Stubborn people

It's Only a Matter of Time!

 

Maybe 50% who answered the question already drives prius's or is that just too wishful thinking.... B)

 

I always thought we wouldn't worry too much about the price of gas. Then my wife kept complaining she had to fill the minivan 2-3/week and $25 a pop. See how those who voted feel when gas is really $4/gallon.

 

Of the 15k or so people who answer those polls, 80% of the group say they spend on average $100 monthly on petrol, despite being typical two vehicle families.

Two vehicles * 1k miles monthly/vehicle *gallon/20 miles * $2.50/gallon = $250 a month.

Perhaps the poll question should be: Hypothetically, if you had a clue, ...

 

Well to some extent I can understand the results of the poll let me use myself as an example.

My current car gets on average (year round) about 19 MPG and I drive apx 12000 miles per year that would be 632 gallons per year, in a prius lets say I will average apx 47 mpg (based on what I see many getting including my parents) that would be 256 gallons per year. At lets just say a 100% increase over current ($4.50/gallon) it will cost me $2844 per year in my current car and only $1152 per year in the Prius. Less the tax credit I will pay $12350 (with trade) to get the Prius i want (and is currently on order). This difference of $1692 per year meaning it will take 7.3 years at 4.50 a gallon for me to break even. Now this is not to say I couldnt go with something cheap like a honda civic or corolla and make it an even trade and start saving now but from the standpoint of getting a truly eficent car such as the Prius the ability to get ris of a current car to get something more fuel efficent if you were not already plannign on upgrading is not a sound financial decision or even an option for many with less disposiable income.

Now to conclude please dont take this as flame bait or trolling but it is in my oppinion a valid point that many people would not make the change. Personally I am doing it for reasons other than just fuel economy (which is nice of course) but for myself it is because I think the Prius is just a realy nifty car, lots of gadgets, low pollution, and personaly I would rather give my hard earned cash to Toyota than to an oil company. In turn I feel like I am doing my part to reduce reliance on oil.

Just my thoughts.... now if that dang dealership would get my Prius in so I could prove I am not in the majority of the poll

 

$2.00 gas was my limit for deciding to make a switch. One of the best decisions I have made was buying a Prius.

 

I saved over $1200 over my old car in the first year and prices are rising again. Not quit my max but edging up. That may be a fair compairson or not but that's what I saved. Come August I will let you know about the second year.

 

I second that!

It makes no economic sense to dump a car that in perfect condition in hopes you'll save money with the Prius. If on the other hand, you are at the point where would normally update to a new vehicle, then go for it.

In my case, had 180,000 miles on the other car, need I say more...

 

In your math above, it looks like you are trying to calculate how the Prius will "pay for itself" compared to your current car, correct? At $1,692 in gas savings per year it would take 7.3 years to recover the net purchase price of $12,350. Is this what your comparing?

First off, I realy don't believe a new car ever really pays for itself. Based on the net price, your current car must be worth about $10K - $12K. If so, this must be few years old, probably out of warranty or nearly so. I think you need to factor in two things to your breakeven analysis - car repairs on your existing car that would be covered under warranty on the Prius and end value of the vehicle. This last point is often missed. So, if your current car needs service in the next 1K-60K miles, like tires, shocks, misc repairs, these costs need to be added. 5 years from now, a $26K new Prius should be worth thousands more than a $12K used car today. Adding another 50,000 miles to a 3-4 year old $10K car would drive the value of that car down to $3K to $6K. The Prius may still be worth $10K to $12K.

On the cost side of the Prius you will probably need to factor in additional insurance premiums.

I think once you factor in these points, your estimated breakeven may be more like 3-4 years. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy your Prius when it comes in!

 

My reasons for purchasing a new Prius were many;

Improved gas mileage over my previous vehicle (12 mpg)
Increased gas prices
Generous 2006 tax credit for Prus purchase
Participant in environmental consciousness (Green Machine)
Do my part to reduce the need for foreign oil
Do my part to reduce 'record revenue' for oil companies

But my most important reason for buying one is..... I wanted one. I could have driven my previous vehicle longer but I usually purchase a new car every 3-4 years and it was time…..

 

I applaud ChrisA for his lucid views on buying a Prius. I hope more people start looking at this issue the same way.....and soon.

