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simple math to figure out if you should acquire/trade a vehicle:
how much is the current vehicle worth?
what kind of fuel economy does it achieve with the route you drive?
what does the fuel cost?
the last two basically establish a "cost of ownership". for simplicity, it would be easy to measure how much it costs in a year to own/operate.
then compare it to:
what will the new vehicle cost?
what kind of fuel economy does it achieve with the route you drive?
what does the fuel cost?
will it perform the tasks you require?
now the top 3 are factored in for "cost of ownership". the center two are still easily calculated in yearly costs as well.
long story short, unless you're driving a 10MPG truck 10,000 miles a year and don't need more than the capacilities of a honda CRX, you're probably not going to make that money back soon, if at all. but everyone's situaton will be different. those who drive less will have a much harder time justifying it than those who put significant milage(and therefore, fuel) on their vehicles.
example for me:
95 monte carlo, averaging 29.5MPG. i drive MAYBE 8000 miles a year. car is paid off. fuel currently at ~3.70/gallon. 8000/29.5 = 271.2 gallons used in a year. 271.2 X 3.70 = $1003.44 spent yearly to drive the car.
let's say i wanted to step up to a ~2013 Cruze Eco, since i'm fond of them and it will do what i need it to. and that i achieve it's highway fuel economy rating with my route/habits(42 with the manual, BTW). runs on regular grade gas, just like the monte. assuming i drive the same 8000 miles, that's 190.5 gallons of gas, so $704.85 yearly fuel cost....
so i save 298.59 a year in fuel costs..... but the MSRP of the Cruze Eco w/manual is 20,475 according to the chevrolet website... i would have to own/operate the cruze for 68.57 years to make back the price in buying the car.
assuming i were driving a 20MPG car, it's 26.4 years.
a 10MPG car(woof), 9.08 years.
so........ good luck justifying a new car based on fuel savings alone.
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