The increase in gas pricing has led to lots of knee-jerk reaction towards trading in our beloved RX-8 for something more "fuel efficient". Well here's a calculator that you can use to plug some numbers in to gain some perspectives.

http://www.edmunds.com/calculators/gas-guzzler.html

 

mmm, 17 years to break even on a MS3.

 

For ***** and giggles I plugged in a 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid (I figured it was pretty fuel efficient) and this is what I got:

You will not save any money by trading in your current vehicle for the fuel-efficient vehicle you have selected.

NICE!

 

The car I used as my fuel efficient car to buy would be the Suzuki SX4 Crossover.


According to the Calculator, I would start saving right away.

I put down $14,000 as the price of the SX4, with $14,000 on my RX8 trade in.

I know that with the SX4 I was able to get 30mpg combined when I had it as a rental car last week while in Kentucky.

I then put 18mpg as what my car got.

Gas here is $3.93 for regular, so I put $4.00 just to round up.

This got me 0 months.


However, no way in hell would I ever want to drive an SX4 over an RX8.


While the SX4 is very comfortable, and the 4x4 system actually works (Well, good enough for Kentucky farms), and the SX4 is well equipment (Smart Key system, TPMS, air bags all around, Brake Force Distribution, other stuff you find on expensive cars) the pure driving enjoyment of the RX8 is just way to good.

 

^ Of course. What they do is look at simply the cost out of pocket now, then calculate fuel savings of the new car vs old car, and see how long it takes for the fuel savings investment to cause you to break even.

 

This calculator isn't accurate in any sense of the word.

It needs to take into account what you pay for the car, the interest rate, the term of your finance, what goes on the principal in that time and what towards the interest rate... Thus calculating the actual "value" of what you're trading to what you're purchasing VS the trade in amount you'll get (which is ALWAYS lower than the calculated "value" of your car right now).

I thought I might stop driving the RX8 for the summer months (saving $400/month in fuel + $130/month in insurance) totaling ~530/month and buying a scooter of somesort which would likely be $200 in gas and maybe 60-80 a month for insurance + monthly lease/cost of 161.

But guess what... its damn near the same as if i still drove the 8 (Which is way more fun) and i wouldn't look like a total dork.

 

This thing is misleading. It made me want to trade my car. But read the above post.

 

I already have a more fuel-efficient second car, and I owe nothing on it. It's rated 26/33 city/hwy.

If I moved to a warmer climate, I would sell it.

 

With my example, the interest rate would not apply as I would be able to use the $14K I would get on the RX8 to fully pay off the SX4, maybe even less as I have seen some SX4s down in the $12K range.


However, your first point is very valid as most people won't have their RX8's paid off. I though will have my RX8 paid off in my first year of owning the car, so that benefits me if I ever decide to trade in my car for an econo-box.


But like I said, no way in hell would I trade my RX8 in for an econo-box unless gas hit $10 a gallon. But even then, I would probably garage my car and buy a scooter.


Also, currently I am living with my parents due to medical reasons, and I get to drive my mom's Avalon a lot which gets 30mpg highway, so gas really isn't an issue for me right now.

 

It also needs to figure the deadening of your soul that will happen when you stop driving an 8 and start driving a Prius.

Ken