Like everyone else, I'm trying to save money on what it takes to fill the gas tank.

I currently have a Hynudai Sante Fe, a 2003 with many miles on it, and it's costing a fortune to drive. It's mostly around the neighborhood stuff, not highway.

The payment is 325.00 a month on this SUV.

I'm going in to look at a new 2007 Civic EX this week, and it looks like with my trade and downpayment, I maybe around 400 a month on the new Civic.

Am I thinking right? I am figuring that the difference in the monthly payment will be made up for by what I'm saving in fuel costs.

Opinions?

Thanks and great forum, my first post...

Tom

 

you didnt mention what your fuel costs where, or how far you drive

try an older civic buy it out right theres a saving in it self

 

Something about a new car that scares me. It is almost like the car becomes your life, ie.) you always cleaning it, inspecting it for dings. I really don't know anything about cars, I don't even have one myself, I'm saving up for a01 civic ex coupe. I don't know about your income status, but 400 is a lot a month fora Civic, well it also depends on the number of months. And if you do end up getting the civic, I'm pretty sure you're going to break out even with how much you spend on gas. You might be saving more than 75, but I don't think it would be much more.

 

The main thing being overlooked is that at some point (hopefully soon) the Hyundai will be paid off and then you can drive it with no monthly payment. If you start over with a new loan on another car then there will be more payments to make.

Always always always think about car deals in terms of the cash price and the APR and the monthly payments will take care of themselves. When you're a "payment buyer", dealers can really take advantage of you.

Gas still isn't expensive enough for it to dominate the life-cycle cost of a vehicle. But there are other good reasons to go to something more fuel-efficient, even though it may cost a few more dollars in the long run.

 

I just did the same thing. I have a '00 Xterra that I would drive to work about 65 miles both ways. Gas was costing about $100 per week. At the same time I had a '03 wrx that sat in the garage, bought it new, and had 4-5K in equity in it. There is about 6K in negative equity in the Xterra. It was hard, but I traded in the wrx for a '07 Civic EX. I do miss the power of the wrx, but now I put gas in the civic once a week ~30 bucks. The money I'm saving by not gassing up the Xterra every other day is making the payment. I do love the Civic tho!

 

Thanks all.

Well, I got into the Santa Fe at a disadvantage, with poor credit, so I have some kind of insane interest rate on that 325 monthly payment, and I still owe 10,000 on the 90,000+ miles Santa Fe. So I'm really upside down. The 400 a month is a reflection of them having to put about 5000 onto the cost of the Civic.

It's true you just get right back into another 5 year car payment thing. There will be a point where the Hyundai is paid off enough that I'm not upside down, but that won't be for a long time. They are, today, forecasting the gas prices going down again, to the point where in Fall unless a major hurricane hits a refinery they are saying it could be as low as near the 2.00 mark again.

So I have to just consider all this. I was thinking gas was going to be at least 3.25 from here on out, apparently not the case...this is from CNN:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- After setting record highs less than a month ago, gasoline prices are on the way down.

Experts say motorists can expect gradually declining prices from now until July 4. After the Fourth, and barring any unforeseen event like war with Iran, the cost of gas will largely depend on how the hurricane season shapes up.

Nationwide average retail prices have fallen from a record high of $3.23 a gallon at the end of May to about $3.07 as of Tuesday, a drop of roughly 5 percent, according to the motorist organization AAA. The government reported a similar decline in its latest weekly survey.

Why no one's making more gas
Prices for gasoline futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange have fallen much further.

The front-month contract on NYMEX has slid nearly 45 percent since hitting a high of $2.44 a gallon in late April.

"I certainly think prices for the summer have peaked," said Stephen Schork, principal of the industry newsletter the Schork Report and a former NYMEX trader. "I can see [retail prices] getting back down to between $2.50 and $2.75."

Retail prices kicked off the year averaging just over $2 a gallon, pushed lower all fall by a 2006 hurricane season that never materialized and an early winter drop in crude prices sparked by concerns over economic growth.

