Over the last few years with the obnoxious hike in gas prices, it seems as though many Americans are getting smart and shying away from purchasing large gas guzzling SUV’s. While the SUV/truck is always a nice second vehicle to own for a multitude of reasons, such as moving large items or for towing power, there has been a recent surge in promoting, selling, and even buying economical cars in America. Basically, consumers are waking up and asking themselves: Why should I pay $50 to fill up my gas tank that will last me maybe a week, when I can buy a fuel efficient vehicle and fill up the tank for $25, lasting almost 2 weeks?

Car companies are beginning to bring over their European style cars to America to make money because they now realize that people are ready to buy a cheaper, smaller, more fuel efficient car, such as the Smart ForTwo and the UP!. Both of these cars are slated to be released in America real soon and both are expected to get over 45 MPG, with the UP! expected to get 67 MPG. The cost range for both of these cars is between $8,000 and $12,000. Although these cars are not out in our market yet, there are already other comparable alternatives, like the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris, both getting about 40 MPG for around $13,000. Not a bad deal if you ask me.

To put all this in perspective, look at the 2007 H3, Hummer’s most fuel efficient vehicle and compare it to the 2007 Honda Fit. Obviously, one can see from the numbers that the Fit gets about double the MPG that the H3 gets. So when there is a gas crisis, like there was in 1973, and while you are stuck in a line of cars waiting to get served your ration of gas for the week, the drivers of the little fuel efficient cars will be fine on gas for another week or so.

The way I see it, gas prices are going to continue to climb as long as we are over consuming gas and while it’s nice to have a huge roomy SUV for commuting or recreational use, owners of such vehicles are going to be handing over a lot of dollars to drive. There is no need, in my opinion, to own an SUV/truck, unless of course your livelihood depended on it. The only reasonable answer to me is that more people wake up and realize that if they want to be more fiscally responsible then they should go for the more fuel efficient cars. If you want to stop the surge in gas prices, do something about it and buy a small fuel efficient car.

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