What a Difference MPG Can Make

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By JLP | February 7, 2007

My wife’s car, a 1998 Honda Civic, is getting old. It has over 130,000 miles on it, which isn’t a lot for a Honda. However, we are still thinking about getting something different for her to drive. Something a little more comfortable and a little more luxurious.

According to my wife, her Civic is getting about 32 miles per gallon right now. According to my math, at $2.00 per gallon, we are spending $1,617 per year on gas. I would like to get her something like a small SUV or a Crossover. I like the idea of her sitting up a little higher. I know when I go from driving our Rendezvous to driving her Civic I feel like I’m in a go-kart. The problem is: going bigger means worse gas mileage.

I kind of like the Ford Edge. I think it is kind of cool-looking, small, but big enough for our family. However, according to the specs, it gets 25 miles per gallon on the highway. That’s great for an SUV but not so good when you compare it to our Civic.

According to my math, we would have to budget $45 more for gas per month to drive the Edge. And that’s not taking into account the insurance and car payments, which would be huge since we currently do not have car payment on her car. Notice that I reduced the MPG to 23 from 25. I did this because those MPG estimates are always too high.

So, after looking at the Edge, I looked at the 2007 Honda CR-V. I wasn’t a big fan of the CR-V until I started looking at its specs. According to their specs, the CR-V gets 30 miles per gallon.

Granted, the Edge has a bigger engine with more horsepower (a V6 with 265 horsepower compared to the CR-V 4-Cylinder with 166 horsepower). So, with the CR-V we would be giving up some power. But, is the additional power of the Edge worth $45 (or more) per month? I’m also sure that the Edge probably is no match when it comes to quality. A loaded CR-V can be had for around $26,000, which isn’t too bad (the loaded Edge is around $29,000).

So,… as of right now, I’m leaning towards the CR-V. We aren’t really in the market right now so we have lots of time to look around. I will definitely test drive lots of cars and do my research. I’ll keep you informed as we move along in this process.

Topics: Cars |

Comments to “What a Difference MPG Can Make”

Kirby on Finance Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 12:06 pm

For what it’s worth - I drive a Honda CR-V and it’s been a fantastic vehicle with zero problems since I bought it 6 years ago!

gen-x-finance Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 12:26 pm

I had never thought about gas mileage. I always drove cars that had 15 to 18 MPG. My best car was 23 MPG!

I was in the market to trade my truck in for a new one and was looking at new trucks. Just for grins I looked at the Civic Hybrid.

Since I drive about 110 miles round trip each day and gas was just starting to hover around the $2.00 mark. I made the switch and have tracked my mileage/savings since.

I just under two years, I have saved over $6000 in gas compared to my truck (or a new truck had I went that route). That is just amazing.

At this rate, the car will have paid for itself in gas savings in under four years.

I am not counting the reduction in insurance and monthly payment for going with a cheaper vehicle.

JLP Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 12:38 pm

Kirby,

I can’t say that I’m a fan of the way the CR-V looks, but I’m sure it’s a great vehicle.

Jeremy,

MPG counts, doesn’t it? I’m sure most people don’t really think about MPG. They look at it as a cost of driving instead of something that they can control.

Kim Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 12:38 pm

I have the 2006 CRV (AWD version since the 2WD is pretty much impossible to get around here) which I absolutely love. But just as an FYI, despite the 28 mpg highway they list, I get closer to 20.

MoneyFwd Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 2:21 pm

Why not look at a hybrid like the Ford Escape hybrid? Better gas mileage of a Honda CR-V, but power of a V-6. A bit more expensive, but they’ve been giving deals.

Flexo Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 2:52 pm

Are you comparing the *actual* MPG of your 1998 Civic with the *EPA reported* MPG of the other vehicles? If so, you should probably be using something like 36 MPG for the Civic so you’re not comparing a real number with a hypothetical number.

JLP Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 3:00 pm

Flexo,

I’m using my wife’s actual numbers on the Civic and adjusting down the estimated mileage on the Edge and CR-V. What I’m not sure about is how realistic my estimates are.

Jerry Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 3:41 pm

This year is the first year for new EPA estimates that will be closer to what people actually get ( http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specialreports/articles/118986/article.html ) so even comparing EPA between an old car a new car won’t work quite right.

As for the whole hybrid thing, do the math on it. The premium for a hybrid typically seemed to take 3-4 years to recover the costs from fuel savings alone. Also consider the maintanence you’ll be paying - electric motors that normal shops won’t be able to work on and battery packs that will eventually go bad and need to be replaced at the cost of several thousand dollars. Even if you do it for the enviroment, where is that batter pack going to go?

I would take a second and recommend taking a look at the small wagon class. My wife had a GMC Jimmy before and we ended up getting her a Pontiac Vibe (she gets 35 to the gallon). It actually has a pretty tall seating position. And for all the zealots out there who hate domestics, it’s the exact same thing as the Toyota Matrix, which is an extended chassis version of the Toyota Corolla. Other items off the top of my head in that class are the Mazda 3, Audi A3, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chevy HHR, Jeep Compass/Chrysler Caliber.

I would also look at some of the others in this category - I think the Edge is a bit larger, it’s in the same class as the Honda Pilot, not the CR-V. I’d say the Escape is in the same class as the CR-V. There’s also the Rav4, and the Equinox/Torrent, the new Dodge Nitro and a whole slew of others. Here’s a pretty good list of all of them: http://autos.msn.com/research/category/default.aspx?category=smallsuv

JLP Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 3:46 pm

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I compared the Edge with the CR-V because those are two that I like, not because I think they are in the same class.

bigbuddha Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 3:57 pm

Go with the Honda friend, they have tremendous build quality, something I think Ford will never match, plus Honda’s generally hold there resale value much better than other Non-luxury class brands.

