Please read this

My point is that minivans do 90% of what an SUV does just better. The auto industry a has pushed people to buy these hug SUVs for double the price tag while the oil industry laughs its way to the bank for the smallest of margins to actually use that 10%.

Also if you need a 3 row SUV that means you have at least 2 kids. On avg that would be 21 years of child transportation. If you avg 30k mile a for 21 years. Thats 630,000 miles. If you take your AVG of 21 vs 36. That cost difference at 3.75 a gallon would be about $47,000.

Then you factor in a new vehicle every 100k miles that’s 6 vehicles purchases. Used 2023 GLS 51k 2023 Toyota sienna hybrid 37k. Thats another $84,000 difference.

Then you look at insurance difference over 21 years that’s probably $30,000. Add that all up. That’s about $134,000 over 21 years.

I divided out that 134,000 over 21 years. Put that $6,400 in a Roth yearly earning 4-7 percent that’s $204,000 to $287,000 after 21 years.

So when your kids go off to college I hope you don’t have to tell them you can’t help as much as you want to because I just wanted a fancy car. Or some medical condition comes along later life and can’t afford the care you want because I wanted to drive a Benz when I was younger.

That is mostly your ego. And your ego is the one paying the bill. Here’s a little chatGPT info for you.

Here’s a clearer breakdown of the fuel‑cost difference over 100,000 miles:

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🚗 2020 Toyota Sienna Hybrid • Typical real‑world combined efficiency: ~32–36 mpg (users report around 32–36 mpg city/highway)  • Using a conservative 34 mpg average → ~2,941 gallons of gas

🛻 2020 Toyota Sequoia (5.7L V8) • EPA combined rating: 14–15 mpg  • Taking 15 mpg → ~6,667 gallons of gas

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⛽ Fuel cost calculation (based on ~$3.21/gal national average)

Current national average for regular gas is about $3.21 per gallon  .

Vehicle Gallons Used Total Cost Sienna Hybrid 2,941 gal $9,445 Sequoia 6,667 gal $21,405 Difference — $11,960 more for the Sequoia

So, driving 100,000 miles in the Sequoia V8 costs roughly $12,000 more than the Sienna Hybrid—nearly double the fuel expense. Even if gas spikes to $4.00/gal, the gap remains large: about $15,556 difference over 100k miles.

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💡 Why is this so big? • Fuel efficiency: ~34 mpg vs ~15 mpg cuts consumption by over half. • Per‑gallon cost: moderate national gas price (~$3.21) compounds over thousands of gallons.

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Summary

Over 100k miles, the Sequoia uses ~3,700 gal more than the Hybrid, resulting in roughly $12,000 extra in fuel costs (at current average prices). Even if real-world conditions shift mpg slightly, the hybrid’s advantage remains substantial.

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If you have different mpg estimates or local gas prices, we can recalculate based on that—just let me know!