Question of the Day: Would you buy a fuel-efficient car to save money or the environment?

Posted: Oct 27, 2008
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According to a recent study done by BMW, drivers today are opting for lower emission cars “not to save the planet” but because the cars are “kinder to their wallets.” While 20 percent of Britons surveyed said that they do look at CO2 levels when purchasing a new car, they also look out how much money it would save them.

After surveying 2,068 drivers BMW found that three quarters of them would purchase a lower-emissions car only if it saved them money.  When asked why they would choose to drive a more environmentally friendly vehicle, 59 percent said that it was because they were looking for lower gas bills while only 13 percent said that reduced emissions was their key motive.

So with that in mind, we’re asking you guys what would your key motive be for purchasing a hybrid or a compact fuel-efficient car. Let us know your reasoning in the comments section after the jump.


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  • zermatt

    Most people vote with their wallets and cars are no exception. What I find interesting here is that this survey is of UK residents and not US citizens. I keep hearing from my Green friends that the US is auto centered and cruel to the environment. They also say that Europe is more enlighten and that the US could learn from them.

    It seems to me that the UK is no different than the US in this regard.

  • cristian armen

    BOTH!
    Does anyone want to see their children rich but sick?
    Does anyone want to live in a dirty rotten house?
    1st reason environment., second only money.

  • Neil

    Is easy to be 'green” when life in general is easy!
    I would guess as the economic situation in England is at least as bad as the US many respondants were more worried about paying their mortgage than saving the environment.
    I hate to say it but a know I am, I would love to be as Green as possible but not if it means living in a radboard box (even if that technically counts as recycling)

  • Kabluey

    Moreover, do we care about our present situation that we know of, or the unsure future we can only attempt to protect??

  • JVC

    I prefer performance cars and/or sporty SUVs.

    I would buy a fuel efficient car (e.g. Audi Q7 3.0 TDI 31mpg) to preserve the environment. If it allowed me to save money, great!, if not, I don't really care. I'm not that well off to not care about saving money but I also believe that people will always find excuses to not be “Green”. It so happens that the popular excuse now is affordability. I bet that if you look at most people's budget you would find they are not willing to give up trivial expenses in order to serve a higher purpose then themselves.

    There is something to say about a performance SUV that gives you 31 mpg and still feels sporty. Try matching any boring hybrid drive to that highway performance – which is where most spend their time driving their family SUVs.

    I am curious to know who BMW polled. Was it BMW owners or random drivers because the trend for BMW drivers is that they mostly lease their vehicles (to drive more vehicle for the money). This would imply a biased response to the question given that money concious people will lean towards saving money.

    As a side note, I like the interesting statistic that Audi posted recently during their Diesel Across the country event … if all americans were to switch to a diesel drive with similar fuel efficiency as Audi's TDI engines we would save 1.5 million (or was it billions?) barrels of oil per day or the equivalent, they said, of all the oil imported from the Middle East. Talk about cutting off oil dependency!

  • JVC

    I prefer performance cars and/or sporty SUVs.

    I would buy a fuel efficient car (e.g. Audi Q7 3.0 TDI 31mpg) to preserve the environment. If it allowed me to save money, great!, if not, I don't really care. I'm not that well off to not care about saving money but I also believe that people will always find excuses to not be “Green”. It so happens that the popular excuse now is affordability. I bet that if you look at most people's budget you would find they are not willing to give up trivial expenses in order to serve a higher purpose then themselves.

    There is something to say about a performance SUV that gives you 31 mpg and still feels sporty. Try matching any boring hybrid drive to that highway performance – which is where most spend their time driving their family SUVs.

    I am curious to know who BMW polled. Was it BMW owners or random drivers because the trend for BMW drivers is that they mostly lease their vehicles (to drive more vehicle for the money). This would imply a biased response to the question given that money concious people will lean towards saving money.

    As a side note, I like the interesting statistic that Audi posted recently during their Diesel Across the country event … if all americans were to switch to a diesel drive with similar fuel efficiency as Audi's TDI engines we would save 1.5 million (or was it billions?) barrels of oil per day or the equivalent, they said, of all the oil imported from the Middle East. Talk about cutting off oil dependency!