"Oh you need to go out and get you one of these, honey"

I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to get a new Elantra or Sonata. He's got 4 yrs left at over $400/month on his CX-7. They're leasing them for around $200/mon (that can always changed based on credit, etc) with 2k down. He was complaining about the down pmt, so I told him:

- You'll save $200/month on payment alone, you'll repay yourself in 10 months.
- You'll save probably $75-100/month on fuel savings, that's around $1k for the year.
- You'll probably save on insurance also.

Then he realized that it might not be a bad idea. Especially if after the 10 months of repaying himself, he socks that 200/month back into a savings account to save up for the next vehicle. I get it, leasing is cheaper short term and buying is cheaper over say a 10 year term. He keeps bouncing back and forth on it.

In his case, switching will start to save him $$ right away. Even if he buys and adds 2 years to his payments again, it helps him out more in his monthly budget and overtime he can pay more towards his payment and come out probably a year earlier from his payments.

 

It's because you drive so few miles that the Frontier can be considered keepable. Otherwise the poor mpg would dictate you selling the truck despite the note since the gas savings alone could easily pay for a new vehicle payment. Especially a used GenII.

I would have spent $28,000 in fuel (at 14mpg) over the last 5yrs (136,000 miles) if I had not sold my truck. Instead I spent $8,000 in fuel driving the Prius.

 

Sometimes I envy you guys that swapped a low-mpg vehicle for a Prius. I was driving a GMC Prism @about 30 mpg when I got my '04 in April 2009. I've 'only' saved $1400 in the 26 months I've had it.

I bought my wife an '05 Prius a year ago to replace a 15 mpg Ford Ranger. In the 12 and a little bit months she's had it, she's saved almost $1500. So 12+ months and almost $1500 vs 26+ months and 'only' $1400...it just isn't FAIR!!!

 

We should all get together and spend a day driving by his house one by one so all he sees are prii passing by.

 

It makes ownership of the Prius that much more enjoyable to have saved so much but the fact you also get MUCH cleaner emissions than your Prism makes you cool in my book.

 

Is that the secret message?

 

I think it was the "I love you Honey" part.

 

So Coach, we all know that you can't get a Prius because your friends and peers say it is not a guys' car. So why don't you go out and buy one, put a few Harley-Davidson stickers on it and call it the "Prius Harley-Davidson Edition"?

Keith

 

Oh man, I wanted someone to get it, but I better clear it up before we degenerate too quickly.

Check out the first letter of each line. There. That's it (Dweezil!)

Related, a friend of mine did this on an important standardized test senior year of high school, making sure a wholly inappropriate and vulgar message was secretly read by the eventual correcting teacher.