Suv – Yes
In the late 90's and early 2000's, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) were all the rage amongst growing families. They offered plenty of room to take the kids around with and were a bit more rugged than the typical van would be. When gas prices started their steady trend upward in 2004, sport utility vehicles quickly fell out of favor amongst consumers because they do not receive very good gas mileage, but now might actually be a great time to purchase a sport utility vehicle!
In the last few years, sales of larger sport utility vehicles have fallen through the floor and sales of smaller 4 cylinder vehicles have gone through the roof. There are lots of small 4 cylinder vehicles which will provide consumers with fuel economies of 25 to 35 miles per gallon. This is a lot more desirable than the 15 MPG you might see on a sport utility vehicle, but does it really make that much of a difference?
It's all a matter of supply and demand. Many people have been trading in their sport utility vehicles for smaller cars, so there's a lot of demand for smaller cars and a moderate amount of supply. When it comes to sport utility vehicles, there's a lot of supply and not very much demand. Anyone who's taken an introductory economics class would be able to tell you that this is a recipe for very cheap sport utility vehicles. In fact, if you look around for a bit, you'll be able to get a huge steal on your next vehicle if you purchase an SUV from someone who is sick of paying the price of gasoline.
Sport utility vehicles do get a lot lower gas mileage than most vehicles, but if you take the time to do the math, it really isn't that much of a difference. Let's say you're a typical family that drives 10,000 miles per year. With a 17 MPG SUV, you would buy 588 gallons of gasoline. With a 24 MPG automobile that most people would have, you would only buy 416 gallons of gasoline per year. That's a difference of 172 gallons per year or about $35 per month. If you save $2000 on a vehicle because you bought an SUV as opposed to a mid-sized car and owned the car for 5 years, there would be absolutely no difference in the total price you pay to own and operate a vehicle.
Sport utility vehicles get a very bad rap from people who can't do math; the reality is they don't cost a substantial amount more to operate, and if you look in the right place, you can get a great deal on an SUV. CarMax is currently offering a number of great deals on them, so check them out!
