In the latest development due to high gasoline prices, people in the US are buying up compact cars at an ever-increasing rate.  This is good news for the US auto industry, especially when folks buy a new model.  Meanwhile, bad news for SUV drivers - their rigs are losing trade-in value rapidly. 

Buy New or Used?

We at Living Green, Living Well advocate buying 1, 2 and 3-years old models, spending $500 on an overall engine tune-up, checking the tire pressure, go easy on the gas pedal, telecommute, putting $50 a month into the saving account for general maintenance, trying fuel additives such as EthosFR (more on this later).   Then tell all of your friends how smart you are.  Of course, there are costs to maintaining a used car.  If you buy wisely, however, and look under the hood for signs of rust and age and wear on the engine, the maintenance costs should not come close to the cost of a new 5-year car payment.

In this spirit, for April, we thought we would provide readers who are seeking compact cars with a list of the 'best of breed' compacts in terms of mpg only.   We have pilfered data directly from the EPA (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/).  The numbers we provide here are for 2008 models; you can search the EPA's database for the mpg for the make, model and year of your choice.  We provide this list in hopes that readers sitting on the fence might take the next step and seek out 1, 2 and 3-year old cars at a site such as Kelly Blue Book.

Drum roll, please....

The best of breed compact cars are(we cannot yet list the Daimen-Chrysler Smart Car, which is slated at 40/45 (EPA 2007); 33/41 (EPA 2008)) because we can't find a used on anywhere on KBB.

What?  Three stars for a hybrid?  Why? 

Due to their price, even used, hybrids are not yet as cost-effective as trading in your minivan, SUV, or large 4-door sedan for a used car, especially if you no longer can reap the economic gain of your last new car purchased.   Things may change, especially if gas prices continue to climb.  But, right now, the car payment & interest on most hybrids make their fuel economy at best a break-even proposition, depending, of course, on the type of gas hog you're driving now.

 The word of the month is: trade down for fuel economy.

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