Do you consider gas mileage....

[recycled sixtie]

when you buy a vehicle? Or do you just go for it? Am considering a hybrid but not going full electric yet. Your thoughts?

[stevej37]

Definitely I consider it because I drive more than the average....usually around 25K/year.

That was a big factor in buying my Honda Civic SI....every tank full is 39-41mpg.
This last few weeks, because of the cold weather, it's been 40.3 for each fill-up.

I thought about a Honda Hybrid...but the mileage isn't much different than mine with a turbo.

[Scott Douglas]

I consider gas mileage when I'm driving. Our current cars do OK compared to some we've owned in the past. Now days I factor in performance too when considering what I'd replace my car with as my driving days are probably numbered now due to my age. Gotta have fun while I still can.

[pwd72s]

Not really, since because of our ages, Cindy & I don't drive much. But then, we're also probably done buying cars. I'm kinda in agreement with Scott, but on the other hand, driving isn't the fun it once was because of increased traffic. Can't really recall the last time I took a drive just to take a drive.

[fintstone]

Not really...although I do take note of it. Poor gas mileage is the price of entry for most fine cars. If one can afford the car, they can afford the gas. I drive an awful lot of miles (rural area and often drive cross-country instead of fly) and I expect more than most economical cars offer.

I recently bought my wife a Lexus RC 350. I could have bought the rear-wheel-drive version that gets 28/20 mpg or the AWD version that gets 26/18 mpg. Both come with the same 3.5L, 311 hp engine. I chose the AWD, even though they cost a little more and got less mpg.

I would have bought her the much similar Lexus RC F with a 5.0 V8 and 472 HP that gets 24/16 (since I do most of the driving), but I could not get the color she wanted (or AWD). The gas mileage was not a factor and the price was not that different (to make me preclude the higher performance car).

When I was just staring out (young family and made very little money), mph was more of a factor.

[masraum]

It's not a primary factor, and it depends upon the car. When we bought the boxster, it wasn't a factor at all. If we were buying a second vehicle (like my wife's Outback) it would be a minor factor.

I've never bought a vehicle for the fuel economy numbers. If I was comparing several vehicles that were all very similar/close in other factors (functionality, expected reliability, aesthetics, driving dynamics, etc...), but one got much better fuel economy than the rest, that would probably give that one the edge over the others. If I was comparing a few vehicles and trying to decide which I preferred and they were all very close in all factors, but one got much worse fuel economy than the rest, then I would probably rule that one out.

But for me, expected reliability, driving dynamics, and how much I like the car aesthetically are probably bigger factors than fuel economy. If I was comparing 2 vehicles and one was expected to get 30mpg but the other was expected to get 35mpg, it probably wouldn't make a difference. If the difference was 20mpg vs 35mpg that would probably make a difference (unless the one getting 20mpg was twice as fun).

[IROC]

Depends on your situation. Any time you spend money on anything, you should have an understanding of what the requirements are for that item. In the case of a car, operational costs are usually a consideration for most people.

A guy that works for me lives an hour away. I was thinking the other day that if I were in his situation, I would consider a Tesla as a commuter car. Drive it to work and back home and plug it in every night. Very cheap operational costs.

I drove my 1997 Land Cruiser to work today. Probably 14 mpg if I was lucky.

[cockerpunk]

on daily drivers, i dont. i drive so few miles, its basically irrelevant to me, except when towing.

when towing i choose speed and configuration for mileage.

basically all the miles i drive are in a performance setting, so i dont care.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by fintstone

Not really...although I do take note of it. Poor gas mileage is the price of entry for most fine cars. If one can afford the car, they can afford the gas. I drive an awful lot of miles (rural area and often drive cross-country instead of fly) and I expect more than most economical cars offer.

I recently bought my wife a Lexus RC 350. I could have bought the rear-wheel-drive version that gets 28/20 mpg or the AWD version that gets 26/18 mpg. Both come with the same 3.5L, 311 hp engine. I chose the AWD, even though they cost a little more and got less mpg.

I would have bought her the much similar Lexus RC F with a 5.0 V8 and 472 HP that gets 24/16 (since I do most of the driving), but I could not get the color she wanted (or AWD). The gas mileage was not a factor and the price was not that different (to make me preclude the higher performance car).

When I was just staring out (young family and made very little money), mph was more of a factor.

Right 28/20 vs 26/18 is not enough of a difference to me for me to even pay attention if I felt that I wanted/needed AWD due to driving in rain, snow, ice.

