If you buy car right now, is MPG important for you?

[RYCeT]

Hi guys, I'm quite in a dilema here. My civic's finance will end next month. The civic is allright, I like the exterior, the interior is ok, I've upgraded the audio system which I kind of regret since it's not worth the price/performance ratio. I don't have any complain with its low maintenance cost and mpg. I've always loved a fast car and wanted one. I found an 04 infiniti g35x with a great price and my dad agreed to buy my car if I do buy that g35. If I take a 5 year loan, my father will pay for around 2 years and 10 months so it will give some breather after this 5 years paying the loan.

Infiniti G35x exterior is ok, could be better. I don't like its interior but I will love its performance however its mpg is quite a deal breaker in this case. Real life mpg is around 18-20 while my civic give me 28-30, 10 mile per gallon is quite a lot. I calculate that it will cost me around $15 more everytime I fillup the tank with current price $4/gallon. $15, that's like 2 cd's from yourmusic.com
I guess I'm going to get stuck with the civic for awhile. Damn that's g35x is really calling my name

So, will MPG affect your decision if you buy a car right now?

 

[ingwe]

A few months back I bought a new car. Although I really wanted the turbo, I got the naturally aspirated model (Forester) because I didn't want to be locked into premium gas.

 

[PFKMan23]

Absolutely, yes it is important.

 

[Uncle Erik]

It did for me last year. Gas was about $3/gallon and I decided to (mostly) park the RX-7 and picked up a Scion tC for decent mileage. With gas at today's price, the tC saves me over $200 per month on gas. That's almost as much as the note, so that worked out really well.

Why not hang on to the Civic? Those are nice cars and you've already got the stereo you want in there. What about picking up a second car for fun on weekends and road trips? Works for me - the RX-7's registration is somewhere around $70 and with the multi-car discount, insurance is $9 more. Yes, nine dollars. With only a couple thousand miles per year, maintenance is not a problem. Maybe pick up an older Z, a Corvette, RX-7, Supra, or something else impractical to kick around.

 

[trickywombat]

MPG will generally not affect my car-buying decision. I have never, and never will, live more than 10 miles from where I work. I'd rather put up with more expensive housing than deal with a long commute to work.

I can't understand the idiots in Southern California who move out to the middle of nowhere in order to buy a big house, only to have to commute 2 hours each way. For them, thinking about MPG is the only rational thing they've ever done. But then again, they get a Hummer or Tahoe and now complain about gas prices.

OP, you are more intelligent than those folk, and I applaud you for not impulsively jumping at the chance to get a new car. However, there are a couple things to consider.

The G35x is slightly bigger, and might protect you a little better in an accident (which I hope will never happen). The G35x also has AWD, which you might be helpful out in Philly, but the AWD also adds more weight which affects gas mileage and handling. Routine maintenance and repairs might cost more than the Civic's, but you will get a different experience at an Infiniti dealership, but the G35x will definitely be more fun to drive.

However, it looks like you're almost done paying for the Civic. Won't it be great to have no more car payments? You can spend that extra money on headphones.

 

[DemonicLemming]

MPG would be very important to me and honestly, the mediocre performance of the G35 in no way offsets it's poor fuel mileage, at least to me.

Really seems like you don't like the G35x that much, aside from potential performance. That's a bad reason to buy a car, especially if you don't like the interior, since that's where you'll spend most of your time with the car.

What amazes me is the fact that the majority of cars for sale today don't have more than marginally better, if at all, gas mileage than cars from a decade ago.

 

[nsx_23]

MPG is important, but the most important thing for me when buying a car is whether its a decent drive or not. I would never be able to live with a car thats good on fuel but rubbish to drive (e.g. Prius)

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DemonicLemming /img/forum/go_quote.gif What amazes me is the fact that the majority of cars for sale today don't have more than marginally better, if at all, gas mileage than cars from a decade ago.

The cars today are much faster than their counterparts from a decade ago. Then, a V6 family sedan that did 0-60 in the low 8 second range was hot stuff. Now, everyone is down in the low 6's. That's E36 M3 class acceleration. They're also marginally larger and perform much better in the safety arena. Both will cost you in the weight department.

As for performance/MPG ratio regards, the G35x is well in line with it's competitors.

 

[MusicallySilent]

To a degree yes, I wont drive SUVs or anything that gets below 15MPG as that is just a waste, we have 2 large vehicles that each get 20-25MPG which is very reasonable, if I wanted a sports car I would shoot for around 20-25 also but for a sedan I would want it around 25-30+ as it is a little smaller.

 

[NiceCans]

MPG is definitely a major factor for me:

1- I cannot afford to be giving any exxtra money to Exxon et al

2- The environment gets more than enough crap spewn into it without me contributing more than I absolutely need to

3- Oil (thus gas) is a finite resource

4- Human survival depends on food production, which requires fuel. This is more important than ,me going faster.

5- With the ever growing traffic around here (and likely many places) you cannot drive fast anyway

OK, I am convinced

*edit: Oh, forgot

6- it's only a car

 

[DemonicLemming]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marvin /img/forum/go_quote.gif The cars today are much faster than their counterparts from a decade ago. Then, a V6 family sedan that did 0-60 in the low 8 second range was hot stuff. Now, everyone is down in the low 6's. That's E36 M3 class acceleration. They're also marginally larger and perform much better in the safety arena. Both will cost you in the weight department. As for performance/MPG ratio regards, the G35x is well in line with it's competitors.

Family sedans don't need to be fast, and one would imagine with the technology improvements, even with faster vehicles, we'd still have better gas mileage. I guess as people want their vehicles to be more and more comfortable and laden with stuff, the gas mileage will continue to stay the same as it did a decade ago.

The G35 fits in its class, but still, the performance you get out of it in no way justifies the mediocre gas mileage it gets. The same goes for cars like the G8 GT, 350Z, etc. Mid 14s to high 13s and handling that's been detuned for "every day driving" isn't worth only getting 23-24mpg on the interstate, to me.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trickywombat /img/forum/go_quote.gif I can't understand the idiots in Southern California who move out to the middle of nowhere in order to buy a big house, only to have to commute 2 hours each way. For them, thinking about MPG is the only rational thing they've ever done. But then again, they get a Hummer or Tahoe and now complain about gas prices.

Maybe we are idiots out here, but you misunderestimate (

) our commutes. Living in an outlying area means closer to three hours of driving each way.

I live 15 miles from work. On a good day, that's 45 minutes, but usually closer to an hour. When something really goes wrong it's 90-120 minutes. That's each way. Though on late work nights, I can zip home in 20 minutes on the freeway.

Yes, I know it's bad. I love living here, but I've thought about relocating to and working downtown. Or maybe head out to Phoenix and get one of the condos on the new light rail line they're building.

 

[paul_lindemann]

Well, it depends on our respective wallets. If you love a car that gets so so gas milage, versus an economy car, and the difference in annual gas expense is $150 to $200 more...I'm buying the car I love.

 

[intoflatlines]

You will regret getting the G35x after you spend a couple hundred more in gas over a couple months, I think. Why don't you get a faster car with decent gas mileage?

 

[jordanross]

Defiantly, MPG is super important, now with gas so fracking expensive. It cost me over $70 bucks to fill my tank, last week. Dam California gas.