Which is why so many of the so-called high MPG cars today don't make sense. My daily driver is is a 2005 Nissan Altima. It's all paid for, has a V6 with plenty of scat, gets 23-24 mpg, and holds four with luggage easily. Why the heck would I spend $20,000 on a less powerful, less comfortable 35mpg car in order to save $900 a year on gas?
Now if that $20,000 car got 90 mpg, or I was a sales rep who had to buy my own gas for 60,000 miles a year....maybe. But for the normal commuter, forget it.
In commercial trucking, which I was involved with for 25 years, the concept of “life cycle cost” is paramount.
I remember my buddy back in 73 (the first OPEC embargo) sold a beautiful Buick 225 for peanuts and bought a Vega. Took him about 2 weeks to figure out that was a dumb move.