When is MPG not worth it?

[SketchMaster]

I think I may have come to an end in my search for ?the perfect car?. The Suzuki SX4 has every thing I ever wanted in a car, nice style, good power, AWD for driving on something other than tarmac and comes with all the comforts I could want for around $15,600. Only problem is, it gets 24C/30H MPG. My car I have now is also rated at that but I do allot of highway driving and NO ONE drives 55, so I end up getting 25MPG at best. One of the many reasons I am buying a new car was to try and get better mileage so this wouldn't help much.

So my question is this. If I buy the car, would I be shooting myself in the foot with the crappy mileage I would be getting? I could get a Honda Fit or something of the like and get upwards of 40MPG but then I'm stuck with a city car. I go mountain biking, Play paintball, camp and do all sorts of things that having AWD and cargo room (Roof rack) would be very nice.

So who has a couple coins they are willing to throw my way?

 

[olds]

MPG is never worth it. If you have to worry about MPG, you can't afford a car. Get what you need for the task you need it for.

 

[Goosemaster]

here's my 2 cents.

Think about mpg last in your case.

If the car can't do what you want it to do, then it isn't going to work for you.

Keep in mind that AWD will probabl have lower MPG ratings due to the extra drivetrain etc that adds weight.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
MPG is never worth it. If you have to worry about MPG, you can't afford a car. Get what you need for the task you need it for.

:thumbsup:


that, and a suzuki with 16'' thin road tires is still going to get stuck

 

[SketchMaster]

I can afford the gas, I'm just thinking that if gas prices get even more crazy in the next year or so then I may be in a pinch.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I bike and surf and have no problems doing either of these activities with a Nissan Maxima with a roof rack. It's actually much easier putting my bike and surfboard on the roof rack of my car than an SUV.

 

[bctbct]

When your motor is 2.0 or below and three people have to push it up the hill.

 

[olds]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
MPG is never worth it. If you have to worry about MPG, you can't afford a car. Get what you need for the task you need it for.

:thumbsup:


that, and a suzuki with 16'' thin road tires is still going to get stuck

I'll climb over that Suzuki with my 4 X 4 F250 PSD and 16.5 tires. Literally.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

It's your call. Do you want higher MPG solely for economical reasons, or do you also have a respect-for-the-environment kind of reasoning also? I'd say buy what you need. You're already doing better than most owners of AWD cars in that you're actually going to sincerely use your car's off-road features regularly.

 

[Fingolfin269]

I can afford a gas guzzler but don't like looking at the pump when I just put $50 in a car as opposed to $25 in order to fill up from empty.

 

[JS80]

with gas prices nowadays MPG means nothing...when it hits $6/gal then i'll think about it.

 

[SketchMaster]

Goosemaster, I'm not going to try and climb Mount St. Helens with it. And I am going to get a good set of all-season and winter tires for it, which is another reason I would use the AWD, snow.

Jules, the SX4 is 5.3 and I'm 6.1 so getting to the roof is no problem.

Fuzzy, Mix of the two. I'm not a tree hugger, but I also see the need for conserving fuel.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: SketchMaster
Goosemaster, I'm not going to try and climb Mount St. Helens with it. And I am going to get a good set of all-season and winter tires for it, which is another reason I would use the AWD, snow.

Jules, the SX4 is 5.3 and I'm 6.1 so getting to the roof is no problem.

Fuzzy, Mix of the two. I'm not a tree hugger, but I also see the need for conserving fuel.

I'm 5'11" and car roofs are still much easier to get at than SUVs. I'm not familiar with the Suzuki though. Is it more of a car based SUV like the Subaru Forester?

 

[SketchMaster]

Ya, not much taller than a Impreza.

Edit: Use subaru's comparison tool, the SX4 is in there.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: SketchMaster
Ya, not much taller than a Impreza.

Edit: Use subaru's comparison tool, the SX4 is in there.

Ah, that would explain it.

BTW-I like the Subaru Forester. Great vehicle and quite capable off-road. Love that 2.5l turbo engine!

 

[Aimster]

I get 17MPG combined city.highway

yay. I like the car so it is not a problem.

 

[doze]

Anything that will get much better MPG will be smaller, lighter, and more underpowered and will save you about $30~40 a month under normal driving conditions. My car is rated 25/30 and I get about 22 in the city and 29 on the highway if I keep it around 75 with cruise control on.

The only thing that would concern me with that car is first model year always has issues, but this car looks like it might have replaced the Aerio 4 door hatchback.

 

[SampSon]

Go with what you want.

By the rated mpg numbers, the difference in running the two cars is approximately $1/day.

 

[BullyCanadian]

to the OP i have to ask, do you absolutely need AWD? I live in Canada and have driven my car off road ( RARELY - like twice a year for camping never came into a situation where AWD would have been better) and have never had the need for AWD even in the winter. If you absolutely need awd then there is a MPG trade off if you dont than you can acheive a few more mpg

 

[eldorado99]

MPG is the least of my concern, I get about 8-10 city, 14 highway; 1970 Cadillac Deville 472cid

 

[funboy6942]

Im buying a geo metro
The hell with a new car.
Or a bike
Motorcycle
May have to be a trike though

 

[tm37]

I have come to the conclusion that should I need AWD to get somewhere I don't need to go that bad

I traded in my truck for an altima (gets 28MPG) and I have not looked back.

I was driving the wife's neon because of Gas milage but I decided to get me a car. I miss the truck occasionally but not due to weather.

How much do you drive. Because when my wife started driving the neon rather than the truck her gas bill went down about 3 dollars a month

I drive about 45 miles each way so gas milage and price of gas are big concerns for me.