Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyman 08
That makes alot of sense, but for $40K I can buy an awul lot of gas, say $5.00 a gallon. and 30 MPG $40,000 divided by 5= 8,000 gallons Multiply that by 30 MPG equals 240,000 miles... Even if you had to buy another new car that averaged 30MPG for $20K it would take you 120,000 miles to make up the difference. (and if you count the money you still had to pay for gas and electricity in the Volt it would take even more miles to equal out.)
Is it worth it to me? no not really.
I made the same argument back in 1981 when a guy was bragging about his 40 MPG volkswagen Rabbit Diesel he paid 8K for. I compared it to my $3500 81 Chevette that got 35 MPG. I showed him how many miles he would have to drive in that slow stinking noisy car just to get his money back.
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I think I follow your numbers but I'm not quite sure.
Lets talk monthly payment and monthly gas bill.
25k car 30 mpg 50 mile commute
5 year payment 500, gas bill 200. average 700 per month.
Volt. 40K (Guess?) 50 mile commute
Same loan as above = 800 payment, gas bill 20. Average 820 per month.
So, if you bought both cars on the same day, over 60 months/5yrs, you'd pay 7200 more for the volt. With a difference of 180 per month in gas it would take you another 3.3 years/40 months to break even.
So, if you have a low cost car that gets 30 or so mpg. The Volt isn't a good option if you drive over 40 miles a day.
Obviously if you are looking at cars in the same price range, the Volt wins hands down. No contest. With my Mazda 3 being paid off. I can't justify it. Now the Tahoe on the other hand.......
Edit:
Also, we don't know what the Volt's price will be so this is speculation. It's a tall order to put a 40K car against a 25k car and expect it to be more affordable in the long run.