1. Why I Swapped my Hyundai Sonata (2002) for a Hundai Accent (2002) 

The very selfish act of trying to save money has led to the greening of my life.

I always knew that the cars we drove weren't the most fuel efficient.  But gas was cheap, and who has the time...

Who has the time??? Wake up, America!!!  Your Hummers are not only spewing hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide into the air.  If you created a monthly budget, you'd see that you're paying an incredible amount of money each month just to move yourself from Point A to Point B.

When I moved to the Pittsburgh area a little over five years ago, I decided to buy a silver Hyundai Sonata.  It was a sporty car, and a lot of car for the money, complete with a moon roof and a great sound system.  The 2002 Hyundai Sonata is rated at 18 city and 25 highway.  For a mid-sized 4-door sedan, it scores a 2 out of 10.  I never really paid attention, until I got serious about the household budget.

I considered hybrids, including the amazing Toyota Prius, but i couldn't make the numbers work.  I had already paid off the Sonata, and taking on a new car payment (60 mos of >$200), I thought, for certain, that I could do better.   Somehow.  What if I could just shrink the Sonata?  I looked around at a lot of models, and found that the Hyundai Accent is rated at 24 city and 33 highway.  Not quite the 48 city/45 highway of the Toyota Prius, but still better.  I compared the two cars at www.fueleconomy.gov, and found that it was costing me $3.72 to drive 25 miles, while with the Accent, it would cost me merely $2.66 per 25 miles.  So I envisioned someone handing me $1.06 every time I drove 25 miles.

My mind made up,  I figured I would also do an outright swap, no new car payment.  Less car, but less gas consumption.  So I did a search on Kelly Blue Book, within 50 miles, for a 2002 silver Hyundai Accent, and found one in Ohio.  The next day I drove there and swapped cars.

The dealer knew he was making a killing.  So did I.

I immediately made a plan to swap out the old spark plugs and plug wires, get a new fuel and air filter, and have the Accent looked over closely.   Everything checked ok. 

It's been a while; this all took place in January.  I couldn't be happier; I used to fill up the Hyundai once a week.  the Hyundai's tank held 17.2 gallons.  The Accent's gas tank holds 11 gallons, and I fill it about once a week.  At $3.19 per gallon, that's a savings of about $20/week.

2. Why I Traded in our 2005 Grand Caravan for a 2007 Pontiac Vibe

Our 2005 Grand Caravan got a miserable 16 city and 23 highway.  It cost $4.14 to drive 25 miles.

We considered getting a used Ford Escape hybrid (28/26).  But the numbers wouldn't work.  We owed about $4500 on the van, so an outright trade wasn't possible.  At 26 city and 33 higway, the Vibe seemed to be an improvement.  We found a 2007 Vibe in February 2008 - always a good time to buy last year's stock.  The price was a steal - $16,900, at invoice.  We had $2750 in incentives, so the price was $14,150.  They took the Grand Caravan trade-in value of $5000, and owed $4500, so make that $13,650.   It will cost us $2.57 to drive 25 miles in the Vibe.  That's $6168 to drive the next 60,000 miles, compared to $9936, a savings of $3768 over the next five years.

Granted, if we didn't take on the new car payment, we would have saved  $9650.  But considering that the extra money - $4.14 vs. $2.57 's worth per 25 miles - spent specifically on gasoline - to add to the global demand for oil?  Moreover, if President Bush decides to invade - or even attack - Iran, then gasoline could go to $6/gallon.   The VIbe ranks a 6, compared to the Caravan's 2, in terms of air pollution, and we'll consume only 11 barrels of oil, compared to 19.

By the way, with the savings in gasoline due to the Vibe, the monthly budget is reduced by $20, even though the monthly car payment is higher.

Updates. 

There are two things in common to both vehicles.  They are both (1) smaller than the vehicles they replaced, and (2) they both have manual transmission.   These are important features that improve fuel efficiency. 

Watch for updates in the Living Green, Living Well Supplemental Blog as we track our mileage tracking while we experiment with Ethos FR Fuel Reformulator and high-performance spark plugs.