[LWJ]

Nope. Lifecycle cost is a primary decision driver. This includes safety, maintenance, estimated disposal price.

[ErrorMargin]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

when you buy a vehicle? Or do you just go for it? Am considering a hybrid but not going full electric yet. Your thoughts?

If I am thinking about a daily driver, yes MPG is a factor. My wife's daily is a full electric Nissan Leaf that we bought used, but had a new 40 kWh battery. My daily is a non-electric non-hybrid RAV4.

I guess I don't like the idea of hybrids because there is so much more to go wrong.

[wildthing]

No. Maybe in the future. Maybe if I decide to buy my daughter a car. I'd like for her to not spend too much on gas. But also not sit for 3 hours at a strip mall parking lot.

[ted]

Prefer a hybrid and never go to a charging station.

Go test drive a brand new full electric car.
Acrid electrical smell on the first heat cycle.
Salesmen said he lost sales because of it.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Not really, because typically great MPG = soulless appliance. With my prior job I was driving about 30k per year, so I sold my E63 and purchased a C300 Sport 4Matic. Double the MPG, low mileage, AWD, big upgrade right? I effing HATED that car, bored me to tears. There was nothing wrong with the C300 per se, it was just boring. The perfect compromise is a fun car like a Miata that also gets excellent MPG, but not everybody can get by with a two seater. Surprisingly my son’s C6 Corvette also gets excellent MPG, damn near 30 MPG on rural highways at 70 MPH.

[Les Paul]

We got the Mazda CX-90 hybrid back in February. My wife is the program director for a large women’s group here. On a charge it goes 28-32 miles. It only shows a high mpg of 80. Rarely ever goes under that. Went from filling up her last car about once a week to now once a month with 7,000 so far. And it’s a big 8 seater.

[Arizona_928]

I buy them TDI’s for the 45+ mpg.

I’ve been eyeing a square body suburban, mpg is an afterthought with those.

[GH85Carrera]

I have not bought a car since 1995. I didn't care then, an I don't care now.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by ted

Prefer a hybrid and never go to a charging station.

Go test drive a brand new full electric car.
Acrid electrical smell on the first heat cycle.
Salesmen said he lost sales because of it.

I've never had a hybrid or an EV. If I was going to get something like that, I'd be more likely to get a hybrid. Those seem like a better way to go to me today.

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Not really, because typically great MPG = soulless appliance. With my prior job I was driving about 30k per year, so I sold my E63 and purchased a C300 Sport 4Matic. Double the MPG, low mileage, AWD, big upgrade right? I effing HATED that car, bored me to tears. There was nothing wrong with the C300 per se, it was just boring. The perfect compromise is a fun car like a Miata that also gets excellent MPG, but not everybody can get by with a two seater. Surprisingly my son’s C6 Corvette also gets excellent MPG, damn near 30 MPG on rural highways at 70 MPH.

I get 21-22mpg in the boxster in my commute (84 miles one way). The wife's Outback gets ~25-26mpg. I tried driving her car for my commute. I hated commuting in it and stopped. It's a great car. When we are going to visit the kids and are taking a ton of stuff, it's great and I don't mind driving it at all. It's got the 3.6L flat 6 motor, so it's got good torque and will go.

But when I'm commuting, I'd rather pay the extra money for gas and drive the boxster.

[zakthor]

Heck yeah.

The porch gets 12.5mpg meaning my weekly short drive into the city for coffee and gas costs $12 (ethanol free 92). Big expense every time I visit the gas station.

Wife has a prius V, the larger prius, which gets 42-46mpg. Tank of gas costs $40. We did a trip driving 4 full days up to a place in canada and back and we got about 450 miles/tank which for us is a long day of driving. It is so efficient we don't even think about the price of its gas. Theres absolutely no way we drive enough for electric + install to save money over that prius.

Our old diesel truck gets 21mpg. Its huge so is useful for carrying tools and materials but I don't drive it anywhere unless I need to.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by zakthor

Heck yeah.

The porch gets 12.5mpg meaning my weekly short drive into the city for coffee and gas costs $12 (ethanol free 92). Big expense every time I visit the gas station.

The first 7 years that we owned the boxster, my commute was ~3 miles each way. I averaged ~12mpg. It never much bothered me. LOL!

In my current commute, I drive past a Buccees. They have 93 octane that's got 10% ethanol, or 92 octane ethanol free. I think the price is often something like $3.79 for the 93 octane and $4.79 for the ethanol free. I'm not worried about the ethanol killing the hoses/lines/etc... in the boxster, so the ethanol free just doesn't make sense for/to me.