So I pulled the trigger and bought a new (to me) car. And I went hybrid. Bought a 2011 Kia Optima Hybrid (why do you hate America) with only 11K miles on it.

Love it so far, getting good gas mileage. About 38 MPG but I am still getting used to, and trying to optimize my electric driving.

The other thing is, it takes 87 octane vs the 93 octane my old Maxima needed to remain happy.

So some napkin math based on 10K annual miles:

Optima: 36 MPG - 280 Gallon per/year - 3.55/gallon = $994
Maxima: 20 MPG - 500 Gallon per/year - 3.79/gallon = $1895

Not too shabby. Though the fueleconomy.gov site may be a little low for my Maxima MPG. But at 25 MPG that puts my annual gas cost at $1516. So yay for me.