In fact some honda’s are actually classed the same as bmw’s and merc’s in terms of holding resale value in alot of car resale guides.

Jerry Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 3:59 pm

One more quickie, some of the earlier V6 Saturn Vues ran Honda engines in them. Might find a deal there.

Frugal Homemaker Plus Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 4:20 pm

I agree- go for the Honda! Or a Toyota. My husband’s ‘86 Honda has 220,000 on it, and we have yet to have any major problems. *knock wood*

My Toyota Carola has 230,000 on it, and is just now starting to give us issues. When we replace it, we’re not even going to consider anything but Honda or Toyota.

Clever Dude Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 7:29 pm

The Edge has worse gas mileage not just because it’s a 6-cylinder, but because it’s half a ton heavier! Oh, and it doesn’t have all that much more interior room, even though it’s taller, wider and longer.

Looks nice, but it’s a brick.

Go for a used CR-V and save a few grand while getting a great vehicle.

JIm Kingsland Says:
February 7th, 2007 at 11:02 pm

That CRV looks sharp! For my wife, I ended up going with the Mercedes R350 last year, but mainly because i have 3 kids and needed the extra row of seats in the back, plus she drives clients around for real estate. It gets 18 on the highway which isn’t not so great, but better than some of the other larger SUVs and I just liked the ride better that the rest Comparable Porsche SUV rides like a truck and didn’t have 3rd row. If it were just the two of us, that CRV would have been great. I paid cash and will hold on to it for several years. We also have a Chrysler Town and Country which we bought the year before and that gets around 25 mpg on the highway which is super and what we use for long road trips.

Erik Pedersen Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 12:19 am

It is fun to see you discussion about miles per gallon. See over here in Danmark it is a lot easier, I just filled my car yesterday and paid $5.88 pr gallon. Yes the number is correct - we pay a lot environment tax on gas. I guess if you put that number into the equation you would be looking at another car

Mike Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 7:30 am

Honda is also coming out with a hybrid CRV in the near future (or so the rumor goes). I’m not a huge fan of their looks either, but they drive great (we test drove a new ‘07 model).

Nick Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 9:45 am

ugh, we just looked at a cr-v, it’s about time to replace our 2002 highlander and she has always liked the cr-v, especially the look of the new one. The thing drove like an empty dump truck, in the passenger seat i felt EVERY bump in the road like it was a 2 foot pothole. not to mention the engine sounds like a go-kart. The wife agreed, and was extremely disappointed, we had drove older cr-v’s and they had never been that bad. To top it off the salesman claimed a 2 month wait.

We drove down the street to a toyota dealership and drove a redesigned rav4, while she didn’t like the look outside as much as the cr-v, interior it was similar to the highlander, and it drove a hundred times better.

in the end we decided to hang on to the highlander, put the maintence into it since it’s paid off and we’ve had no troubles with it.

i suppose we are spoiled by the highlander, but give it a good look, its a bit more expensive, but you can get decent deals on the base models. I get about 24mpg on my all wheel drive 4cyl.

Nick Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 9:46 am

Oh and don’t bother with the used cr-v’s, we went that route, on average you would get a 2-3 year old with 30-40k miles for about 1500-2k less than new…not worth it in my opinion.

tinyhands Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 11:38 am

Something else to look out for: Premium gas.

I thought I was interested in the new Toyota FJ until I learned that it only takes premium.

fivecentnickel.com Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 1:25 pm

Your estimates on the Edge are likely high. I’ve driven a CR-V for about 18 months and, although they listed the mileage as 24 city/28 hwy (or something close to that), I’m getting 21 or so mpg in mixed driving. So rounding the highway mileage down by 2 mpg isn’t nearly enough for real-world driving. I bet she’ll be lucky to get into the 18-20 mpg range in reality.

And why in the world would your wife need a 265 hp vehicle if a Civic has been suiting her needs?

JEFF Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 8:16 pm

Ford Edge is a POS…..if you are expecting 130k out of it, be forewarned, it aint gonna happen…CRV is a toy….

1)check out the 265 HP Rav 4
2)FJ Cruiser- just awesome….forget about the premium gas recommendation….you could put regular in it and do just fine…

Stacey Says:
February 10th, 2007 at 1:27 pm

My 11-year old is a car nut and raves about the Mazda 5.

Jonathan Says:
February 10th, 2007 at 6:36 pm

I’d go with the Honda over a Ford. Reliability reasons, mostly.

Nick Danger Says:
February 12th, 2007 at 9:02 am

Your wife’s ‘98 Civic gets 32 MPG?

You should check the tire pressure or something. My ‘99 Civic with 201K miles gets north of 39 MPG.

Mighty Bargain Hunter » Roundup for week of 4 February 2007 Says:
February 13th, 2007 at 9:39 am

[...] All Financial Matters does a fuel efficiency comparison for himself. [...]

JEFF Says:
February 18th, 2007 at 10:41 am

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2003-07-30-premiumgas_x.htm

Michelle Says:
June 21st, 2007 at 2:33 pm

This is really cool.. I just googled something to try and figure out what kind of gas mileage I get on my 1998 honda civic so I can properly budget my money for this upcoming school year living off campus. I like how you explain everything and made charts that can be easily compared. You just present a clear thought process, and I appreciate that. Have a nice day!

Dandy Says:
July 20th, 2007 at 4:23 pm

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GasDandy is an easy-to-use tool that tracks a vehicle’s mileage and maintenance information, providing data that can be used for both business and personal purposes. By making these figures readily available, the program also gives the consumer the opportunity to save money and to proactively identify problems that can shorten the life of their vehicle(s). Download a free trial version of GasDandy today at http://www.gasdandy.com

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What a Difference MPG Can Make