Used cars may be worth more or less depending on their gas mileage.

My brother-in-law recently bought a pre-owned car.  Unfortunately, he seems to have forgotten about how high gas prices were not that long ago, and how high they are likely to be again soon, as he got a gas-guzzling SUV.

Gas prices have been pretty good since the presidential election last year, but they are on their way up again now, it seems.  This shouldn’t be a surprise by any means — we knew that the reprieve was temporary, and that they would come back up again soon enough.

That’s why it’s important to keep things like gas mileage in mind when you are looking for used cars in Florida.  There’s a reason why many cars with poor gas mileage are selling for quite cheap right now.  Dealers are counting on people being swayed by the price, but try to plan ahead: What may not seem like bad mileage right now can seem a lot worse as gas prices go up.

So what constitutes good mileage?  Surprisingly, this hasn’t changed much over the years.  Twenty-five to thirty miles to the gallon is still considered pretty darn good, with the best cars getting 35 or even 40 miles to the gallon — but that’s fairly rare.  Even the hybrids only get 40 or 50 miles to the gallon.

If I were you, I would look for the highest possible gas mileage you can find in a used car.  Your friend may laugh at your car now, but when gas prices shoot up again, you’ll be the ones laughing at them as they pour their paychecks into their gas tanks!

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