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If you really want to determine the correct decision to make based solely on the financial numbers, you will need to determine the TCO, total cost of ownership, and a reasonable period in time common to both cars. When I recently went about the process myself, I used a basis of 5 years, a three year loan period, two years of ownership, and then another reevaluation (keep the car, replace it, etc.). You will need to determine average life span of the vehicles involved, average fuel consumption for your typical annual usage, insurance costs, regular maintenance costs, the cost of wearables/consumables, registration fees, taxes, future costs of fuel, NPV of the money you would be able to save ($1 now might be worth $10 later), and value at the end of the period to account for depreciation. Total that up for any car you are considering to see which is the best deal. Don't forget there may be additional fees on the new(er) car due to registration fees, sale fees, etc. and there will be interest if you finance anything. For me, the spreadsheet was huge when I was done, and it wouldn't be applicable to anyone else. An interesting note: For me, via this method I was able to determine that a Prius would cost me more than a Yaris in the long run despite fuel efficiency differences. Don't forget to run one to see what would happen if you instead boosted the economy of your current car via mods, and include the cost of those mods.
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