Buying a new vehicle: How low would you go on gas mileage?

Question

My wife and I are toying with the idea of buying a new car. Right now, she's favoring a small SUV over a car. I don't like this idea mainly because of the poor gas mileage most of them get -- anywhere from 16 to 22 mpg in the city.

What is the absolute lowest fuel economy rating that you would settle for in a vehicle, keeping in mind that you're a pretty light driver. My wife would use her vehicle to get to work and a few places on the weekend only. We don't plan on any major trips that we'll be taking in our car, either.

If you choose to answer, give me the reason why fuel economy is or isn't important to you.

Answer 1

The Toyota Rav4 is a mid size SUV and gets 34 MPG!!!

I wouldn't go lower than 30. Anything below 30 is pretty low for a small SUV.

Answer 2

Well, most small SUVs tend to be a little larger inside than the cars they're based on. A hit to fuel economy is to be expected.

If you're mainly doing city driving, then you're the sort of driver who would get the most benefit out of a hybrid. SUVs are the vehicles that see the most benefit from hybrids, as well. You might consider the Ford Escape or Toyota Highlander.

Otherwise, low-20s is about the best you could expect from an SUV in the city. Actually, most cars are in that range, unless you're looking at compacts.

If it was me, I'd consider nothing less than 22 EPA miles per gallon, because the only SUV (and I've never thought of it as one, I mean hell, it has roughly the same stance as it's Legacy and Impreza relatives) I'd ever consider buying is the Subaru Forester. Excellent handling, the Forester XT is one of the fastest cars under 50 grand (and it's WAAAY under 50 grand), and it's one of the safest cars on the road in a crash.

Fuel economy is important to me because I'm unemployed. However, you can make up a lot of fuel cost on getting the car cheap. I average about 28 mpg in my Accord, but I paid 1200 bucks for it, and the thousands of dollars I saved buy a damn lot of fuel.

As for you, if your wife isn't doing much driving, maybe fuel economy really isn't that important? I'm not saying go buy a hummer or something, but the less you drive, the less it matters.

Answer 3

Why settle for an SUV that gets mileage in that range. Why not consider a hybrid vehicle like the Ford Escape Hybrid (estimated 36/31 mpg) or Toyota Highlander Hybrid (32/27).

Personally I would have to consider the purpose of the vehicle along with the mileage rating before making a final decision. When I was coaching youth football and had to haul around my kids, their gear, team equipment, and water, I would have sacrificed a bit more on the fuel efficiency.

We also need to consider the length of the commute into the picture here. If your wife has a short commute (say less than 10 miles), you might financially be able to support buying a less fuel efficient vehicle. If she has a longer commute, then look at the cost of the fuel per year and figure that into the total cost of the vehicle compared to one of the hybrids that are available. You may also have tax incentives to consider as well.

Right now with my kids getting a bit older, the low point for fuel economy would be around 28 mpg for me. Both of my vehicles get around 31/34 mpg (Nissan Sentra and Altima). If I need a bigger vehicle for any reason (camping, moving kids off to college, etc...), I'll consider renting something as needed.

Answer 4

Well if you really want a small SUV I'd look at one of the hybrids or, if
you can wait awhile because there will be more coming out. I would go for as high a MPG as possible because all you need to do is look at the world situation to know the answer to that. and if nothing else Bush was right when he said we're addicted to oil and the only way to deal with that is to A) drive less and B) get as high a gas mileage
vehicle. Also if you really don't need an SUV don't buy one, go for a regular hybrid or other high mileage vehicle, because all you can do is save money, and the higher gas goes up the more you'll save.

Answer 5

For a small SUV, I would look at about 20ish. Ford has the Hybrid Escape which probably does well on fuel consumption. Honda and Toyota also offer models that do very well for SUVs.

The only time I would neglect fuel economy in a vehicle is when buying a full size truck. With trucks, you go with size, not fuel consumption.

Answer 6

Go to www.fueleconomy.gov/ and compare the vehicles you are interested in side by side. Throw in a small car as part of the comparison just to see how much more you have to spend per year. You might be surprised at how little it costs to drive the vehicle that will make you and your wife happy. For example, it only costs $138 more per year to drive a Saturn Vue Hybrid than a Toyota Corolla.

Answer 7

It would depend entirely on your needs, and what the main use of the vehicle would be. How much power are you willing to give up for economy? If you carry lots of material, or need lots of seats, you would need to go into a larger car, and the price paid would be less economy. If you live in Denver and travel up to Leadville often, you would need power for the constant mountain driving (and probably 4 wheel drive to boot).

Let me give you a word of advice though. If it's her car and she has her mind set on an SUV, smile and say "Yes dear" and live happily ever after. Logic won't make any difference in that case.

Trust me on this one. I've been married for 45 years.

Answer 8

Saturn vue get 25 city 29 higway with the Front wheel drive V6. 200 HP and 29 mpg is great!

Answer 9

2007 Honda CR-V gets 23/30 which is pretty darn good. It's actually more fuel efficient than my 9 year old CR-V which gets 27mpg (combined hwy & city driving) with 40 hp less.

What I usually look for is range more than mpg... can it go 400 miles on one tank of gas? If yes then that's fine with me.

Answer 10

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