When does it make sense to buy a more economical vehicle?

I daily a 2006 Sierra 4x4. I like so many genres of vehicles that I'm not extremely picky. For example, a 7th Gen Accord 2.4 manual would be an enjoyable daily driver.

I do about 11,000 miles of mostly backroads just to work and back per year. Truck I estimate is getting 18mpg, Accord I deduced would be closer to 26mpg. Maybe I'm off on those numbers, maybe not.

If my math is accurate, I use ~$1,405.00 in gas per year for work while the Accord comes in around ~937.00 per year for a projected savings of $432.00 per year. I probably have a couple more thousand miles to add for driving kids around etc. so savings would increase some.

I can't decide where my breaking point is regarding savings. I'm not so in love with the truck that I'd hang onto it for sentimental reasons and I don't use the truck for truck stuff much at all. I do like the visibility and "presence" of a truck but the automatic is boring.

Any advice from someone with an opinion?  

Edit: truck has the 5.3 with 217,000 miles. Runs great and there's been a ton of work done to it listed in a post below.

i dont think, at that gas mileage and that amount of miles a year, it would make sense. Me on the other hand at 25k per year my land cruiser would be $220/m in gas at 13ish mpg. My daily is a veloster N at 28-30ish mpg on premium at $100ish/m.

I would imagine consumables with the truck are more than with the Accord.  Just a set of tires is going to be a big delta in price.  Your mpg estimates are probably close, maybe a bit pessimistic on the Accord.  28mpg seems a bit closer perhaps?  Maybe not.

If you're going to replace the vehicle anyway, then it's a great time to move to something that does better on fuel.  If you're doing it just for fuel savings, it might not make a lot of sense. 

Fuel generally isn't going to get cheaper in the future so it might be a bit of a hedge just to make the move now and have it over with before it gets even harder to find a car you like with a manual trans.  They're not going to be getting more common in the future either.

Are you going to sell the truck?  If not, the extra insurance would eat any savings, let alone twice the maintenance and so on.

I'm thinking the same thing. Selling my diesel excursion with 240k miles on it that I dd vs a $1500 or less beat with 2 to 3 times better mpg and cheaper consumables. 

Streetwiseguy said:

Are you going to sell the truck?  If not, the extra insurance would eat any savings, let alone twice the maintenance and so on.

Yes, the sale of the truck would pay for the car but here's another thing: to date, and relatively recently...

Intake gasket, all brake lines, COMPLETE rearend rebuild, leveling kit, wheel spacers, 4 wheel brakes, all fluids changed, L&R tierods, ignition switch, transfer case motor, new stereo... probably a few more things I'm forgetting.

These things add up and factor into the equation right?

As an aside, I did the calculations using a Prius and it made more sense but the more I've read, the less convinced I am that I wouldn't drive of a cliff after a couple thousand miles.

If you aren't attached to the truck and don't need it for truck things, and you're asking this question, I think it's time to let it go and get a new experience and save a little money. Even moving to smaller truck or crossover would be beneficial and sort of split the difference. 
Are these back roads windy by chance? 

If you're looking to replace the truck anyway, it might make sense to go to something more economical at that point.

With a Prius, if you don't like it you may still be able to do it up and sell it to an Uber/Lyft hopeful.

spandak said:

If you aren't attached to the truck and don't need it for truck things, and you're asking this question, I think it's time to let it go and get a new experience and save a little money. Even moving to smaller truck or crossover would be beneficial and sort of split the difference. 
Are these back roads windy by chance? 

I can safely say, the only reason I'd sell it is for the savings. And a Prius is honestly out of the question so the $400-$500 yearly savings is about all I could hope for. Especially is the used replacement needed maintenance.

In that case, maybe a case of better the devil you know, especially if you're as good as I am when it comes to buying vehicles that have hidden problems?

I had new LX570. 13 mpg. 28k miles a year. 
 

to "save gas" I bought a Ct200h. After 1 year and 27k miles driven, I sold it. Worst car in the world. Like soul crushingly bad. 
 

My LX570 has a sister FJ cruiser. 
 

got a cheap 2001 Integra GSR sedan to DD. Cheap. 28mpg. And lots of fun. That's my "solution" 

of course I can sell a few cars and just get a 100D sedan from Tesla, but I like having many different vehicles for different things. 
 

my integra is 240$ a year insurance. $1,000 deductible. $8,000 agreed upon replacement value 

Get a Chevy Volt, you'll pay almost zero for fuel and still be able to take longer trips.  

If gas jumps to $5/gal, you're still only saving like $100/mo in gas. At current prices, you'd save $50/mo. I'd say it depends on the other variables like insurance, tires, maintenance, etc. Even those are likely to be pretty close. You're only doing 12-13k a year. If you were commuting 30k+ I'd probably say to sell it and downsize but for maybe $50/month it doesn't make sense to me to ditch it for something else. I'd drive it til it hits 250k miles in 3ish years and then re-evaluate and downsize when you decide to get rid of it. Unless money is extremely tight, there's probably easier ways to save $$, like changing your internet plan, eating out less, cleaning your A.C. condenser, etc.

I daily drove my 03 avalanche 1500 for about a year. I could manage about 9mpg in town with my frequent short trips. I would stop and put 40 bucks in the tank every friday. If I did any freeway miles that number would have jumped a fair bit.

