2 main pre-purchase decisions to make...

Completely agreed. The misconceptions that people have regarding this car blow my mind. Primarily about price.

Almost everyone I talk to says 2 things 1) by the time you pay off the difference between that car and a normal econobox, you could have driven 500K miles extra. I ask them ... how much do you think the Prius was, and every one of them says about $30K. When I tell them it was $21K they just about pass out. 2) Yeah, see how much you like it when you have to replace that battery .... they're about ten grand. I then respond that the only batteries that Toyota has ever replaced have been damaged in accidents, that the Prius has been around for 14 years, that the battery is designed to last the life of the car, or about 200-250K miles, and that even IF the battery needed to be replaced, it's about $2K and falling like a stone.

In the mean time, I'm getting roughly 50 MPG, in a very technologically advanced car that's engaging to drive, and when gas is $6 a gallon, and their SUV is costing $150 to fill up .... TWICE A WEEK .... tell me then how the Prius was a bad buy ...

REV

 

It depends on what you mean by a "bad buy".
We Prius owners bring a lot of this on ourselves, since we tend to be like Mac weenies---hyper-defensive and somewhat snobbish.

If you "have" to have a mid-sized sedan, and you can put up with driving a Prius, then your ROI over say....a new Camary will happen well inside of 100,000 miles. This is if you factor everything from insurance costs, to sales tax, and excise tax deltas, maintenance, all of it.... and gas stays at or above $3.50. I did a rough guestimate and came up with about 60-75K miles.
Of course this will vary wildly from place to place, and car to car, and the math will get crazy if fuel goes below 3 bucks or above 5.
Example: You'll probably never break even over a Corolla----but then you'd be stuck with a Corolla! That's pretty much the whole thing in a nutshell.
Advice:
Leave the ROI (return on investment) arguments and all of the other silliness to the "experts" and just be happy driving the car you want to drive. (Edit: This will cost you, since you'll have to let other people drive the car they want to drive!!!)
I ran the numbers a lot of different ways.
If you want to drive a Prius, then you will get an ROI over just about all of the mid-sized sedans out there. Much more quickly than Prius bashers say you will. Not nearly as quickly as the Prius Cheerleaders say you will either!!

If you're reeeeeeally hard-over on the whole TCO thing, then you can spin the numbers until a Corvette ZR1 looks attractive...

Figures don't lie...but liars do figure!

 

I'll tell you ETC, Corollas aren't as cheap as they once were. By the time you get a decent one (to remotely compare to the Prius's amenities) ... they're 19K or so. That's only a $2K difference from what you can snag a nice 2010 Prius for with incentives and discounts.

My wife has a nice 2005 Corolla S (paid $17K back then) .... she's got 145,000 miles on it and so far the thing has just been a reliability and maintenance nightmare. At 125,000 I actually had to put a headlight bulb in it (can you believe that ?) .... that was the first non-maintenance 'repair' in it's entire life. It's gotten an average of 33 MPG over those 145,00 miles.

I thought Toyotas were supposed to be reliable cars .... but that headlight thing really ticked me off ....

REV

 

I would completely agree with your first idea. I can't imagine paying another $3K or so for a moonroof, NO, make that $3800, I just checked. So a 15% increase in the price for that (OK, and the Navagation system) to me isn't anywhere near worth it. Since Toytoa attempts to rip people off who only want a back-up camera by forcing them to pay for an exhorbitantly priced package, I would add an aftermarket one.

For the second, I never would have picked the Sandy Beach Metallic, but after it was the color that was available at that time, I have gotten to really like it. I also really don't like white, but I do think the Blizzard Pearl is extremely nice.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll end up happy with whatever Prius you manage to find.

 

Even if we ignore efficiency and operating costs, not everyone will prefer a typical mid size sedan over a Prius.

In our case the hatchback configuration and the firmer ride that saves my wife from getting car sick would have been enough reason for us to choose the Prius over the Camry even if there were no other considerations.

 

Ain't that the truth! After pricing a Corolla and Civic with my options, I bought a Prius. A no-brainer decision for this old man, and I get the cool technology and great MPGs.

Happy Motoring,

Tom