Trading truck for econo car. Is it worth it?

[gm350reratliff]

No, not my 4Runner. My 2012 F150. I like it and I do use to haul and tow stuff. The problem is the mpg. I average around 17mpg but if just strictly to and from work (with no reasons to hurry, 55mph) I can get 21-22mpg. Not bad for a truck its size I think. However, gas is getting stupid expensive here and my job swapped me to another crew so I lost my 3-man carpool. There's not really anyone to carpool with on my new crew so that's out. I drive 28 miles one way to work. At least there isn't much traffic or stop and go. There are a few hills though.

So I've been thinking of selling/trading my truck for a used Rav4/Matrix and a much older truck that I can use just when I need to haul or tow stuff. I still want something at least AWD because occasionally we get some pretty good snow. As for the 4Runner, my wife drives it most these days with almost the same commute. So I'm probably going to remove about 1.5" of lift to help with mpgs as well. She carpools as well so that helps.

So what do you all think? Is it worth it?

Also, anyone have any experience with Rav4's? We test drove one about 5 years ago (when we bought the 4Runner) and all I remember was that the V6 was pretty quick. Are Rav4's any good? Reliable? Roomy enough for 2 adults and 2 kids? How are the mpgs?

Thanks

 

[Hulley]

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[Stick Figure]

Regarding the RAV4 we test drove a newer model one recently to get a comparison for my parents. Then we went and picked them up a third gen 4Runner. I'm sure the RAV4 is a reliable CAR I mean it is a Toyota after all. Problem for me is that it seemed to suffer from the newer vehicle cheapness, and was a car based SUV which I generally find pretty worthless. Not sure how they actually do on mileage since we didn't look that far in to it.

My suggestion would be to keep your truck if you are happy with it, and pick up an older Civic/CRX/del Sol or an Corolla/MR2. Any of those cars can get around 40mpg or better if you drive nice, and a few of those offer a good amount of fun when you want it as well.

 

[Rocky5000100]

The rav4s MPG aren't that great actually. My dad has a 2002 and he only gets 22 city and like 25 hwy. The newer ones get better MPG I think.

 

[SparkEE]

If you can get the vehicles you want without paying out any extra it may be worth it. For this example, lets say you get 18 mpg with the current truck.
A small SUV would get say 25 mpg average. Over the course of 4 weeks, you would save about 4 gallons of gas a week (280 miles to work and back, 5 days a week) for a total of 16 gallons. At $4 / gallon, that is $64 saved over 4 weeks, or $832 for the year. If you drive more, the amount saved will increase.

There are other factors to consider as well such as differences in maintenance over the life of each vehicle, insurance, registration, etc. If you trade the one truck for 2 vehicles, that is easily double the insurance and registration costs. Maintenance will also be more for 2 vehicles even if one is driven minimally.

Some less concrete things to think about - if you have a more fuel efficient vehicle, you may want to drive more because it costs less per mile in which case that will eat into potential savings.

It really depends on how fast you want to see the return.

 

[Stick Figure]

There are other factors to consider as well such as differences in maintenance over the life of each vehicle, insurance, registration, etc. If you trade the one truck for 2 vehicles, that is easily double the insurance and registration costs. Maintenance will also be more for 2 vehicles even if one is driven minimally.

Insurance can be tricky. When I bought my IS300 and insured it they wanted a fortune until I picked up an MR2 a few weeks later. The price actually dropped $1800 every 6 months to add the second car. Registration is true, and maintenance isn't quite double. Sure some parts are going to old and rot just due to age, but a lot of stuff won't really get too worn out while sitting, and the flip side of having a second vehicle when you need to work on the other can be more than worth the trade off.

 

[Rubberdown]

Do simple math. A rav4 gets 31mpg. Your truck gets 22mpg. So 9 mpg difference lets say for arguments sake, you drive to work 50 weeks a year. That's typical. So 5days a week times 50 weeks is 250 drives to work a year. Each drive is 56 miles. So 250 x 56 is 14,000 miles a year. So, 14000 miles, divided by 22mpg is about 637 gallons or gas. At 31mpg, that's 451 gallons of gas. A difference of..... 185 gallons of gas. So. 185 x $4.00 is $740.00. So you would save $740.00 a year in gas. But are you going to loose money on your truck when you trade it in? What about now insuring 2 cars in lieu of just your truck? What about maintenance on your new to you much older truck? And that older truck definitely won't get 22 mpg highway when you do use it. I would say its kind of a wash, and I surely wouldn't give up a 2012 to buy an old truck and a used rav4. Just my two cents, for whatever that's worth. I did all of this same back and forth about a year ago with my tundra and realized it wasn't worth it to me. I even looked at getting a motorcycle to commute, but with insurance costs in houston, plus the thought of riding in the rain to work, or sitting in traffic on a 100 degree day with no a/c, I decided not only no, but hell no.

 

[gm350reratliff]

Very good points. I think I will just leave early and drive slow. I probably would lose out on trading. Insurance x 2 is where the savings would end. I use my truck as a truck often so having just a car wouldn't cut it. Thanks for the replies!

 

[JohnsD90]

What about getting a 2.3 Ranger with a 5 speed i believe they stopped in 2011, that will get you better mpg, and still get you a truck for what you need, plus its a 5 speed so its fun to drive.

 

[Love4myRunner]

I hear this question all the time. If your truck is paid off it isn't worth it if you are planing to make car payments on an economic car. Friend at work asked me if he should trade in his payed off tacoma for a new corolla... No because he would actually be spending more per month. Zero car payment and 200$ a month in gas vs 290$ car payment and 90$ a month in gas.

Do the math and your decision should be easier.

 

[034RUNNER]

I'm in the same boat as you. I do a little more miles in my commute but I thought about MPG's when it was time to get rid of the 4R. Honestly, I still think about it sometimes because my new ride doesn't do any better and requires premium, but I knew all that going in.

Thoughts on Rav4: MPG's are as great as you'd think really. I had one for a loaner for a month recently, that I ended up being stuck with for a month while my father's Tundra got a repaint, and he in turn took my car. It wasn't awful...and I'm sure it's reliable and whatnot but with my 35 mile commute, one way, I was getting ~20 on the highway. I have a pretty heavy foot, but you know how the 9-5 commute is.

My take: Do you like your truck? Keep it. Unless you'd be saving money by selling it and getting something else (profiting off the truck), I don't think it's worth it. Just my $.02.