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Old 05-28-2008, 03:12 PM   #1 (permalink)
adam728
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Michigan
Posts: 161

Mazda3 - '08 Mazda 3 S
90 day: 29.65 mpg (US)

DR650SE - '13 Suzuki DR650SE
90 day: 46.16 mpg (US)

Wife's - '12 GMC Terrain SLE-2
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Question Can people not do math anymore?

It kills me hearing about what people are doing to "save money" on gas. There are constant new posts on other forums I visit (dirt bike and Jeep related) with people buying a second car with better mileage to save on gas.

Some primo examples
  • One guy "couldn't afford to fill his truck anymore", so he bought a brand new Tacoma 4x4 for a daily driver, keeping the 1 ton for towing duties. How many miles will it take for a $28,000 20mpg truck to pay for itself vs a 12 mpg truck?
  • One of my riding buddies works at a car dealership. A few weeks ago a guy came in saying he couldn't afford to keep gas in his truck. His truck was brand new (under 3000 miles) and cost him ~$34K. He got $18K for trade in. I can't imagine the number of miles he'll have to drive to make up for eating $16,000 in one month!
  • And there are the endless threads that go like this - "I put a header/highflow cat/cat back, cold air intake, magic spark plugs, and a flux capacitor on my 6" lifted Jeep with 37" Swampers and 1,100 lbs worth of skid plates and bumpers and lights. Now I get 13mpg instead of 11mpg, and it only cost $2K." Or something along those lines.
  • I know some people back in Michigan that will drive 40+ miles round trip to Walmart to save 10 cents a gallon on gas. And in doing so they probably burn 1.5-2 gallons. I caught some grief at home, because I won't do a 15 mile round trip to go where gas is a dime cheaper. Let see, burn a gallon of gas to save $1.40 on a fillup......hmmmmm

I just don't get people. Do they need to borrow a calculator? I don't care if people modify or swap cars, but do some math before claiming you did it to save money.

Heck, when I got my Jeep I had a paid-off 98 S-10 that rarely saw anything outside of the 28-30 mpg range. I sat down and punched the numbers. If I never ever drove my new Jeep the S-10 would save me almost enough money to cover the insurance on itself, not to mention maintanace, licensing, etc. So for sale it went. (Now, 3 years later, I am sure the S10 would have earned it's keep).

I just needed to vent. I can't go 5 minutes anywhere without hearing someone complain about gas prices, whether at work, on the internet, watching TV, or standing in line at the hardware store.

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