May 2008
Gas Saving Used Cars; How to pick a good car
From reading the comments and articles on of one of my favorite sites, Gasbuddy.com, many people across the country are resigned to the fact that high gas prices are here to stay. One way to deal with this problem is to buy a smaller or lighter car that saves on gas mileage. Fortunately, there are a lot of used gas saving cars for sale out there so you don”t necessarily have to buy one of the new ones that many car manufacturers are now hurrying to bring to customers.
How do you choose a good car to buy? One way to do it is to figure out what your monthly budget for gas is and how much driving you do in a month. While this may seem obvious, I doubt many people actually have done this calculation since the 1980s. The average person in the US drives about 13500 a year. That is 1125 miles a month. So if your gas budget is $100 a month and you drive 1125 miles a month, then at $4 a gallon you need a 40 MPG car. You can find that kind of gas mileage with a USED PRIUS. Typically, most high MPG cars in 2008 get around 25 to 35 MPG.
I used to have a Geo Metro. in the 90s. While these cars dent easily they get about 50 MPG on the highway!! Nothing to sneer at in these high gas price times. I recently tested out the Chevy Aveo when I was carless temporarily and in need of a rental. I am pretty sure that the Aveo is a direct descendant of the Geo Metro, but has tougher sides and a roomier inside. This car is bare bones but still gets an impressive 23 MPG City and 31 MPG Hwy according to the feds.
You can check out our list of low mile per gallon cars that lists model, make, style and city/hwy MPG for some lowest MPG cars that are available used for sale on this site.
Another great way to pick a car is to use Consumer Reports used car buyers guide. They list the MPG as well as what years and models are worth the money as well as break down the cars and models by Kelly Blue Book Value.