Five Reasons to Keep Your Gas Guzzler

For many people, selling their gas guzzler doesn't make financial sense.

With the average cost of gas above $4 a gallon nationwide, more and more people are making the decision to get rid of their SUVs in an attempt to save money. While this would appear to be a good move, in many cases it will end up costing you more money than you will save.

When one looks at trading in a gas guzzler for a fuel-efficient car purely as a question of gas mileage, it makes perfect sense to want to make the trade and pocket the savings.

What many people forget to consider is that gas mileage is only one thing that needs to be considered in order to determine if the trade makes financial sense. When all factors are considered, trading in a SUV for a more fuel efficient car doesn't make sense for a lot of people.

How much do you drive?

The amount you have to drive will be the major determining factor as to whether or not it makes financial sense to trade in your SUV for a fuel-efficient car.

For example, if you own a SUV that gets 15 miles per gallon and you want to trade it in for a fuel efficient car that gets 30 m.p.g., that means that the trade will net 15 more miles of driving for every gallon you purchase. Most people who see a 15 m.p.g. gain assume it means large savings, but the true savings is dependent on the number of miles you drive each month.

The average person drives approximately 12,000 miles a year, according to the EPA. That's 1,000 miles a month, which would result in a $267-a-month savings with at $4-a-gallon gas. For many people, the cost of trading in their SUV will be close, if not more, than this amount that they will end up saving.

The less you drive, the less sense it makes to trade in your gas-guzzler.