NationStates Jolt Archive

1) What do you drive?
2) What fuel mileage do you get?
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle?

I drive a 98 Chevy Silverado, get about 18mpg, and I've done the math, so far it's not worth it. However, if gas gets much higher I'll be better off ditching my paid off truck for a vehicle with a payment. Should gas hit $4 a gallon I'd have to do the math again and see how it figures out.

Topic comes up because I was talking to one of the delivery guys here at work who said he puts about $100 a week in his truck, and only gets 12mpg. Yeesh.

I don't drive it yet (though I'm getting my license quite soon), but it's a 2000 Saturn SC-1 (Sports Car), and it gets about 43mpg in the city and 50mpg on the highway.

And no, it wouldn't be more profitable to upgrade to a more efficient car, because the only ones that are more efficient cost at least $20,000... And considering that this one cost me $2,000, I'd say it wouldn't be a very good idea. Gas, at the most, costs me around $16 a week as it is, so no upgrades are necessary.

1) What do you drive?
2) What fuel mileage do you get?
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle?



1. 2007 Hyundai Sonata
2. 40ish
3. No, and my car is new, so I wont be upgrading anytime soon


I only drive foreign cars. American cars = for the loss

1) I can drive but i don't have a car.
2) void
3) Er also void

3 Vehicles

2005 Chev 2500 HD (Diesel) I get 19 City 21 highway
2001 Chev Prisim 30 town 35 highway
1988 Jeep Wrangler 11 Town wont go highway speeds (Non road driver gets trailered)

The truck is my primary driver but I got ahold of the prisim for cheep and I do a lot of highway travel the last few months so with only 15 dollars a month as my second vehicle (for insurance) and the car for cheep it became a pretty easy way with as many highway miles

But by and large I spend my time in the truck and performance rules there and is nessisary.

At least it gets better then the 6 Liter gas both under and not under load.

1.- 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer.

2.- No idea. A full tank each 3 days, and I drive a lot, more likely 100 kilometers a week.

3.- Not really, a full tank costs me 1$. That Hummer fever around here has a reason after all.

I've got an old E300 Mercedes diesel. It's about 33+ MPG, but diesel is also about $3.75 per gallon. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I'm thinking about cutting the diesel with corn oil.

1) What do you drive?
2) What fuel mileage do you get?
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle?

1. 2007 BMW X5 3.0si
2. 18 miles per gallon
3. Yes, but then I wouldn't be driving the car I want, plus 18 miles per gallon isn't the worst.

On a side note, I paid $85.58 for fuel yesterday. :mad:

1. Ford Fiesta 1.25

2. 40-50 mpg

3. Works out at about £4.80 ($9.52) per gallon. Won't change it because it's good enough for now

1) What do you drive? the Ped-mobile
2) What fuel mileage do you get? about 2 miles per cheezeburger and med drink (humble estimate... might be more miles, but I really didn't measure.)
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle? yep. can't get any cheaper.

I have two, my beloved '67 VW Bus-
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/829/mybabydk6.jpg
Which gets @30 mpg. Currently vandalized and not usable. :(

And my mule-
http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/1143/thelegopc5.jpg
An '85 VW Vanagon. It gets 21-22mpg, but that should improve when I take care of the gas leak I finally discovered (I had been wondering why the first 1/4 tank went so much faster than the remaining 3/4th.)

Eventually I'll replace the engine on it with a VW TDI engine running on Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO). The bus will be converted to propane which eventually I'll get from a tap off the homestead. Between that and picking up biodiesel from the co-op I should be able to avoid the pump all together. Not a perfect solution, but what I can do. (or will be able to do, I can barely fix the tank leak right now)

1) What do you drive? Honda Accord (stick)

2) What fuel mileage do you get? ~ 28 city. 30+ Hwy. Max 34 while driving steady at 65.

3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle? I can't make hypothetical calculations because my driving pattern is unpredictable. I drive my car only in the weekends and rental cars during the week.

1. Ford Fiesta 1.25

2. 40-50 mpg

3. Works out at about £4.80 ($9.52) per gallon. Won't change it because it's good enough for now

Similar to this. I don't know exact figures, and for half of the year I'm in Cambridge cycling everywhere.

3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle? I can't make hypothetical calculations because my driving pattern is unpredictable. I drive my car only in the weekends and rental cars during the week.

Between this and your 'location' entry, now I'm curious-what do you do for a living?

1) What do you drive?
2) What fuel mileage do you get?
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle?

1) I ride in a bus
2) must call the public transit on that one
3) probably not...though I might upgrade to a bike if the weather gets better.

Between this and your 'location' entry, now I'm curious-what do you do for a living?

lol. Traveling consultant. What else?

(ERP stuff...if you want to know more).

1) I drive a bike
2) While I could probably calculate my calorie efficiency if I wanted, it's no additional cost (I already eat food), so my mileage is effectively infinite.
3) I can do the math now. The answer is, "No."

