Hybrids don't make financial sense

If finances are your sole ruler, any car does not make sense financially.
Neither does going out for lunch vs brown bagging it.
Nor buying a TV.
Nor new clothes vs Goodwill etc.

Nobody bases purchases solely on finances, and very few base the on total cost, but instead only initial cost.
And very few consider financial cost to their kids, or nation.

Taking financial cost in isolation is meaningless as no one does that.

 

If you are trying to save money NO CAR MAKES SENSE other than a recent model used econobox. No new car makes sense. No muscle car makes sense. No luxury car makes sense. No iconic car makes sense. No restored antique car makes sense. No American car makes sense.

In fact, if you are trying to save money, it probably does not make sense to own a car at all!!! Organize your lifestyle so that you can take the bus or walk or ride a bicycle.

The idea that people buy hybrids to "save money" is just plain nonsense. Everybody from tree huggers to rednecks, from university professors to college dropouts, knows perfectly well that you don't "save" money by spending an extra fifteen thousand dollars on a car plus the added insurance premium in order to burn 2/3 as much gasoline.

A small number of people choose their car based on obtaining the most economical transportation, and those people buy used, no-frills cars. Everybody else chooses their car by deciding what features and specifications they want and deciding which of those they are willing to pay for. In the early days of the Prius, many of us picked it because of the advanced technology, comfort level, and the environmental benefits of burning less gas, as well as the SULEV pollution rating. Nowadays, a lot of people buy it because of its established reliability and because it uses less gas than OTHER CARS WITH SIMILAR FEATURES. The Prius is an extremely reliable car with an enormous amount of carrying space and is quite comfortable compared with other cars in its price range.

When people line up to pay as much for a cup of coffee as for a gallon of gas, the premise in the OP (choosing a car to "save" money on gas) is just plain ludicrous.

 

Daniel nailed it, end of discussion. We can close this thread now!

 

If the old car is working still, no need to change, or I would buy a used 3-year old off lease car.

If I wanted something new in the price range OP mentioned, I would take a look at this vehicle; 2014 Nissan Versa Note Hatchback | Nissan USA

 

I disagree. Sure, some do, but for the most part buyers have long list of priorities. Price is generally one of them. You yourself stated that safety is another for you. I suspect that safety is a pretty common one. As is performance, style, reliability, passenger space, cargo space, technology,etc.

Next time you do, ask them if that is the ONLY reason. I bet most say it is not.

Your statement was focused solely on saving money. As I mentioned, even if someone says they are buying to save money, it is not the only reason, as you yourself have shown.

Once you open the discussion to other priorities, the comment "I'm buying a hybrid to save money" becomes "I am buying a hybrid because it is a car that fits my other needs and saves money as well"

 

There's a saying about riders. There are those who have gone down on their bikes, and there are those that are GOING to.
If you're not willing to accept the risk.
Stay off.
Your post makes sense there and then you start wandering off into a land of $13,000 GMC's or Nissans.

Here's the thing.
Saying that "Hybrids don't make fiscal sense" is as moronic as saying that they always make fiscal sense.
The trial-sized Prius starts out at $19,080.
The cheapest non-hybrid that I know of is an $11,990 Nissan Versa.

That's not a $10,000 delta, and you're as unlikely to find a <$12,000 Versa as you are a <$20,000 Hybrid, so we'll presume about a $7000 price difference and about a 10MPG efficiency delta (worst case hybrid to best case non-hybrid which is VERY generous and borderline fantasy.)
All of the other data points such as insurance and maintenance costs are too daffy to mention.
I'll stipulate that a base, 4-5 pax ecobox is about as cheap to maintain as a base 4 or 5 pax econobox.
If you look at the maintenance schedule for each, it's just filters and fluids for about 120,000 miles.
There are cheerleaders that can statistically prove that hybrids are less maintenance intensive, and there are luddites than can prove that they are more costly.
Figures don't lie......but liars do figure.