But while crude prices gained about 30 percent since the start of the year, gasoline prices surged over 50 percent as one refinery after another shuttered production and gasoline supplies ran low heading into the summer driving season.

Refinery production is still well below normal, as are gasoline inventories. But inventories have grown for the last several weeks, helped mostly by higher imports, but also due to an easing of demand.

Throughout the winter gasoline demand was growing by a higher-than-usual 2.5 percent. It's now down to it's normal 1.5 percent, and could slacken still.

"There was a large enough section of the population that curtailed their habits just a little, " said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. "I think you're going to see some very soft demand numbers in the next few weeks."

Kloza sees retail gas prices falling to maybe $2.80 a gallon sometime between now and July 4, but said "there will be some storm hype, and that will give gas prices some staying power."

Just before July 4 there may be a bump up in prices, as Americans hit the road in what will most likely be record numbers, driving demand for gas higher.

After that, it all depends on hurricane season, which officially began June 1 but doesn't usually produce the big, powerful storms until August or September, when the ocean water is at its warmest.

Hurricane experts are predicting an active season, but oil analysts say the chances of another massive storm making a direct hit on refinery country, like Katrina did, are slim.

"The odds of that happening, it would just have to be the most perfect of perfect storms," said Schork.

If it does happen, Schork said to expect a retail price jump of at least 18 percent, which was the one-week price spike following Katrina. If gas was $2.80 a gallon, that would push prices to $3.30 a gallon, a new record.

Barring such a storm, analysts see prices declining further in late September and falling for the rest of autumn, possibly reaching the low $2 range they hit at the end of last year.

But until hurricane season is safely behind us, traders will remain jumpy."

 

first off HOLY book report, second, i wouldnt personally buy a car in its first year of production civic or not. buy a 7th gen ex if you want some real gas savings

 

From now on, if I'm going to make car payments, I'm buying something new with a warranty. Buying something with 40000 miles on it is no longer my idea of fun

TH

 

Forget buying another new car right now. Those payments sound crazy. Keep the Santa Fe and unload it as soon as it's feasible for a USED Civic. I'm sure you could find an '01-'06 Civic EX for WAY less in great condition.

In the meantime, buy the smallest over-250cc usedmotorcycle that your comfortable on. There are 250cc bikes that get over 70MPG and cruise on the highway just fine. A Civic typically tops out around mid 30s to low 40s on MPG if it's in good tune, so a small bike would double that mileage, probably be cheaper/easier to park, MUCH cheaper to purchase, and probably cheaper to insure. Sportbikes can be expensive to insure, but a decent 250-650cc cruiser or dualsport could be found REALLY cheap. Think Honda Rebel, Suzuki Savage, Suzuki DR250/350, etc.If you can't manage a cycle license, the law may allow you a scooter, and they're often even cheaper to own.

You could also try riding a mtn bike whenever possible around town. Get a rack and pannier setup if you don't want to ride with a backpack on all the time. You could even get a trailer to haul groceries.You'd also be in better shape.

 

About the motorcycle idea...well, that works well in theory. Thats what I bought first to try to save gas money from my Jeep. Had it for a year, a lot of fun, but was not really working as planned so I sold it and here I am now on HCF w/ a HX. And that is working much better in terms of saving gas money. Depends on where you live, but if you live anywhere w/ 4 seasons or where it rains trust me riding a motorcycle in the rain, cold, etc...gets old. Scooter or mt bike - not as fun but less $ getting into it.

You might want to try to find a dealer that will offer a 100K warranty on a 7th generation civic. The dealer around my way, I was poking around the used car lot about a month ago, offerred a 100,000 mile warranty on their "certified used cars" - came w/ the car, not one of those "tack on" deals. They had an EX for $14.5K w/ only 17K on it w/ that warranty, something to look at I guess... Of course, interest rates are generally higher for used cars so I guess that is something to consider.

good luck