my girlfriend is thinking of selling her 2001 Infiniti I-30 (80K miles, good condition) for a more fuel-efficient 4-door before she goes back to school next fall. she'd like for it to have similar or less miles and be dependable. i assume this is a reasonable proposition, but am not sure of the current market for decent, used, fuel-efficient cars these days.

6/26/2008 3:58:47 PM

she's going to get price raped. Tell her to sit on her already okay fuel economy car. The market for 35+ mpg vehicles is stupid right now, and she will likely end up losing more money on the tradeup than she would save in gas spending.

6/26/2008 4:01:23 PM

Going from an I-30 to a Civic 4-door or the like to save $4-6 every fill-up isn't worth it anyways.

6/26/2008 4:08:25 PM

trade for camry or accord

6/26/2008 4:17:02 PM

anybody else want to chime in? (thanks for those that have responded already)

6/27/2008 12:54:53 PM

Friend of mine is shopping for vehicles right now. 12 year old civics with a bunch of dings and faded paint had an advertised price of $5k at small-time dealers.

6/27/2008 1:39:10 PM

2001 Infinity I-30
Reported combined 20MPG
KBB PP Value at 80k miles - $7900

Assume a trade for a 2001-3 Civic for the same money/miles in the current market
Reported combined 30MPG (with manual transmission)

So for every 1000 miles driven at $4.50 per gallon:

Infinity will use 50 gallons of gas for $225
Honda will use 33.3 gallons for $150

Honda will save $75 per thousand miles... not a whole lot. Weigh that against the tax/tag fees and unknown maintenance needs of a new-to-you car and that seems like a pretty small number imo.

Unless she drives 10,000 miles a year keep the Infinity - better ride, more power, quieter.

6/27/2008 5:28:01 PM

most people drive at least 10k miles per year.

still, i think making this trade is dumb. it would be different if she was daily driving my V10 Ram 2500 at 11 mpg. She just isn't going to gain enough fuel mileage to make it worth her while.

I mean, I have no specific boner for an I30, but swapping it for another car just for fuel economy seems dumb in most cases.

6/27/2008 5:34:48 PM