With skyrocketing fuel prices and a general shift to more economic cars in our world today, more and more consumers are looking towards purchasing vehicles that go further on a gallon of gas and automakers are seizing this chance to produce as many fuel efficient varieties of certain vehicles as possible. A large majority of car manufacturers offer fuel-efficient vehicles for more money than their conventional counterparts. Case in point, the 2012 Honda Civic HF, only available in the United States. The trim level is $800 more expensive than the LX model with a small increase in combined miles per gallon from 32 in the LX model to 33 in the HF model. The biggest difference is the highway mpg where the HF scores 41 mpg, passing the "Golden-40mpg" barrier compared to the regular Civic's 39 mpg.
Consumer Reports claims that it will take up to 18 years in order to return on the extra $800 investment a consumer makes when buying the HF model compared to the LX model because it estimates that the small increase in fuel economy will only really save consumers $45 a year.
An interesting option to help consumers save their money when purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles is to refinance their car loans. This process allows drivers to lower monthly payments while driving the same car.
The Civic HF offers alloy wheels, a decklid spoiler, underbody aero wind-cheating panels and a lowered suspension compared to the LX and is only available with an automatic transmission. Unfortunately, there are only two colors available on the HF, grey and white.
