by
DrivingFool2
Jan 12, 2012
I put on approximately 30,000 miles a year. My old car got 13mpg but for ease of calculation lets say it got even better mileage of 15mpg. That said it means I used 2,000 gallons of gas a year to go that far. With gas at $3 a gallon (I know, it's above four at many places already) that means I paid out $6,000 a year in fuel. With my Prius I get 54mpg but for ease lets just say it gets 50. That means I use just 600 gallons to go the same distance. At $3 a gallon, that is just $1,800 a year for fuel. Since my car payments are $300 a month, ($3,600 a year) what I save in gas ($6,000 minus $1,800 equals $4,200 dollars) not only makes my car payments but also leaves me $600 dollars in my pocket. It is almost paying me to own a new car. (And that is figuring gas at $3 a gallon, not at $4 where it is now) At $4 a gallon, the savings would be $5,600 dollars a year. I laugh all the way to the bank.