Chicago Tribune: 3 years to pay off Prius vs Camry

3 yrs is not a long time.

 

Their sedan comparisons aren't quite apples to apples.
I'm getting 6 years pay off for the Fusion with a quick look at equivalent trims.

 

Americans spend billions of dollars per day on foreign oil. And billions more on our armed forces to keep those import channels open and billions on political "aid" to maintain relations. "three years" ? Is the author of this article really willing to sacrifice his childrens' futures so that he can save a couple pennies today? REALLY???

The Japanese authors and citizens are smart. They're buying hybrids by the thousands and they've probably already saved billions on foreign oil.

Forget the U.S. trillions of national debt. Have you seen our imported oil debt???!!!

 

Did they really show 30k miles annually in their footnote??? I know very few people who drive that much annually.

 

All kinds of assuptions in that comparison. Many of them poor.
But say its 6 years, but the car retains some of that value, it seems like a good decision to me.

As screwed up as we are, the Japanese are in a much worse world of hurt.

We are borrowing Chinese money to buy foreign oil.

 

Not to diminish your point, but Japan has regulations in place that incentivize new car and hybrid ownership. In addition, Japan's physical urban/rural layout is quite different than that in the US.

 

The hybrid and non-hybrid sedan comparison did not take account of the extra power and lower emission the hybrids provide. They simply looked at the cost.

 

I read somewhere that incentives to hybrids aquisiton stopped this current year 2011.
Still Prius came in 1st place overall.

 

I think they used about 15,000 miles--they show the Prius using about seven x 42 gallons per year = 294 gallons which at 50 miles per gallon would be a bit under 15 K miles.

I wonder what the comparison Prius - Corolla would be--since the Prius is really somewhere between Camry and Corolla in size, etc.
Corolla was the car I probably would have gotten (to replace my old Corolla) if I hadn't gotten a Prius.

 

Yeah who cares about health, environment and national security. I want the lowest payback period. What's the payback period for my towing package or 400hp engine again?

 

The flaw in this comparison is the inflation of gas prices over the years causes the gap to grow exponentially in favor of the higher MPG car.

Basically there comparison assumes gas will be the same price forever. Sorry not going to happen...

 

it took 3years to pay off prius vs. camry?? i don't believe it.

 

main flaw is that hybrid is going to be worth more when you sell it and it will also cost you less in maintenance.

without TCO and used value, any comparison is useless and nobody would drive diesels in europe as they are usually 3k more expensive. but 50% of europe drives diesels not only because they get better mpg, but also because they are worth more when you sell them as well.

 

30K is pretty typical for WashDC/Balt metropolitan area, and I am guessing for Chicago as well. Both tie for #1 worse gridlock in country.

BTW @ 30K it would mean that for any 6-year recover it will be a lifetime (not that many cars are driven above 180K), and never for 9-10-year (very very few are driven above 300K)

 

opposite is also true: lower gas prices will favor cheaper cars.

Speaking of oil prices we are at "peak oil" so prices on oil are dictated by the state of economy, supply chain disruptions and production capacities. Prices on gas will not go much lower then $2.36 and market can't take more then $5.61, at least as long as inflation is kept artificially low.

 

Wow, I'm surprised there's that many people that commute that far annually. Gridlock is more an issue of volume on road vs volume capacity of the roads. It wouldn't necessarily mean that they drive longer distances, right?

I cover around 12k/year and that is only because of the trips I take for entertainment purposes. Otherwise, I would be closer to 7-8k annually. Granted, not as many people probably enjoy the 5 mile commute that I do.

I thought the national average was around 12-15k annually? If they're using averages for other items, wouldn't it make sense to...oh wait, there lies the problem "make sense" and most of these articles never do.

 

Depends...are you towing tanks of foreign oil?

 

Warning I am going to assume for the duration of this post that owners only buy for financial reasons This is not true.

Self selection enters into it as well. If you now drive 30,000 miles a year, you may be wildly more interested in a 50 MPG car than someone who only drives 5,000 miles a year.

I save 60 trips to the gas station per year with my Prius, I am reminded more than once week how good I have it.

Cabbies, delivery people, rural mailmen, and those of us with no fixed commute each day are unusually represented here compared to most car forums. (It is possible owners who hang out in car forums never have the same demographic as all owners of a certain car. PriusChat may not reflect Prius owners at all)

Using the $2.50 gas of the day, I worked out I would pay off my 'Prius Tax' in 4.5 years, but with today's $3.50 gas I am quicker than that.
I bought my Prius late in March 2009 and yesterday I had my 75,000 service, I see my service department every 2 months.

 

Three year 'payoff' ??
When's the chicago Tribune going to list the pay off for;
Harleys
SUV's
RV's
T-Roadsters's
Vett's
etc
Nope - only the Prius evokes a need to calculate a payoff.

Not to diminish YOUR point, but the U.S. has regulations in place that incentivize new oil well searching/pumping/protecting/decomissioning/dry hole drilling etc.

Too bad those crazy Japanese can't see how much better WE do things.