Can't convince the wife

[usmclowrider]

I enjoy trying to get the best fuel mileage possible, but my wife doesn't even try a little bit. And we just got a hybrid so her excuse is "well it already gets better mileage so why bother". I have tried to convince her that gas is one of our highest and most user controlled expenses we have, but she still won't listen.

She enjoys doing the couponing thing and saving money on a lot of our other consumables, but she drives 75 on the highway and won't take it easy at the stoplights. Anybody here have any ideas on how to convince her to take it easy?

[Fat Charlie]

Get short trip mpg data for you and her driving the same trip. Do some math based on how many miles you drive each year, round number gas prices and your two different mpg results. At this mpg, driving 10,000 miles at today's gas price costs us this much. At this other mpg, we save $XXX per year.

I'm driving a shiny new Fit because at $3.40 a gallon and 35 mpg average, the gas and car payment is $20 a week more than the gas alone on the pig I was driving a week ago. And my first fill up was at $3.46 and 37 mpg- eating into that $20 from both directions.

[doviatt]

My experience shows logic doesn't work on women very often. My wife got a efficient car but only because it was also fun to drive and looked nice. She appreciates that fact it can get good mileage but she wont work for it (good mileage, that is).

[sarguy01]

Where in VA are you?

My wife's driving doesn't do much for the Mazda's mileage. In the winter, I can get 25-26 in town, she gets 22-23...

[poomanchu]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Get short trip mpg data for you and her driving the same trip. Do some math based on how many miles you drive each year, round number gas prices and your two different mpg results. At this mpg, driving 10,000 miles at today's gas price costs us this much. At this other mpg, we save $XXX per year.

I'm driving a shiny new Fit because at $2.40 a gallon and 35 mpg average, the gas and car payment is $20 a week more than the gas alone on the pig I was driving a week ago. And my first fill up was at $3.46 and 37 mpg- eating into that $20 from both directions.

Agreed! Somebody posted a suburban with 400k miles here some time agao, total fuel costs is near $100,000.

Made me average out our family car to my wife. At 25 mpg, the next 100k miles will cost $14,000 at an average of $3.50 a gallon. So I asked the wife, what could we do with an extra few thousand if we can increase our economy or get a more efficient vehicle?

Even amongst the rich, there is no such thing as too much money. Unless you are overpaying someone 'too much money' xD Like, I never stumbled upon a $20 dollar bill and didn't take it saying, "nah, I already have too much money I don't need that."

[sarguy01]

I did some rough math. You'd save $60 a year (15,000 miles, $3.50/gal) if you increased her mileage by 5% (40/45 stock). $160/year by 10%.

Is it worth the trouble to get her to drive better for $60 a year? I am not saying you shouldn't try, but this isn't as drastic as trying to convince her to sell a 15 mpg Suburban for a 42 mpg hybrid.

You could always try to convince her that slower is safer??

[jeff88]

If your wife likes couponing, then make eco driving a game and use 'coupons' to do it.

[spacemanspif]

Logic doesn't work and its just because of the type of person she is and not necessarily that she's a woman. I come from both sides of the car world and many people have the same issues. Whether you want to save gas or consume a whole bunch more there will always be people who don't "get it" because part of them doesn't care. The OP's wife is probably like most other people in the world today who have a car to get where they need to go and don't think anything about it as long as the it starts and runs. To them care maintenance is a hassle and modifications are a waste of time and money. They will always ***** about the price of an oil change or brake job but would rather pay than learn and the reason is usually something like "cars are dirty", "I don't have time to learn or do the work", "I have more important things to do" etc.

Even money isn't a motivator because its too much of a "hassle to think about all that stuff while I'm driving". No matter how many times my dad told my mom to coast up to a light she'd still be on the gas until she needed to be hard on the brakes...and my girlfriend is the same exact way. So we've even tried to just give 1 little tip and it still doesn't sink in because they don't want it to or don't care. I have tracked my mileage on every tank since I started driving; when I met my GF she didn't even know how to calculate MPG ("it's miles PER! gallon" was how the conversation went). But even now, I'll talk to her and say "I did really well this tank and got 40mpg" and she'll say an unenthusiastic "congratulations"...the same "congratulations" when I got my engine swap done AND continue to run personal best 1/4mile time....she just doesn't care about cars.

I think its because of people being distracted and in a rush. If you are distracted, you have enough trouble driving, adding "alternative driving methods" to the equation could lead to a melt down. And while rushing around it actually makes you feel better to get to the next light; and the next light, and the next. Even though WE ALL know they aren't getting there any faster (and sometimes slower) it fools their mind into thinking they are doing better. Get there faster by going slower? I don't think so...

Moral of the story: You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Advice to OP: drop the subject if it is going to cause fights between you 2. Like said above, the savings are negligible for her to gain a slight improvement.

[Frank Lee]

Make her pay all her car expenses.

[RedDevil]

All the men complaining about their wives not driving eco-minded...
Be fair, we are not a good representation of the average whateveryouwanttobeaverageabout. And we did not choose our wives on the basis of their eco skills, or what?

Afaict it is mostly men anyways here.
Where are all the women eco drivers?
How could we miss ecomother.com with all the women complaining about their men not driving eco minded ?