My "fashion statement" has 14,800 miles on it - in just under 10 months
(Art just continues to "Spin".)
Using the GAO figures to somehow "justify" keeping your current vehicle, instead of getting a more fuel-efficient one, is ludicrous. And VERY misleading. I wouldn't RUSH to the dealership and trade in a nearly new gas-guzzler just yet based only on gas prices (but it's getting close!), but if you're in the market, you SHOULD be putting fuel economy high on the priority list. To do otherwise is "fuelish."
Plus, using the GAO numbers - they are stating that it "only" costs $146 (for 4 or 5 months BTW) MORE for gas this year vs. last year. It does not mention how much it cost (total) for gas last year.
Consider my situation last year: 18K miles a year, 18 MPG, premium-required. Let's use $2/gallon average (and not even consider the additional costs of premium vs regular). That car used about 1000 gallons of gas a year.
$2000 in a year, $1000 for 6 months, $667 for 4 months.
At $2.50 a gallon average THIS year for gas, the additional cost for 4 months would be about $167 (50 cents more a gallon X 333 gallons).
HCH2: 18K miles a year, 46 MPG, regular. This car uses about 390 gallons of gas a year.
$780 in a year, $390 for 6 months, $260 for 4 months.
At $2.50 a gallon average THIS year for gas, the additional cost for 4 months would be about $65 (50 cents more X 130 gallons).
Spending $2000 in gas last year, and tacking on "only" $167 ADDITIONAL so far this year hardly justifies NOT CONSIDERING an upgrade.
My HCH2 instead would've cost $780 last year, and tacked on "only" $65 ADDITIONAL so far this year.
Last year's savings would've been
$1220, and this year's saving (projected at only $2.50 a gallon!) would be
$1525 ($2500 - $975).
If, NEXT year gas prices stabilize at $3 a gallon, the savings would be
$1830 ($3000 - $1170).
If, gas prices stabilize at $4 a gallon, the savings would be
$2440 ($4000 - $1560).
Add numbers like THAT up for 4 or 5 years of use, and tell me what makes financial sense.
Put another way - and taking premium vs. regular into the calculations:
I've used about 320 gallons of gas so far in my HCH2 (14,800 miles in just under 10 months). My prior vehicle would've used about 822 gallons (being optimistic about the MPG at 18) over the same time-period. Plus, it required Premium.
The Civic Hybrid has saved 502 gallons (in just under 10 months! That's 602 a year!). At a $2.50 average per gallon, that works out to $1255. Now tack on the 25 cent surcharge (at least) for a premium gallon, and that's another $125.50, making the total saved = $1380.50. That's about $1657 per year. If gas prices STAY at the current $3/gallon, that's $1988 per year. (Or $166 a month of my car payment
)
There's some numeracy (and real-world numbers) for 'ya.
Numeracy vs "fashion statement"
