People are retarded!

[Elemental]

Gas prices drive Geos from clunkers to chic - CNN.com

Yeah, Yeah. Gas is expensive...But at least run some numbers before panicing..

Example...

The 1996 Metro's average of 40 miles per gallon nears that of the hybrid 2008 Toyota Prius --

Ok, I agree.

Solomon also toyed with the idea of purchasing a Prius, but decided that for a price of $7,300, the Metro was the more economical option.

Good, you did some homework.

For the most part, Solomon plans on using the car for commuting from her home in Rochester, Washington, to her job. The vehicle she has now, a Honda Element, was getting 28 mpg and she was filling up twice a week, costing her nearly $100.

Keep in mind, She STILL has the Element. I guess its just sitting there. Because her 12 year old Geo gets 12MPG better. Um....

Stations were charging $3.97 a gallon in her area Tuesday, she said.

The Metro is an investment in the future, Solomon said, even if she did pay more than five times the Blue Book value of the car.

SWEET JESUS! She HAS a Element at home because she spent 7,000 on a Geo (5 times its value, no less) because it gets 12 mpg less.

Quick math here. She says gas is $4.00 per gallon, and she was filling up twice a week. Ok, with her Geo she gets a extra 24 miles per week.

So, she is saving $4.00 a week by not driving her Element.



Or, it will take 1,750 weeks for that to pay for the Geo... For it to break even!


33.6 YEARS!!!!!!!! It will take 34 years for that to make fiscal sense!!!


Is it any wonder people are living in their cars because they cant afford rent.


What is wrong with people....

[dsfloyd]

Agreed that people are stupid. I looked at doing the same thing, but I wouldn't pay more than a grand. About double the worth but I also drive a truck that gets 11.5 average (mostly highway at that), which with prices now is about 700 a month so it would make sense. The wife drives the truck more now, with a shorter commute but picking up a cheap beater with good mpg is still in consideration. Paying 7,000 for a 400 dollar car when there is hardly an increase is retarded, but doesn't everyone always ask the question: When will I ever need to use math in my life? Well there's your answer.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Elemental

Gas prices drive Geos from clunkers to chic - CNN.com

What is wrong with people....

Nothing really. I just got back from a AZ to MI run to retrieve my gasbeater. (think winter beater) As I realize that I am the only one in my Rover most of the time, I think it's OK to drive a flying POS to save a dime.

Since I own my Rover, the only expense is gas, insurance, and maintenance. It is still cheaper to run my Rover than to buy a Prius and run it.

The "new" car is a 1991 Toyota Tercel with 264,000 miles. Runs like a watch, but there is nothing chic about it.

Matthew

[Elemental]

You didnt pay $7,000 for it either.

[gragravar]

Originally Posted by Elemental

Quick math here. She says gas is $4.00 per gallon, and she was filling up twice a week. Ok, with her Geo she gets a extra 24 miles per week.

So, she is saving $4.00 a week by not driving her Element.



Or, it will take 1,750 weeks for that to pay for the Geo... For it to break even!


33.6 YEARS!!!!!!!! It will take 34 years for that to make fiscal sense!!!


Is it any wonder people are living in their cars because they cant afford rent.


What is wrong with people....

whats wrong is that they cant do math. you are an order of magnitude off here.

so if we have a 40 mpg geo and the element gets 12mpg less we'll compute with the element at 28mpg. an element has a 15.9 gal gas tank, if we assume when she fills up she does so when the guage is on 1/8 left that means she buys 27.8 gal a week. we can also compute from the 28mpg and the buying of 27.8 gal/week that she drives 779miles per week.

at $4 per gallon, that costs her $111.3 in the element (27.8*4). in the metro she'll have to buy less gas 779miles/40mi/gal = 19.48 gallons. that will end up costing her just $77.9 per week. so she ends up saving $33.4 per week.

that means she ends up breaking even on the cost of the geo in 209 weeks, not 1750. so her pay back is 4 years.

IMHO she still paid too much for the damn metro, but it isnt as bad as you made it out to be.

[ArmyRover]

gragraver is right chris you screwed the pooch on the math brother but I do see your point.

I only picked up 15 mpg on my gas mileage beater over the rover in town and about the same on the highway. I drive about 250 miles a week. 11 mpg rover 26.5 mpg saab.

Rover for 250 miles
11 mpg in town
23 gal of fuel @ $3.80 a gal = $87.40 a week

Saab for 250 miles
26.5 in town
9.5 gal of fuel @ $3.80 a gal = $35.84 a week

$51.46 is my weekly difference.

The big difference in the comparison though is I only paid $450.00 for my Saab. I got it at the end of Jan, so by my calculations my saab has already paid for itself.

[polar]

Crap with I had a couple of metro's to sell!!

[zed]

turns out people make decisions for reasons other than fiscal sometimes. I refuse to shop at certain stores because I don't like something about them or their clientele. THey don't miss me.. but I do it anyway. Hell some people buy things on credit.

Now ... why are 10-20 year old cars getting better gas mileage than hybrids. Is it all emissions and people demanding 200 hp and hundreds of cubic feet of space out of their $30k economy car? or is it all emissions.. or is it conspiracy. Are we secretly on the metric system making our gallons 1/4 the size they used to be?

[Elemental]

Wait, MPG has nothing to do with tank size. She spend 7 grand on a car that goes 12 miles further on a tank of gas.

[dsfloyd]

gragravar is right. MPG has a lot to do with it. Based on the story you have to look at how far she drives every week. The metro get 12 MPG more not 12 miles on a tank. The metro will go 400 miles on a tank of gas (40x10)(10 gal is typical size for a wind up toy). The element will go approximately 448 miles on a tank of gas (28x16). So the element will actually go further on a tank of gas but it will cost $52 as compared to $40 for a tank of gas in the metro.

[ArmyRover]

Originally Posted by dsfloyd

gragravar is right. MPG has a lot to do with it. Based on the story you have to look at how far she drives every week. The metro get 12 MPG more not 12 miles on a tank. The metro will go 400 miles on a tank of gas (40x10)(10 gal is typical size for a wind up toy). The element will go approximately 448 miles on a tank of gas (28x16). So the element will actually go further on a tank of gas but it will cost $64 as compared to $40 for a tank of gas in the metro.

Fixed the math for ya

[antichrist]

This is like those trick math question in 4th grade. Forget the size of the tanks, they are totally irrelevant.

She claims to commute 100 miles a day. That means
Element @ 28mpg = 3.57 gal/day = 17.85 gal/wk x $4/gal = $71.40 in gas
Metro @ 40mpg = 2.5 gal/day = 12.5 gal/wk x $4/gal = $50 in gas
She saves $21.40 per wk.
$7,300 divided by $21.40 = 341 weeks to break even. 6.5 years

By time you factor in maintenance on the vehicle (repairs won't be under warranty whereas for the Element they probably are) it will likely take even longer. When you include an asset sitting in the driveway devaluing, probably longer yet.

[Bush Tucker Man]

You guys are lucky!!!!!!!!!!!!!, & you still moan!!!!!!!!!!!

I paid £1.25 per litre the other day for diesel

That's US $11.24 a gallon (UK gallon is 8pints/4.545 litres)

[Series 3 guy]

I just filled the 109 up.....£85.00. Thats the equivilent to $170!!

May I suggest lpg again!! The Range Rover runs on it and saves me a bomb!

[jimfoo]

Sweet! My Series gets better mileage than an Element, and is way cooler to boot!