With the ever rising costs in fuel, more and more commuters are considering purchasing a new vehicle with better gas mileage in order to save money. As a result, many car companies are now spending significant portions of their advertising budgets on commercials claiming their vehicles have excellent gas mileage.
Some car commercials claim 22mpg, and some 27mpg. But ought one consider 27 miles-per-gallon good gas mileage when there are vehicles out there that have 50 miles per gallon on the highway? The answer is no.
My vehicle, a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta (Deisel ) gets around 50 miles to the gallon on the highway, and 45 in the city. I was able to drive from San Diego, California to Seattle washington on two tank fulls of gas. In addition, I drove from Seattle, to Liousiana, to San Diego, California, and then back to Seattle, Washington, on a business trip on less then 8 fill ups (while using air conditioning the whole way). I doubt one driving a 27 mile-per-gallon vehicle could tout the same.
I purchased my Jetta new, but the nice thing is that now 2002 VW Jettas are nearly 6 years old, and that means one can be purchased for significantly cheaper than a new vehicle, and much much cheaper than a new hybrid (which tout about the same mileage).
The only draw back to the Jetta, besides its age, is that it runs on Diesel fuel, which is significantly more expensive then regular unleaded gasoline.
For those searching for a slightly newer vehicle with good gas mileage, the following website gives a good list of vehicles and their city and highway gas mileage ratings
Happy Hunting!
