With gas prices the way they are, I think a lot of people are starting to think about the alternate options available. Sadly, there isn't much choice - Drive or Not.  I need to drive or I'm not getting to work.  But after putting $65 into the car today and things are only going to get worse, I figured that it might be time to check out some cars with better mileage ratings.  Now, I drive an SUV - a Hyundai Santa Fe, 4cyl, manual. We need the extra space it provides to load the kids and all the stuff that goes along with them when we go places. A quick search on Google brought me to this ultra cool site: www.FuelEconomy.gov that allows you to find the best rated cars, trucks, and SUVs on the market today and even compare them side by side with any other vehicle of your choice. 

According to this site, the best SUV is a Ford Escape with the Hybrid engine. It's rated at 30 MPG compared to just 20 for the Santa Fe.  All that works out to $800 a year less in gas.  Sounds really nice, doesn't it?  There's a catch; the car costs $33,000 compared to just $26,000 for the Hyundai.  That's a total of $7,000 more! Lets see, the extra cost divided by the savings in gas and you get 8.75 years.  You pay more upfront and then have to drive the car for 8.75 years before you make up the extra cost. 

Instead of paying an extra $7,000 I could put that money towards gas and I would get an extra 2.86 years of gas paid for.  So, I pay more for the hybrid and it takes 8.75 years to make up the extra price paid on gas, or I pay less and take the money saved and get 2.86 years of free gas.