Gas mileage question

[tink20]

Car experts: My vehicle is a 04 Nissan Xterra (its paid off, and I am going to drive it until it dies) I looked up online, and it says that it gets 20miles per gallon on the highway. Well, I thought about renting a car, (because mine has so many miles on it) One of the choices was a Hyn. Accent, it says, it gets 40 miles per gallon highway.

So, would it be fair to say that my gas costs would be 50% cheaper? Or, I am looking at this wrong? I know I would then have a car rental cost, but if I could save on gas, then it might be a better decision (and peace of mind) Thanks!

 

[scrapquitler]

Car experts: My vehicle is a 04 Nissan Xterra (its paid off, and I am going to drive it until it dies) I looked up online, and it says that it gets 20miles per gallon on the highway. Well, I thought about renting a car, (because mine has so many mile on it) One of the choices was a Hyn. Accent, it says, it gets 40 miles per gallon highway.

So, would it be fair to say that my gas costs would be 50% cheaper? Or, I am looking at the wrong? I know I would then have a car rental cost, but if I could save on gas, then it might be a better decision (and peace of mind) Thanks!

Mileage Estimates are just estimates. How you drive will make a difference too. I think that you would have to save an awful lot of gas to recoup the cost of renting a vehicle for your trip.

I'd also suggest that you prior to doing so, you might want to go to a Hyundai dealer and sit in a Huyndai Accent to get an idea if you would feel comfortable driving that vehicle, and perhaps more importantly if the 10 year old and 18 year old will be comfortable sitting in that back seat for the duration of the drive to Florida. You might also want to compare luggage space in your xterra vs. that of the Accent.

Only you can determine if the gas savings minus the cost of the rental will be worth the trade-offs you have to make for passenger comfort and storage space.

 

[tink20]

Mileage Estimates are just estimates. How you drive will make a difference too. I think that you would have to save an awful lot of gas to recoup the cost of renting a vehicle for your trip.

I'd also suggest that you prior to doing so, you might want to go to a Hyundai dealer and sit in a Huyndai Accent to get an idea if you would feel comfortable driving that vehicle, and perhaps more importantly if the 10 year old and 18 year old will be comfortable sitting in that back seat for the duration of the drive to Florida. You might also want to compare luggage space in your xterra vs. that of the Accent.

Only you can determine if the gas savings minus the cost of the rental will be worth the trade-offs you have to make for passenger comfort and storage space.

Oh, I should have mention, just the 10yr old will be going. If DD was going, she probably would be ready to wring DS's neck by the end of the drive.

 

[Sadie22]

We have a Hyundai Accent. We don't take it on really long trips because then DH and I would be practically bumping elbows in the front seat. Also, although it is advertised to get that great highway mileage, you won't always get that. Not every mile you would drive is at highway speeds. It depends on how much stop-and-go, short-distance, city driving you do, how many hills you climb, how much weight is in the car, your general driving habits, and so on. No, your gas would not likely be 50% less, just somewhat less.

 

[Albort]

We have a Hyundai Accent. We don't take it on really long trips because then DH and I would be practically bumping elbows in the front seat. Also, although it is advertised to get that great highway mileage, you won't always get that. Not every mile you would drive is at highway speeds. It depends on how much stop-and-go, short-distance, city driving you do, how many hills you climb, how much weight is in the car, your general driving habits, and so on. No, your gas would not likely be 50% less, just somewhat less.

Does the Hyundai Accent have a 5th gear? If not, it actually waste more gas than other cars.

 

[willowsnn3]

My dd has a 2002 Xterra & we drove it from Atlanta to Orlando ONCE, lol. It burned a lot of gas & riding in the back seat for a long period was very uncomfortable. My sister has an Hyundai Accent but she doesn't drive very much. I'm sure it gets good mileage being a small 4 cylinder car but don't think it would be very comfy on a long drive either.

 

[Frantasmic]

It sounds like you want to budget your trip.

I'd think you should conservatively get 50 to 60 percent more than your current car, so if you budget gas on 30-32 MPH, you can come up with a budget that should be very good for you. It may not be very close, but you really shouldn't go OVER your budget with those type of estimates.

 

[sam_gordon]

Car experts: My vehicle is a 04 Nissan Xterra (its paid off, and I am going to drive it until it dies) I looked up online, and it says that it gets 20miles per gallon on the highway.

Don't go by what an internet site says... calculate it yourself. It's very easy.