You're probably still going to save money with the Priussy over a 300,000 mile life cycle, and even if you're one of those people who trade out every hundred thousand miles....you know what???
That means you have to drive something like a Spark or a Versa to prove to those smug hybrid snobs that you can save more money by buying a non-hybrid.
For ME, something like a Priussy does not make sense, and I've dodged HEAT rounds for just mentioning the existence of a hybrid premium on this site.
(Spoiler alert: There is a Hybrid Premium!)

But.....this is just another one of 12,342(est.) cases on this site where the cheerleaders and the haters are both right.....and both wrong.

Me?
I'd probably rather drive the trial-sized Prius than a versa, although the Spark could be kinda interesting to poke around in.



Your call.

 

I do note that OP's vehicles are Insight & Beetle TDI. While Beetle is likely pumpe dusa and not common rail, these vehicles still have more maintenance/repair costs than Prius. But the major variables not mentioned are how many miles per year you drive a vehicle and the risk of fuel price increase. Miles driven make this calculation a very personal one.

 

All I can say is that the Yaris and Fit were the only two others I considered before I bought the Prius, and they both beat it from an economical standpoint hands down. If I cared to revisit, there were at least 4 others that made better financial sense at the time as well. The vehicle a person chooses is very personal on so many levels, even between people of the same budget and demographics. Even between two different people that buy the same make and model.

Hybrids don't make financial sense...unless you want them too. Lighten up folks, life is to short.

NOW we will return you to your regularly scheduled program already in progress.

 

<deleted>

Cockpit error.
Nothing to see here.
Just move along....

 

Based on Edmunds' 5-year true cost of ownership, the Prius beat the Yaris (by a little) and the Fit (by a lot). I'm comparing the 2010's. I checked about a dozen SMALLER cars than the 2010 Prius and the only one I found with a lower true cost of ownership was the Hyundai Accent.

Bottom line is Prius is top 5 in cost-effectiveness, and all the cars that beat it are much smaller.

 

I forgot to add that the 2012 Prius c beats the 2012 Hyundai Accent Hatchback GS manual transmission in 5-year TCO. 2012 Chevy Sonic slightly beats in 5-year TCO.

I doubt every hybrid makes financial sense, but the Prius really is one of the most financially sensible cars (top 3 at WORST) on the market.

 

Liar.

The Nissan Versa only gets 35 mpg combined.

Compare Side-by-Side

Everyone know the Prius' main benefit is its a hyper-efficient red light driver. 48mpg highway is a bonus.

 

Also, gas is $4/gallon. I don't know about you, but I sure as heck wasn't paying $4/gallon 10 years ago. And I don't expect to be paying $4/gallon 10 years from now (I expect to pay a lot more).


Lastly, car prices are going up. Lock in a 50 mpg prius now at $24k and by the time ICE technology gets equivalent 50mpg small cars will cost $24k.

I bought a Ford Fusion SEL 4 years ago for $23k. Now with the new EcoBoost engines they MSRP at $30k.


The OP is a troll.

 

Since he is talking about buying a NEW car, then he can't claim to be 'truly' trying to save money. I bought a used 2007 Prius for the price he is using for cheap alternatives, and I STILL get 5o+ MPG.

 

For bicycles, hit mostly by people who don't really need their cars, in areas not built with safe cycling in mind. The later is changing rapidly, at least around here. Your community could do the same if it wanted to.

Wrong. You are rationalizing here, doing the same things you accuse others of on car expenses.

 

Everybody,

Please just google "Troy Heagy troll" - lots of hits.

He and his sock puppets joined GreenHybrid to game himself into being a forum god with faux likes, then threatened online to commit suicide when found out, rejoined a couple times after he was banned. He's done this to many sites, including various EV and hybrid sites for over ten years.

If you enjoy getting frustrated and arguing endlessly with someone who's only conviction is to annoy, feed this troll.

Meanwhile, I've driven my 2000 Honda Insight for 14 years with 65.5 mpg lifetime, 221,000 miles, so the OPs argument just does not hold up.

 

This is why we need dedicated bicycle routes completely isolated from motorized traffic.

 

Noted.

Still kicking myself for not buying the Insight in 2006.