I own a Chevy Silverado...

Remember the good 'ole days?

Back then, many had recreational & utility vehicles. It was no big deal, since the only time they used them was when they were actually needed. All other driving was in something more efficient.

I see nothing wrong with having your cake and eating it too. Your truck will last many more years in turn and you won't be bleeding money filling its tank frequently.
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:welcome:

One method you can try to compare costs between the two is to do a cost per mile comparison. I seem to remember Edmunds having a calculator for that but I couldn't find it after a quick search of their websites. I think some car review websites also post a cost per mile figure.

A quick Google search gave me a True Cost of Driving link. You can modify some of the variables (including gas) to suit your situation. To get a cost per mile for fuel, you can probably take the inverse of MPG and get gallons per mile and use that to determine a cost per mile of each car. You can probably zero out some of the other variables that you either don't need or don't have information for. It also will tell you the annual cost of your vehicle.

 

I have State Farm. Did you talk to them about their Drive Safe and Save program? It's a program that basically gives you a discount based on your annual mileage. In other words, the less you drive, the bigger discount you get.

From State Farm's website:

I would think that would net you a bigger discount since it sounds like your trucks annual mileage would drop significantly.

 

Prius c will be sized like a Honda Fit. 90 something HP

'regular' Prius is sized in between Corolla / Camry on interior. 132 total HP

Prius v .. thinking ... sized like a Camry interior. Seats are wee smaller, but pretty good. 132 total HP

 

Is you Silverado a late model year? Hopefully they are applying multi-car discount. $636/yr increase is pretty hefty.

 

Why not look for a 2011 liftback now? The liftback was refreshed for 2012. So you might find a leftover or lightly used 2011 for about what you'd pay for a new c. While, you likely won't get one for >$19k, the c you want likely won't be either. While the base is no where near bare bones and well equipped, the cost of the optional equipment, which includes cruise control, isn't known at this time. Insurance might be lower on the older Prius.

The 2011 combined mileage is the same as the c, and if your commute is more highway than city, you might actually do better with it than with the c. Then again, if your commute is all sub 45mph, then there is no beating the c, and will reasonable pedal control you should beat the EPA 53mpg.

 

For hauling tasks, you'd be amazed at what the Prius and the new V can hold. How often do you pull your RV per year?

 

Prius should be much easier on brakes and tires than your pickup... pads alone last the lifetime for some people

 

I was going to point out something similar to SPwolf.

1) Calculate the cost of replacement tires for each vehicle. Assign a reasonable timeframe that you may get out of the tires (say 36 months/60,000 miles or 30 months/50,000 miles) and prorate the tires.

2) Prius = Synthetic Oil change every 10,000 miles. Truck = dino oil change every 5,000 miles.

3) Prius = No belts. Truck = Belts changed every XX months.

4) Prius brake pads = 100,000 miles (pretty easy to do). Truck brake pads = xx miles

5) Prius = change transmission fluid every 30,000 miles (to be safe) thus no need for new transmission. Truck = transmission after xx miles.

6) Prius battery and hybrid components have 8 year 100,000 mile warranty (10 year 150,000 mile warranty in CARB states). Replacement cost of a sparkling new battery is less than a new truck tranny. Ditto that for the inverter. You might consider the tranny vs all hybrid components a wash to keep the math simpler.

If you can keep the truck for "truck like" purposes and afford it, that is a great compromise.

 

I see you are only applying the math to your work trips. Do you not plan on driving it for anything other than work? That decision will make a pretty big difference in your total savings.

I traded up from a twin-turbo GMC Sierra Z71 (712rwhp) to a GenII Prius and I have never looked back. When I passed 120,000 miles the Prius was paid off with the gas savings and I ended up with a vehicle that was 4years newer. Sold the GMC for $10k and bought the Prius for $28k.

 

OK, let's assume that your dry climate means that vehicles don't rust. So, they will age with miles.

Imagine you owned two pick-ups instead of one and drove them on alternating days. Your pick-ups would each last twice as long so it would be like owning one after the other except that you'd have additional costs because you were running two of them: insurance, registration and additional borrowing costs because you bought two at once.

Now replace one with a Prius c and drive them appropriately. Now at $3.50/gallon, you have over $2282.82 in gas savings just on your commutes. That would be more than the additional costs of running two vehicles (as well any increased oil changes on the infrequently used pick-up and any extra servicing costs if you have to service the Prius at a dealer). There should also be plenty left over to cover battery replacement should you be unlucky and have it fail at 150,001 miles!

Since it covers the extra costs, the car will pay for itself in the end. While you have payments you'll have reduced cashflow, but you'll have more in the long term.

It's possible a cheaper subcompact would be even better than the Prius c, depending on how you drive your miles, but the Prius c would be a hedge against rising gas prices.

 

Sometime using less gas is its own reward, you can't measure it only in dollars saved. How old is the truck? What is your commute like? You may like it better in a Prius.

 

IMHO living in SoCal I'd go for a scooter or small displacement motorcycle. Alot cheaper and alot faster if you have to deal with congestion. Cheaper insurance too.

 

It does indeed seem the way to go. The proper way to calculate the cost of a vehicle is to consider:

interest rate you may pay on a loan
depreciation on the vehicle
cost of maintenance, and also repairs if it's old
insurance
cost of fuel

So in your case without running numbers you'll save money on fuel, but pay a little on interest, you'll have two cars depreciating (if you lease the car, depreciation becomes irrelevant as it's into the lease already), though the truck will go down in value slower since less miles on it, your maintenance will be net less, because less miles on the truck and virtually nothing on a new car to worry about. Insurance will go up.

it may turn out that you don't save all that much in the end. If you replaced the truck with a prius you'd clearly save like mad. But that may not be possible.

Depending on what you need to haul, you can buy a class III hitch for the Prius II. it is rated for 0 lbs tow capacity, but the hitches exist (I have one!). You'd be ok with short trips pulling a trailer as long as it's not too loaded down. If you need genuine truck capacity obviously the prius can never come close.

 

The general level of your co-commuters driving skills become more of an issue with a motorcycle though.