We also have an SUV, a suburban, we are looking for a min-van, LOL... I love my SUV for the space, I have 6 kids... but not the gas... it does hurt.....but what can you do?

We have a 04 Ford F-350 Deisel pick-up with a lift and huge tires and let me tell you it does hurt to fill it up!! $130 plus to fill!! We also have a 05 Ford Freestyle (I just got back from the body shop yesterday) that does pretty good on gas mileage and we have 86 S-10 Blazer that isn't too bad for gas mileage either. The pickup is now used for towing trailer and boat and also as a weekender so, we will not be getting rid of that truck anytime soon. The blazer is DH's transportation to and from work so he doesn't mess up his pretty truck and my car is the vehicle to take everyone in.

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Elizabeth

Mom to: Anna (02-27-91) Bradley (10-21-94) Shane (10-21-02) Samuel (02-16-07)
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Let's do the math.

My Honda Odyssey takes 15 gallons and I can go about 300 miles on a tank. That's about 20 miles to the gallon. At $2 a gallon, I was spending 10 cents a mile to go anywhere. With gas being twice that, I'm spending 20 cents a mile to go someplace.

Short of buying a hybrid, the best smaller car I can find that fits what I want would get 25 miles to the gallon. That means I'd be spending 16 cents a mile to get anywhere instead of 20 cents. Granted, 4 pennies doesn't seem like a big difference. So let's assume I drive 12,000 miles a year. That means it will cost me $480 a year more to keep my Odyssey. Hmmm, still not worth it.

So let's go crazy. Let's assume I'm willing to purchase a brand new hybrid. The Toyota Prius get about 45 mpg. That means it is just under 9 cents a mile to go anywhere (like having $2 a gallon gas again!) If I still drive 12,000 miles a year it will cost me $1080 a year in gas vs the Odyssey which is $2400 a year in gas; a savngs of $1320 a year or $110 a month. But the Prius would cost us $23,000 to buy. That is going to cost a heck of a lot more than $110 a month so I'm better off keeping my Odyssey.

However we are thinking of selling the van in a couple of years and I will downsize to a sedan at that time. It won't be because of gas prices, though. It will just be because of a change in or circumstances and auto needs.

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We did the same math - but we took into account the trade in value of the current car that we have.

No we have a '94 Jeep Grand Cherokee. And we only fill it every two weeks.
I only work on the weekends and dh as a bussines car. But when the jeep dies will get a car.

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Sarah Joy

We have an 06 Sienna minivan and a 2000 Camry Sedan. I use the minivan to tote around our 2 kids, age 3 and 1, and DH used the Camry to work and back. We won't be trading in either of them. DH's theory is to use a car until it completely dies to get your moneys worth out of it. He had his 1995 Mustang for 12 years before it finally died. It worked out since we were planning to buy a minivan a few months before my daughter was born anyways. We got a pretty good deal on it. It gets like 25 mpg and our Camry gets like 22mpg. I fill up the minivan about once every week and a half. But now with gas prices over 4.50 a gallon in our area, I will be thinking twice about driving farther than we need to.

We also frequently have my parents visiting us so we need the extra space in the back of the minivan to tote around 4 or 5 adults plus the two kids, the double stroller, etc.

Once DH's Camry dies, we will definitely be getting him a hybrid as he will also be having to commute farther in the next year or so since his office will be moving 20 minutes farther south of us. Right now his commute is just 15 minutes by side street on the south end of our city.

We want to get rid of our truck for a van--we want to but don't need to yet--we probably will with our tax return next year so we can pay cash for a nicer one than we could this year.

We are keeping our SUV. We wouldn't get much $$ for the trade in, because no one wants SUVs! We also think our SUV has come in handy so many times for hauling things like furniture, long trips, etc. It's so much easier when we have to haul something to throw it in the back, unlike a car, where it wouldn't fit.

We have a mini van that's paid off and we are planning on keeping it until it falls apart. The gas milage isn't that bad and not having a car payment right now is a great peace of mind.

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We have two gas guzzlers and we are trying to get rid of the Jeep, since we own it. We have a Chrysler Town and Country that gets 20-22 miles per gallon, and we still ow 7k on it, so it's sticking with us. I dont think I would get rid of it anyway---we have three kids 5 and under.