Cheap-Gas | Are you selling your truck or SUV to save money?

A friend of mine put his pickup truck on the market a while back and it took three months to sell it. Why was he selling it? Because the seat hurt his back if he drove it for too long. As gas prices climb higher and higher you will start to see more people dumping there 4-wheel drive trucks and big SUV's in favor of small cars. Apparently this is the start of a trend.

So my first question is; are you, or do you know anyone that is selling there truck/SUV and buying a small car? The movement is picking up steam, and with a $4 per gallon gas national average on the horizon I suspect a year from now it will be a full blown epidemic. I know I've considered selling my 2005 Mustang time and again to buy something that gets better gas mileage, but my heart isn't completely into it.

Is it worth it? hat will all depend on how much you drive. Right now I average 288 miles driven per week. In my car that equates to about $210 per month in fuel costs. Yea, that's alot. I remember 12 years ago filling my VW GTI for $15 and driving a week and a half, but I digress. So let's say your car payment is $300 per month, fuel costs $200 per month and you also have to pay $100 per month in insurance. That's roughly $600 per month to drive a vehicle like mine. Now, if you sell your hot rod or pickup and buy a Honda Civic, expect to save around $80 per month in fuel. For most people that will be a real savings (if you buy a Toyota Prius then it's a huge savings).

So how does this bode for manufactures that sell alot of big pickups and SUV's? Not very well at all, at least until they retool to sell mid to small sized cars and crossover SUV's. It does mean that if your in the market for a truck you will get a great deal. A year from now you might even find new ones that have been on the lot for 6 months at half off, who knows. Either way, it's going to be a greatly changing landscape on American freeways in the next few years.