FE payoff...definitely not for the impatient person...

[razor02097]

After doing some calculations I found that my Tracker has cost me $418.52 less than my XJ to operate over the 16 weeks I have been driving it. That means in theory I only have to drive it for another 16.5 months to "recover" the initial investment.

Together with my motorcycle I have $1100.56 saved just fuel costs over 4934 miles. This alone was almost enough to fund my e-bike project.


All stats came from my vehicle tracking app acar. I am using average fuel prices, average MPG for each vehicle and the total mileage. I am planning on using my Jeep for recreation, towing and casual use and my Tracker and motorcycle for DD commuting. I also will use my E-bike for transportation. My ultimate goal is to slice my gasoline bill in half this year.

I know what you're thinking... stepping over dollars to pick up dimes am I right? Yes in the small picture it is 100% true I have invested almost $4000 in my motorcycle and Tracker.... That's a lot of gasoline I could put in my Jeep! However in the big picture the gasoline is a consumable where as the vehicles are an asset. Adding up the reoccurring fixed costs they are still a lot less than the savings in fuel...which means as long as one of the vehicles don't need a costly repair, they are a viable cost saving investment.

[jamesqf]

And of course you could always sell the Jeep and recoup at least some of that $4K. Not much of a market at all for burned gasoline.

[Cobb]

I did the match on a moped a few years ago and it turned out I had to go 10,000 miles before it paid for itself and I started to turn a profit.

Just got to keep in mind that is just one way to look at it. Many people rag on me that a hybrid takes x number of years for pay back. I remind themt he thrill it is to pp into ev mode and go without using any gas. Lets not forget all the fancy traction control, skid control, brake electronics that allows the car to drive well on ice and snow.

Just think when I had my tacoma I use to fill up twice a week 14 gallons each time. Then every 2 weeks of 10 gallons with the insight.

I have to admit its much easier to merge into traffic in the tacoma over the insight, people make way vs cutting you off or closing the gap.

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by razor02097

vehicles are an asset.

Typically new vehicles are a liability, they lose most of their value before you can pay them off.
Since most of us own them our right, they are usually an asset.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Cobb

Many people rag on me that a hybrid takes x number of years for pay back.

Depends on how you look at it. I paid $8500 for a used Insight, they paid say $30-40K for a new SUV or pickup. Now maybe my math skills are a bit rusty, but it does seem that I don't need to worry much about pay back from gasoline savings.

Now figure that I've been driving that same Insight for 9 or 10 years now, while the raggers have bought a couple of new vehicles...

[justme1969]

Hmm havent paid any mind to it really this way but one free trip to and from work for 13 weeks times avg mpg divided by avg fuel cost per gallon.
Ive saved over $70.
Now this doesnt seem like much butt I am getting one whole round trip to work free, so to speak.
Ive only reduced speed on hiway 3mph. keeping my car in the sweet spot!
I needed tires so dont count them conveyor belting and all else was virtually free.
The number is relative but not required to keep up my passion.
Sure wish the winds would stop blowing so I can see a new high mpg.

[Pierrel]

Did some quick maths on the subject for my own sake, and for fun
Car : 1000$
Estimate driving distance 1 year : 11 500 miles
EPA MPG : 35
Estimate fuel : 328 gallons
Avg price $8.20 / gallon... Yes,that's right.
Total fuel cost $2690

This number ain't fun to look at, but What if I had bought a larger, more expensive car getting 20 MPG
That's 575 gallons of fuel costing $4715 . Looking at it this way, I'm saving just over $2000 a year in gas! In six months I've basically payed off my little car. But My situation does not require a bigger car someone else might need that bigger car though.

[Shortie771]

Well, I just did the math for my car vs the E-Bike I will one day make.. I based my numbers on the lifetime mileage of my car (32.32mpg), a gas cost of $3.50, $0.14/KW-hr and an average mileage of 13,500/year.

$3,000 - Del Sol Si = $1,462.05/yr ---> $0.1083/mile
$4,000 - E-Bike = $263.25/yr ---> $0.0195/mile (theoretical)

For total annual savings of $1,198.80

So yea, it would take me 3 years to pay it off in savings, but that also doesnt account for oil changes ($0.0117/mile), spark plugs, repairs, etc. Not too shabby imo.

[Smurf]

My old Isuzu Pup cost me $250, and it got about 40MPG.
Traded that and $600 for my S10, and it gets 15/25MPG.
Bought the Grand Am for an MPG vehicle, $1000 and it gets 37MPG as is.

Figure my highway average in the S10 is ~22MPG, $3.75/gallon, it costs me $170 to go 1000 miles.
Figure my highway average in the GA is 37MPG, $3.75/gallon, it costs me $100 to go 1000 miles.

So, $70 saved every 1000 miles (pure highway, on the stock-for-now GA), it'll take 14,285 miles to pay off the $1000 I purchased it for. If I were to get 44MPG, it'll be $85 for 1000 miles, or 11,764 miles to pay off.

(/end random math)

[Shortie771]

Originally Posted by Smurf

My old Isuzu Pup cost me $250, and it got about 40MPG.
Traded that and $600 for my S10, and it gets 15/25MPG.
Bought the Grand Am for an MPG vehicle, $1000 and it gets 37MPG as is.

Figure my highway average in the S10 is ~22MPG, $3.75/gallon, it costs me $170 to go 1000 miles.
Figure my highway average in the GA is 37MPG, $3.75/gallon, it costs me $100 to go 1000 miles.

So, $70 saved every 1000 miles (pure highway, on the stock-for-now GA), it'll take 14,285 miles to pay off the $1000 I purchased it for. If I were to get 44MPG, it'll be $85 for 1000 miles, or 11,764 miles to pay off.

(/end random math)

Or you could have kept your Isuzu Pup, the $600 for the S10 and the $1,000 for the GA. That would put it at 2,665 miles to pay it off and you would still have that extra $1,600 in your pocket. Sounds like a bad deal to me lol.

Just giving you grief