The next time you top off your tank, reset your trip odometer or make a note of the odometer. When you fill up again, note the elapsed mileage and how many gallons it took fill it back up.

Elapsed Mileage divided by # of gallons = miles/gallon. Even basic phones usually have a calculator on them.

According to one online site, my car should average 20mpg (17 city, 26 highway). I actually get ~24 (granted, mostly highway).

 

[Janepod]

My husband has a 2011 Xterra. He averages 14 mpg, which is much lower than the stated MPG. It's primarily because we live in a rural, hilly area and he rarely has the car out on the highway. I haven't ridden in the back but I find the front very comfortable. His other car is a two-door BMW 3 series, which I find very uncomfortable (low to the ground and bumpy.) He thinks I'm mental for preferring the Xterra to the BMW.

 

[Disney Daniel]

Geography and the conditions you are driving under are major influences on fuel economy. I am driving a 2012 Elantra (which is the next step up from the Accent) and while it advertises some wonderful statistics in terms of fuel economy I doubt I will ever see them mainly because of where I live. Nova Scotia is remarkably hilly so even on the highway the car has to work pretty hard to climb the hills which uses more fuel.

For the most part I consider their estimates to be what would happen if I were driving on a totally flat surface, on the highway with no traffic on a summer day. Of course, those conditions can occur, but most of my driving is city driving going back to forth to work so between that and the hills I see reasonable but not exceptional fuel economy.

 

[Sadie22]

Does the Hyundai Accent have a 5th gear? If not, it actually waste more gas than other cars.

My son drives it to work and averages about 36 miles per gallon. Where did you get that information?

 

[Squirlz]

My son drives it to work and averages about 36 miles per gallon. Where did you get that information?

I think he's just using incorrect terminology for overdrive. The "number" assigned to a gear is meaningless. It's the actual gear ratio that counts. All modern cars have overdrive and the Accent has a six speed transmission. The top two gears are over driven.

 

[sharbear]

We have a 2012 Hyundai Elantra. It's one size up from the Accent. My H and I have driven it on long (12+ hours) and find it very comfortable. The gas mileage varies but on highway driving never gets below 36 mpg. My H drives it alot for work and gets somewhere between 36-40 mpg but usually on the road around 38. It's been a little better now that the weather is warmer.

We also have a Honda Odyssey van. It gets between 23-26 mpg on the highway. This is not exact but I feel I spend about 1/2 for gas when we drive the Elantra than the van. It's close.

What I would do? I would see if you could upgrade to the Elantra or see if you can rent a Sonata hybrid. The little bit of gas mileage you would save you will make up in comfort. My H and I find our Elantra very comfortable on the road.

 

[sharbear]

double post

 

[Christine]

I have a 2012 Elantra and I average about 33 mpg because I do a lot of city driving. I just took it out for it's first trip two weeks ago and, for the first time, I hit 40 mpg average. I was on the highway, doing 65 and was on relatively flat road.

Then, of course, as I headed into the mountains, it started dropping.

 

[moburg]

Car experts: My vehicle is a 04 Nissan Xterra (its paid off, and I am going to drive it until it dies) I looked up online, and it says that it gets 20miles per gallon on the highway. Well, I thought about renting a car, (because mine has so many miles on it) One of the choices was a Hyn. Accent, it says, it gets 40 miles per gallon highway.

So, would it be fair to say that my gas costs would be 50% cheaper? Or, I am looking at this wrong? I know I would then have a car rental cost, but if I could save on gas, then it might be a better decision (and peace of mind) Thanks!

I would imagine you know if your XTerra actually gets 20 mpg on the highway or not. Typically, the published mpg is going to be better than actual results.

In any case, run the numbers. How many miles is the round trip? Divide that by the MPG of your car to get the number of gallons needed for the trip. Multiply that by the average price per gallon to get the total gas cost if you used your car.

Now, if the rental car cost is more than that amount, it doesn't make sense to rent the car. If its less, then subtract the rental cost from the gas cost for your car. That is your break even point. Divide that amount by the same price for gas to get the max number of gallons in the rental to stay under than break even point. Divide the original miles of the trip by this new number of gallons to tell you how many miles per gallon your rental car must get to at least break even.

For example, I assumed a 1500 mile round trip at $3.69/gal on my 4Runner which can average 21 mpg on the highway. I took a WAG and said a rental would cost $150, which is probably low. Using the above, I would need to rent a car that averages nearly 49 mpg just to break even on gas plus rental costs.

Of course, if your main concern is the age and miles on your car, than the above calculation is only part of the consideration.