When I get a car of my own, I will probably get a hybrid. I figure that by the time I get a car, gas prices will be up and hybrid prices will be down, so the additional cost of hybrid will be offset by the lower costs of gas.

1) What do you drive?
2) What fuel mileage do you get?
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle?


1) public transport or a bike
2) I don't know
3) I don't think it would save me much money to start driving a car, in fact I'm quite sure.

94 Chevy Cavalier
Here is a site that lists all sorts of good type things regarding the gas usage, how much it typically costs a year, and so forth:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/10695.shtml
And, I don't think it is more profitable to me to get a new car, simply because I can't afford the payment on a new one.

I drive a 2000 Honda CVC CX. I get approximately 28-35 mpg. It requires minimal maintenance (oil changes, brakes and tires periodically, timing belt every 60,000 miles - routine stuff). I owe nothing on it. Vanity aside, there's no reason to upgrade.

I have three bicycles. Though I think I'm going to turn my single speed into a regular mountain bike and give it to my neighbour.

Like Mirkana said upthread, mileage is a moot point.

There are also health benefits for myself and for my community because of my cycling and other considerations that are outside the discussion. I doubt very much that I'll ever "upgrade" to a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, unless I ended up moving to the woods. If I had to own something, I'd probably go biodiesel.

3 Vehicles

2005 Chev 2500 HD (Diesel) I get 19 City 21 highway
2001 Chev Prisim 30 town 35 highway
1988 Jeep Wrangler 11 Town wont go highway speeds (Non road driver gets trailered)

The truck is my primary driver but I got ahold of the prisim for cheep and I do a lot of highway travel the last few months so with only 15 dollars a month as my second vehicle (for insurance) and the car for cheep it became a pretty easy way with as many highway miles

But by and large I spend my time in the truck and performance rules there and is nessisary.

At least it gets better then the 6 Liter gas both under and not under load.

Pics of the 2500HD? :D

Pics of the 2500HD? :D

Not at work ... I have some of the jeep though

http://www.youdontevenrealize.com/pictures/jeep/jeep7.jpg

I drive a 1990 BMW 750iL. I went to that website that Zilam posted, so here you go: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/6792.shtml

I think I'm going to buy a 325i or something to save on gas.

1) What do you drive?
2) What fuel mileage do you get?
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle?

1) 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid
2) 43-47 mpg
3) To upgrade from this? No. But we did the math before we bought it, which is why we bought it. =)

Before that
1) 2003 Dodge Stratus
2) 23-ish mpg
3) Upgrade ftw.

A 1997 Nissan Quest!
It's blue. Or maybe purple.
MPG? Erm...like, 10. 20 highway, if I'm lucky. Oh, and back when I had a hole in it it was like, 15 highway.
Poor college student. I don't pay my own insurance. No, I will not be getting a new car any time soon.

lol. Traveling consultant. What else?

(ERP stuff...if you want to know more).

I have friends who do that. Well, I say friends, I haven't really talked to them much since High School...which was a while ago, but anyway, they do stuff like that. I don't know what ERP stuff means.

Not at work ... I have some of the jeep though

http://www.youdontevenrealize.com/pictures/jeep/jeep7.jpg

Nice Jeep. Once my Silverado is paid off (sometime this year), I hope to get a Jeep (if possible, a Scrambler).

Nice Jeep. Once my Silverado is paid off (sometime this year), I hope to get a Jeep (if possible, a Scrambler).

Got my eye on an 05 TJ ... but i have already payed for all the mods as is

1) Lockers
2) Diff regearing (down to a 4.56)
3) Atlass II transfer case
4) Winch
6) Custom bumbers and rock sliders
7) Tires
8) Lift (I use a Shackle right now ... quarter eliptical was scary) But the TJ's have coil rather the leaf front end

Bout 10 grand in mods would have to go in to get it to perform like the one I have

1. i drive a 2006 Peugeot 307cc

2. i get about 42mpg average. round town its more like 20, going up to 48 tops on long journeys

3. this car was a pretty big upgrade for me and i got it with a view to running it for about 5 years. the efficiency and engine size being good enough that i'd both want to keep it that long, and it would make sense to do so.


my fuel tank holds about 60 litres, and i fill it up about once a week on average. given an approximate cost of 109p per litre (diesel), that's about £260 a month on fuel (about $500)

so is it worth upgrading... i don't know. depends on the efficiency of what else is on offer

1) What do you drive?
2) What fuel mileage do you get?
3) Have you done the math to see if it's profitable to upgrade to a more efficient vehicle?


1) A bus
2) 250 miles for 45 Euros
3) Nope, did the maths ages ago. The bus is the cheapest option.

its worth noting US gallons are different from Imperial gallons. my 42mpg is 35mpg in US gallons

http://www.convertworld.com/en/fuel_consumption/Miles+per+gallon.html