SUV owners who are thinking of trading in their gas guzzler for a gas sipper might want to reconsider their decision. In some instances, it could take almost 15 years to neutralize the added cost of the fuel-efficient vehicle with savings in gas. Buyers need to be conscious of how much extra they’ll be spending, not just what they’ll be saving.
Edmunds has a gas mileage savings calculator where the user can enter their current car, their desired car, the number of miles driven monthly, and the price of gasoline. The calculator will figure out how long it will take to recoup the cost based on those factors. For instance, to trade in my 2006 Pontiac Grand Prix GT for a 2006 Toyota Prius would cost around $10,000 and take 83 months (7 years) to recover the cost from savings. Chances are I won’t even have my current car in 83 months, so it’s clearly not worth the cost of trading in. On the other hand, trading in a 2006 Chevy Tahoe for the same Prius would only take 18 months to recover the cost.
Consumerist offers three questions when deliberating a trade-in:
- What’s the true cost of a trade in?
- Is a small(er) car practical?
- Are you thinking with your brain or with your gut?
