QuestForAMillion.net

Since the Jeep I drive doesn’t get very good gas mileage, and with fuel prices reaching record highs, I decided to look into getting a more fuel efficient vehicle. I like my Jeep, it’s comfortable and does very well in the occasional snows we get around here. Unfortunately it has a High Output engine in that sucks gas. I try to drive to maximize gas mileage as much as possible, but I’m still averaging less than 16 MPG for combined city and highway driving. Most of my driving is in the city, with maybe 20% of my miles on the highway, although I’ve actually started taking the highway to work to try and maximize gas mileage.

I have a couple of things going for me in spite of the weak gas mileage of my Jeep:

1. I only live about 8 miles from work.
2. I only go into the office 3 days a week, the other 2 days I work from home.

These factors combine to mean I only drive about 50 miles a week. Taking into account trips to the airport and various other driving I do, I only drive about 4000 miles per year. In fact I’ve put less than 8000 miles on my Jeep in the 18 months I’ve had it, and I drove quite a bit more during the first 6 months when I worked farther away and had to go to the office every day.
My first step was research vehicles that get good gas mileage. My criteria for good gas mileage is mid-20’s in city driving and at least 30 MPG on the highway. Other people probably have higher standards, but these numbers represent a significant increase in mileage over what I’m currently getting. There are a number of vehicles out there that meet these criteria, so I had to narrow it down to something I could actually see myself driving. I am a bit of a vehicle snob. As much as I try to I just don’t see a car as a way to get from point A to point B. I want to like what I drive. I want to feel and be safe and I don’t mind having a bit of fun to boot. I also want a car to something that I find stylish. After several days of research I settled on only one fuel efficient car that I could see myself driving regularly: a MINI Cooper.

Since we don’t have car payments and I don’t particularly want car payments, I estimated what I thought I could get for my Jeep and what cash I’d feel comfortable spending. This led me to a new vehicle price of about $15,000. I found I could I get a 2002 MINI Cooper in my price range, maybe a 2003 if I got lucky. Since my Jeep is a 2003 I would most likely be trading it in for an older vehicle. It has always been my plan to get a new vehicle when a current one goes away. Strike one.

I went to fueleconomy.gov to estimate my annual gas cost and found that I spend about $1011 annually at today’s prices. Frankly, that’s an insignificant number when you look at our other expenses. When comparing the Jeep to the MINI, some interesting numbers came to light. The combined fuel efficiency rating for the MINI is listed as 23 MPG, but the average based on actual owners is 28 MPG. At 23 MPG , my fuel expense would be $699. This is $312 less than I spend now. Using the 28 MPG number for the MINI, the annual fuel cost drops to $574, $437 less than what I’m currently spending. Let’s average these and say that trading in the Jeep for a MINI Cooper would save me $375 a year in fuel costs. This is not a very significant savings when you consider that our total annual expenses for everything run about $65,000. Additionally, the MINI takes premium fuel, while my Jeep only needs regular. This limits the savings. Strike two.

In order to realize this $375 annual savings, I need to spend about $4000 up front. This means it would take 10.6 years to make up for trading to a car that gets better gas mileage. I cannot fathom driving a car for 10 years. I cannot fathom a car that would even last 10 years, although with the small number of miles I drive each year I suppose any car could make it that long. Strike three.

Now I realize that there are cars out there that get gas mileage on par with the MINI Cooper and that are significantly cheaper. It’s even possible to do an even trade with the Jeep and get a 50% boost in fuel efficiency (although I’d probably wind up with an older, less safe car). And I know that smaller cars use less resources to make and generally are more environmentally friendly. But for me it just isn’t worth it. The miles I drive are low and consequently my gas expenses and carbon footprint are low. I don’t spend much time in a car but I want the time I do spend to be safe, comfortable, and enjoyable. If that means paying a few hundred extra dollars a year, then I’m OK with that. If anything, this exercise has convinced me it’s OK to get the car I really want anyway. I’ll let you know when I get my Mustang…