that fuel efficient car a nicely used one that's already depreciated slightly and makes less impact on the environment.
I just got a cheap bike on craigslist and am using it to run errands. If I still lived in tampa I could probably beat cars.
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