Because I hate the thing (no fault of the Avalanche,  I just don't understand how anyone can put up with a pickup every day in city driving) I jumped at the chance to replace it. 

In the R56 clubman I now daily I put 32 dollars in the tank every 4 weeks.  In my case it was worth it for my sanity, IE not driving something I hate and in fuel savings. 

In reply to 90BuickCentury :

Eating out... less? Don't let my wife hear that!

(we do go out way too often but it's like our only outlet!)

In reply to Trent :

That's the thing: I still find myself looking back at it when I park so I don't hate it. I actually rather like it. It's not the best looking truck but I like it.

ebonyandivory said:

In reply to Trent :

That's the thing: I still find myself looking back at it when I park so I don't hate it. I actually rather like it. It's not the best looking truck but I like it.

 

 

For me it had nothing to do with how it looked. It was the overall experience and how I felt behind the wheel of it.

But i have..... issues.

I know I think strangely, but I have never bought a car just for MPG.  In the grand scheme (for my driving) it just doesn't make sense.  I use a truck daily so I am one of those that actually needs a truck.  Current truck gets 18 highway, so swapping for a 4-banger to get 22 mpg isn't even on my radar.  I would rather have the towing grunt of the V6 and put up with the additional $300 in fuel per year.

I buy what I want and what I need, period.  When selecting what I plan to buy, yes, MPG will factor in my decision.  I got a V6 compact pickup instead of a full sized TBI chevy because 18 mpg is better than 12, and the lighter truck more than offsets the 15hp difference.  But I need a truck, which means I need to put up with the shortcomings of its fuel consumption.  I can't replace my truck with an Accord.

I have never considered just getting an economy car for the sake of saving fuel.  I'd rather put my commuter butt in a Jag XJR and get 20 mpg than in a Yaris and get 35 mpg.

Now... if I were one of those people who commutes 100 miles each way back and forth to work, I might think differently... like maybe not get the supercharged jag and just get an XJ8 instead.

But still... no Yaris.

In reply to Curtis73 :

I can't say I hate having an LS. 

Honestly in pure math sense, having a higah MPG beater is rarely a good option.

By the time you figure in cost of purchase, tax,title,license, any maintenance, etc.  Just keep driving the vehicle you enjoy.  

Now if you want to save the earf, want a beater with a heater to keep the salt off your sweet Superduty, or park some place that a big ol truck isnt ideal, then a beater makes some sense.

Just a couple numbers -

Absolute worse case.  8 MPG V10 F350 vs 50 MPG Prius - Saves you $5250 over 10k miles.  OK - so that may work, assuming you can that Prius, tax title license, all maintenance, and all for 3 years for under 5k/year or you drive an absolute pile of miles

Now thats a pretty extreme scenario.  Using a 15 MPG Chevy truck and a 30 MPG Accord, gas is around $2.50/gallon, you only save $830 over 10k mile.  By the time I all the fees, maintenance, maybe one big repair like tires, its gonna be pretty tough to be in the black.  

To really figure this out, its gonna be between you and an excel spreadsheet.  There were not enough details in your post for any forum folks to give you an accurate answer.

In order to figure it out at a minimum someone has to know...

• What is your yearly insurance cost? 
• What would yearly insusrance cost be on a new vehicle?
• What is your yearly miles? 
• How much are you looking to spend on your new car (all in to make it tip top)
• What are the yearly fees on vehicle ownership in your state? (tax, title, license, renewals, tax on purchase, parking, etc)
• Any deferred maintenance coming up on the truck like tires or a slipping trans?
• Do you have good parking for another vehicle?

Always.  It all comes down to if you really want or need to save the money.  I have wanted* to buy a newer car for years, but it is cheaper to keep driving my 30 MPG 300K mile 1997 Jetta.  I like the car so I keep driving it.

* Wanted as in taken in by the new features, the horsepower, the shiny new paint and wheels.

I think you need to drive 25k or so a year to notice a huge difference. I've never personally shopped for a vehicle based on mileage but most people I know who hated it 

I would totally keep the truck.  But I'd also suggest that 18 mpg in the truck sounds optimistic.  I mean, I'm getting just over 20 mpg in the 2005 MPV with the 3.0 Duratec.  Are you guessing 18 mpg or did you check it for real?

IMHO, the only time it really makes sense to pay attention to MPG is if you are driving a lot - and by "a lot" I mean at least 30K per year.  Even then, it depends.  My TDI gets nearly 50 MPG vs the low-mid 20's my minivan gets.  But the minivan can do a lot more and do it with more comfort, so the TDI sits (in pieces... because reasons...) - despite the fact I've put over 46K miles on the minivan since July 2018. 

I was averaging over 30K/year on the TDI before I took it off the road.  Final cost/mile was a tick under 20 cents and a bit over 6 cents for fuel only (yes, I track this sort of thing for all of my cars).  Conversely, the minivan is at 36 cents/mile total cost and 11.7 cents fuel only. But I'm still paying for the minivan whereas the TDI had 5 additional years to amortize the purchase cost. The minivan has been much cheaper to maintain, even with me doing all of the service on the TDI.

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

The truck needs very little, so much has been done recently. The sale of the truck would pay for the car outright. Insurance would be quite similar. I wouldn't need more parking because, as I mentioned in a previous post, truck would go, car would be a replacement.