I have two vehicles, a 2005 Dodge RAM pickup and a Honda Goldwing 1800 motorcycle. I got bored this evening and decided to run some numbers to see just how much the price of gas is fscking up my life. I think it was rather eye-opening, so you might consider doing the same.
The Dodge gets 14.5 mpg rather steadily according to the “divide gas used to fill tank by miles driven” method. This seems irrespective of city or highway, but face it, who the hell can afford to drive a Dodge Hemi Truck long distances unless they have to, right?
The Honda Goldwing gets between 38 and 42 mpg depending on how I ride, so let’s just call it 40 for the sake of argument. Let’s also presume (because it’s a pretty real number) that I — like most people — currently end up driving 15,000 miles per year between work, family visits, grocery runs, and whathaveyou.
So. Just to depress myself, here’s what I came up with:
Dodge Truck == 14.5 mpg
Honda Goldwing 1800 == 40 mpg
@ $4.00 per gallon, assuming 15000 miles per year
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Dodge : $4137.93 /yr == 344.83 per month
Honda : $1500.00 /yr == 125.00 per month
$219.83 savings per month at $4.00 per gallon
@ $5.00 per gallon, assuming 15000 miles per year
————————————————-
Dodge : $5172.41 /yr == $431.03 per month
Honda : $1875.00 /yr == $156.25 per month
$274.78 savings per month at $5.00 per gallon
@10.00 per gallon, assuming 15000 miles per year
————————————————
Dodge : $10,344.83 /yr == $863.07 per month
Honda : $3750 / yr == $312.50 per month
$550.57 savings per month at $10.00 per gallon
Meanwhile, I would *LOVE* to sell my truck and buy a Honda Accord or Civic for the mileage and insurance. The trouble is, no one is going by book value any more and dealers are saying “we can’t give you more than $10,500, because that’s what we can get one at auction for“. Bullshit, but who am I are to argue.
Trouble is, I still owe approximately $17.5k on the loan of the truck, which until gas prices quadrupled, was still worth every penny. Especially considering it’s a “collector’s special edition” (It’s a Dodge Daytona edition RAM). I’m thinking of selling it to a private buyer if I can find one, and to get as close as I can to payoff, even if I have to take out a loan for the rest.
If I can get $15,000 for it and have to take out a $2500 loan, that’s only a year to pay it off at $200 per month savings for riding the bike, and then I could find myself a 4-year-old Accord and come out much, much better.
Is that logical?
Today — being one of probably the last 75 degree days of the season, and me — with time on my hands, I decided to take the standard loop from Huntsville, AL, up through Fayetteville, TN, around 64 to Dellrose, TN, through Elkton, and on to Ardmore, TN where I picked up US-31 into Athens, AL. A Coke/gas break, and back to the house for me.
