Probably the most subtle impacts of mandated fuel economy are those associated with the consumer. In the current marketplace, the consumer examines the features of new and used automobiles and the anticipated price of gasoline and decides whether to purchase an automobile and which characteristics to seek. Having acquired an automobile, the consumer decides how much to drive it. Fuel economy enters into the decision in terms of trading off an initial payment for fuel economy with a stream of payments for gasoline over the life of the car, taking into account the value of the car when the consumer disposes of it.