I had a 1992 Oldsmobile Toronado and sold it a year ago this month. My wife and I went solo car for a year. We saved a ton of money on potential maintenance costs on that Toro and it gave me time to research what car to get to replace it. When the 2006 tax credit became reality that was the deal maker.

Now that I have one I am so glad I did the home work. The Prius is a well thought out vehicle. Sure there are still issues. Nothing is perfect. But it comes dang close. (grin)

Cheers

 

"On the cost side of the Prius you will probably need to factor in additional insurance premiums."

We've found that the insurance premiums for SAGE are actually less than the 2000 MR2 Spyder we traded for her by $10 per term.......

 

Well, I'll have to condense that lis a bit for my reasons. Here it is:

Improved gas mileage over my previous vehicle (13 mpg)
I wanted one.

 

It's easy to say you could just purchase a smaller cheaper vehicle like a civic or a corolla but there are a few key factors usually not considered:

The prius let's say you purchase for $25,000, in 5 years the car's value is going to be based on that initial value of $25,000. So let's say the car is worth 1/2 of what you paid for it. $12,500. If you were to have purchased a Civic or Corolla for $18,000. It would be also worth 1/2 (I’m assuming these cars depreciate at the same rate). So it would be worth 9,000. There is $3,500 in vehicle equity which you would keep with a more expensive vehicle.

Let's look at the totals though:
Corolla/Civic Prius
Cost of Vehicle $18,000 25,000
Average MPG 31 47
Miles driven Annually 15000 15000
Annual Gallons Used 483 319
Annual Fuel cost ($2.50) $1207.50 $797.50
Annual Fuel cost ($3.00) $1449.00 $957
Annual Fuel cost ($3.50) $1690.50 $1116.5
Annual Fuel cost ($4.00) $1932.00 $1276
Life of vehicle 5 years 5 years
Fuel Cost over life ($2.50) $6037.5 $3987.5
Fuel Cost over life ($3.00) $7245 $4785
Fuel Cost over life ($3.50) $8452.5 $5582.5
Fuel Cost over life ($4.00) $9660 $6380
Vehicle value at end of life $9,000 $12,500

Cost of ownership over life ($2.50): $15037.5 $16487.5
Cost of ownership over life ($3.00): $16245 $17285
Cost of ownership over life ($3.50): $17452.5 $18082.5
Cost of ownership over life ($4.00): $18660 $18880

So (AT CURRENT) not considering tax benefits, fuel increases, or the fact that the prius is a bigger and nicer car you save only $1449.9.

Given that there is a tax credit (that I’m getting at least) of $3,200, and fuel is likely to go over 2.5 in the next 5 years.

So even with my tax credit of $3,200 and the current gas prices I’m saving money with the Prius over a smaller car which costs around $18,000.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(240sxer @ Feb 7 2006, 04:45 AM) [snapback]204597[/snapback]</div>

A few points.

I did consider all of the above. And as a matter of fact:

1. I consulted my tax man, and he says, I probably cannot qualify for the tax deduction being where I am at.

2. You can get a Corolla for cheaper than 17,000. You can get a Yaris for 14,000. Or a cool car like an Scion xA or Xb for a similar 15,000 price.

So, even at $4.00/gallon. It is uneconomical to buy a Prius.

Heck, you can get a really decked out Toyota Camry LE (non-Hybrid) for $22k. 3k less than a Prius, and the fuel savings for the prius would take some 7 years to make up for the difference in gas (I live on an island and drive 6,000 miles /year ).

When it came down to it. I bought a Prius for 1 reason only.

1. I wanted one.



Jimmy

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ChrisA @ Jan 31 2006, 08:16 PM) [snapback]201574[/snapback]</div>

Our reasons for purchasing were basically the same, except we purchased in 2004, so we only got the not quite as generous tax deduction instead of the credit. We didn't trade in a vehicle, this was a second (now primary) vehicle. Our older car will probably be replaced once we've paid off the Prius. But our primary reason was that we wanted one.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jimmyhua @ Jun 20 2006, 10:22 AM) [snapback]274130[/snapback]</div>

I've got to disagree with you there. The xB is the fourth (very close with fifth) ugliest vehicle I've seen. H1, H2, and H3 (in that order) are worse, and the Element is right up there with the xB, though it's a little better.