What appears to be a good solution doesn't pay out.
I have need for a pickup for hauling farm supplies and a camper. It gets 16 mpg. On the average the pickup alone did 8000 miles a year, so it used 500 gallons of gas that would cost $1500 at the current prices.
I picked up a used VW golf in 2006 that hauls me, groceries, and my double bass nicer than the truck and does it at 30-33 mpg. But it cost me $10K, may last 5 years, license cost about $100, insurance about $400, and fuel for 800 miles (267 gallons) costs $800. Oil changes cost nearly $40 for the factory specified synthetic oil and a good filter that will run 10K miles with the oil. So if it displaced all the truck miles it costs $3340 to save $1500. The added low fuel consumption vehicle doesn't pay for me. It costs. But the fiddle case stays cleaner and the fiddle is warmer when I get to the concert hall.
A friend has a Prius. Bought it new. After a year of running he found out that 60 mpg still won't save enough $2 gas to pay for it. So he traded in his truck and camper for a diesel powered motor to tow the Prius cross country. He can't get enough out of his Buick to cover depreciation, and it probably gets 25 mpg.
The economics are not there without lots of miles per year and without need for hauling stuff over 5' long or weighing more than 800 pounds total (counting the driver).
The high mileage vehicle does make the point of it looks like its saving, and it is saving fuel for the world but its costing a lot to make that point.
And lots of places license, insurance, and vehicle cost would be twice what I pay without getting to something exotic like Volvo or BMW or Mercedes.
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