Buy a Fuel Efficient SUV
SUVs make wonderful personal and/or family vehicles because of their big size, many amenities and large towing capacity, but they do have the downside of being gas guzzlers that will cost you a fortune to keep fueled. You can learn how to buy a fuel efficient SUV, though, to help cut back your costs and make your purchase affordable and not a burden on your family or personal budget.
Steps
- Start with recommendations on which SUV vehicles are supposedly the most fuel efficient.
- Check out the "Top Ten Most Fuel-Efficient SUVs" article from Autoweb. The article is a few years old, but you could use it as a starting point to do further research on more recent years of the listed models.
- MSN has a list of fuel efficient vehicles on their autos website.
- Take a look at the additional lists found at http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/buying-advice/most-fuelefficient-suvs-306/overview/index.htm.
- See what the government has deemed the most fuel efficient SUV at the fueleconomy.gov website.
- Think about what factors you need to take into consideration when making a fuel efficient SUV purchase.
- Look at the figures and compare city and highway miles per gallon (mpg).
- Take into account the number that the SUV is being assigned for its carbon footprint.
- Look at the vehicle's air pollution score, a score that vehicles are assigned to represent the airborne pollutants (particularly smog) that the vehicle emits. Scores will range from zero to 10.
- Climate change ratings will describe the emission of greenhouse gases that the vehicle emits.
- Take other features into consideration. These can include, but are not limited to, the vehicle's safety rating, the size class of the vehicle, the engine size, how many cylinders it is, whether or not the transmission is automatic, if it is front-wheel drive or not, if it is turbocharged or supercharged, what the passenger volume is, and whether or not is has a large volume of space for luggage.
- Consider the purchase of an SUV hybrid to help you be even more fuel efficient.
- Check out the SUV hybrid information available at http://www.hybridsuv.com/.
- Another hybrid ranking source can be found at http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Hybrid-SUVs/.
- Compare hybrid SUVs side-by-side online.
- Narrow down your selection, and then start your search for the vehicle or vehicles in which you are interested.
- Make a short list of your potential favorite vehicles.
- Shop online or visit the local vehicle dealerships that you think will have the vehicle for which you are looking.
- Always take a test drive of the vehicle or vehicles that you are interested in, and if the dealership is willing, consider taking the SUV home for the night in order to get more driving in it to increase your comfort level with making the purchase.
Tips
- If a dealership does not have the color of the vehicle that you want, find out if it can swap with another dealership in order to have the SUV delivered directly to the lot for you. This will save you from having to drive a long distance in order to retrieve the vehicle.
