Are you driving a Prius because you're Green or Frugal?

Thanks for your service. I'm a USAF Desert Shield/Storm Veteran--8 months in the Middle East and 7 years total service.
I look at the depreciation deal a little differently I guess. When you purchase a car and take the depreciation hit, that money is gone and regardless of what you do, it's not coming back. So when I make a decision about my future with the car, I'm looking forward, not backwards. I purchased a higher end Audi $4, and kept it about 9 months. Then plans changed and an earlier than expected retirement is in my future. So I did not consider what I've already lost. Rather, I looked at the savings rolling forward. So looking backwards, the $6000 I "lost" is mitigated by the $4000 off the sticker, and the $4500 tax credit. Rolling forward though, which is what I look at, I will save thousands and thousands of dollars in fuel and maintenance costs--as long as I keep the car until something really major fails. If I kept the Audi, the depreciation hit would just multiply with each fill-up and tire/brake replacement. All I can say is that I started counting Benjamins instead of spending them, and I have no regrets....

 

But doesn't all energy originate from a star? After all, fossil fuels are just ancient solar energy converted to a chemical form by plants and stored underground. Nuclear? That would be from heavy elements produced in the final fatal moments of a star that no longer exists.

 

Excellent point! No doubt about it!

 

Maybe he meant this star.

 

Don't conflate brake pad life with brake maintenance, you should still have regular brake inspections. From the Prime Warranty and Maintenance Booklet, the interval is every 30K miles or 3 years:

 

Great advice!

 

Looking at third gen docs:

Front new: 25.0 (mm)
Front service limit: 22.0

Rear new: 9.0
Rear service limit: 7.5

I've never had a warped rotors, over the years. Worst case I had was one car that was eating pads, maybe it had a caliper that wasn't releasing? Probably below min thickness, it cracked.

But yeah, it could be the case with some cars. Rotors are pretty cheap are they not? Decades back I thought rotor replacement was a big deal. Maybe they were more expensive, it was before the advent of overseas manufacture? Those days may be numbered...

 

Unless your independent from the grid, you may want to take another look at where the electricity going into your Prime is coming from.


State of Oregon: Energy in Oregon - Electricity Mix in Oregon

 

Forgive me in advance, but I really don't care where my electricity comes from, as long as the power company complies with federal and state laws. For me, it's all about not making trips to the gas station, and “chargrinning” at work for free!

 

Heehee

 

I really like the hybrid concept. Using the synergy of Internal Combustion and Electrical motors in parallel to propel the vehicle forward.

Believe it very much parallels today's energy situation. World is looking, and trying, some alternative energy ideas; however, is not fully prepared to just stop using legacy energy solutions just yet.

I believe full electric will be the way, but is not ready for prime time yet. Why? Because it's still being subsidized. EV cars are getting tax breaks for purchase. Employers are installing free EV charging stations to be compliant with "energy efficiency" standards and get their tax breaks, etc., etc.

If the world was ready for a full electric propulsion; this would be free-market, non-subsidized, you-get-what-you-pay-for kind of thing.

Until then, governments subsidize until it becomes commonplace.

And that's ok.

Just recognize that free energy is commercially unviable. Where's the reward (profit) for those investing in providing infrastructure (generation, transmission, metering, etc.)? Those free charging stations at work will not last forever.

Long story short, it's not so much about being "frugal" because there are costs associated with changing tech.

For me it's more about "tough-love" for our future. Some sacrifices now to make our world at least a little better.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

How many miles? I live in the Rockies and most of the time mild braking is sufficient and charges the battery well. I have 88,000 and no problems so far.

 

My guess that in China or some third world country there are rooms of CNC machines spitting out car rotors with out a lot of human intervention.

 

What’s your timeline?

And is that the only reason you’ll be getting one?

Our 2010 with 181 k miles just keeps plugging along making it hard to justify the upgrade .

But saving up for the inevitable .

 

Why no poll on this thread?

And what's with all this talk about brake replacement? I'm on my 4th Toyota hybrid and the earliest I had to have brake work done on any of them was 90,000 miles. That was my 2004 Prius and the reason I had to have them replaced was because the were rusted from lack of use.

 

Just too steep for the engine braking to keep the speed controlled?

-Chap