My daily driver was my pickup truck, a 2004 F-150 heritage that I purchased new in 2004. After buying my house my commute to work increased five fold to 26mi one way. Working four 10hr days makes an accumulation of 208mi per week. As gas prices started nudging their way back up towards $3.00/gal in 2010 I decided to start looking into getting a more efficient commuter car. The fuel price spike of 2008 changed some of my driving habits but did not really affect me since I was living within 5mi of where I worked. (When I had moved I planned on getting a new job in the area but that hasn't happened thus far.)

I always keep my eyes out for interesting cars & trucks for sale so while roaming Craigslist trying to find a good deal on a used fuel sipper I came across a 1974 Super Beetle listed for $3,000. My dear mother had been wanting another VW Beetle to drive – she had two of them when she was younger. For finding one she gave me her spare car as payment: a 1991 Chrysler Lebaron.

1991 Lebaron: I think I got the short end of the stick.

It has the 3.0L Mishubishi engine that powered so many Chrysler minivans that is rated at a whopping 141hp. Today's tiny 40mpg four cylinder engines deliver that much power but in 1991 even the competing 5.0L V8 Ford Thunderbird only made 200hp. Government fuel economy ratings were 19city/27highway. My V6 truck is rated 15city/19highway so I should get a nice reduction in poring cash to foreign countries.

The plan:

Prove or disprove a large gain in fuel economy can save money.

The scenario:

I've been commuting with the Lebaron since July 2010. As of April 2011 I have been averaging right about the rated 27mpg. During higher traffic or poor weather if fell to 25mpg or lower. When the weather is nice and there is less traffic I can average closer to 30mpg. I've peaked it at 30.5mpg twice. Most of my driving is 50-60mph two lane road with a small town to drive through. I've timed my drive and I average 35mph on the way to work and since I work 2nd shift, driving home at night I get an improved 43mph average since I don't have to stop at so many red lights.

The Comparison:

My F150 averages right about 19mpg on the same commute to work that I have been averaging 27mpg in the Lebaron. This equates to a 42% decrease in fuel consumption driving the small car instead.

The Breakdown:

My fuel cost has averaged about $3.00/gal over the last nine months and I have driven about 8200miles in that time. This breaks down thusly:
Lebaron: 8200mi @ 27mpg = 304gals = $912 spent on fuel
F150: 8200mi @ 19mpg = 432gals = $1,296 spent on fuel

The results:

$384 saved over the nine months I've been driving it. That works out to $43/month on a FREE vehicle. By switching to my personal Economic Recovery Vehicle I have saved close to $400 in fuel costs thus far. If the numbers hold up I should save a little over $500 by the end of the year. Perhaps more if the price of gas jumps to over $4/gal. Unfortunately I have spent $675 on the car so far on repairs, tires, oil changes, filters, insurance, and registration. Right now the water pump is leaking antifreeze. It is driven by the timing belt on this engine (who thought that was a good idea?) so I have even more work to be done yet. I wrench on all my vehicles myself so I don't have any labor cost figured into that $675! For example the heater core broke and leaked coolant into the passenger compartment as I was driving home one night. Replacement is a 10hr job! The $75/hr most shops charge is more than the cost of the car in just labor for one repair job! After the first nine months I am still $100 in the red and out the lost hours of maintenance and repair required of an additional vehicle. I could be using my valuable time for other things like the updating this website, learning a new computer programming language, or taking photographs.

It's a good thing I know how to wrench on cars! This car demands it often.

My opinion:

I don't see why folks are so quick to trade in their “gas guzzler” to get a more fuel efficient vehicle. As you can see by my numbers even a 42% increase in economy will only be about $500/yr. If you were one of the people that traded their SUV in upsidedown in the loan to get a smaller car congratulations, you just spent thousands of dollars to save a few hundred!