Best Excuses to Tell Your Friends Why You Bought A Prius are.....

Seems more like decapitation than depreciation. I'm glad you are OK!

 

Drove by Toyota place with a bud yesterday... a new Gen 3 was out.. without hesistation he said "get one of them, but make sure you paint it pink!" - sigh

 

I bought mine because I like green.....in my wallet.

 

Well, you're still figuring depreciation - you're just using 100% depreciation and time is the variable, instead.

 

48mpg........that's it!

 

I got a D in accounting the first time around... its showing, isnt it?

 

When a car is totaled, the insurance company uses current market value in figuring out how much money the customer receives. That is exactly depreciation.

 

yeah, but i wasnt exactly planning on "selling" it haha

 

Cause I care about the environment, I care about saving Mother Earth.....Nah...it's simple.... Sexy man needs sexy ride....end of story.......

 

Nah...no one buys a Prius to save money. Cheaper cars with high mileage and more features such that it would take many years and many miles for Prius to even break even much less save money.

Prius owners are futurists and people who put community over self interest. In this "greed is good" ideology of the last 30 years, doing something without personal profit is denigrated so some Prius owners feel the need to come up with excuses to hide their actual motives and come up with "greed is good" smokescreens like saving money on fuel.

 

I hate terrorism and foreign oil. Every time you drive to the store on gas America's enemies, people who want to see America destroyed, get 10 cents.

 

Disagree. I bought my Prius SOLELY to save money. I honestly don't give a shit about the environment, dependence on foreign oil, or "putting the community over self interest". I got a Prius for $2,000 more than it would have cost to replace the car I lost in an accident. In 1 year the Prius will pay for itself in gas savings, after that I am in the clear.

 

Then you made a poor decision and your "calculations" show that, comparing Prius to old car you had when the real comparison is to new car competitor. The roughly $6K price differential for hybrids (Toyota's or others) makes fuel savings not a great reason.

Take the direct comparison price/mpg Camry vs. Camry Hybrid. The mileage difference per year per EPA is $600 or 10 years to break even before any money savings. Which doesn't take into account the time value of earnings on the $6,000 a year over 10 years.

The "greed is good" machismo of "I did it for the money" is OK for folks who need to hide behind it or get exposed as liberal do gooders...Eek!!!

 

Peanut (Jeff Dunham) made me do it!!

 

You appear to be comparing a new Prius to a used alternative.

I don't know if Camry vs Camry hybrid is the most favorable comparo, but what part of profitable after 10 years are you unclear about ? On average, either car lasts considerably longer than 10 years. While true that the time value of money has not been computed, you have not included the value of a hedge against fuel price increases either. Consumer Reports writes that the Prius is the cheapest car to purchase and operate of them all in it's ~ size. Period. Bar none. This despite their assumptions of selling the car after 5 years. A simple calculation makes the value of Prius obvious to people who actually make choices first and foremost to save money, meaning they buy the car (new or used) and keep it until it is ready for the graveyard: Compare Prius @ 50 mpg vs Corolla @ 35 mpg, and assume the car lasts 300 - 400k miles. The Prius consumes 6000 - 8000 gallons of fuel, while the Corolla consumes 8570 - 11428 gallons. Fuel savings are as low as 2570 gallons, or as much as 3428 gallons. Now we take a reasonable range of average fuel prices for that period: say $3.5 - $4.5. The Prius saves as little as $8995, or as much as $15426 in fuel. Still think the Prius is not a money saver ? I use 'think' in the loosest terms possible.

 

Nope. My comparison was a like to like Camry vs. Camry hybrid where most folks would not see a break even for 10 years or more based on fuel cost savings.

 

It is your calculation that says break-even in 10 years -- live with it. I'm just pointing out that those cars last longer than 10 years.

Maybe your point is that hybrid cars do not save money for people who trade-in for new cars every 2 or 3 years ? That is likely true, but it is hardly the car's fault.

 

^ If we're getting that technical, the resale market for hybrids is much stronger than conventional ICE. So you would have to look at some 2006 camry vs comparable 2006 camry hybrids. Unless were assuming we drive the car until it has no value anymore.

 

The numbers were for like to like comparison of Camry vs. Camry hybrid using EPA numbers which said $600 fuel savings a year with a $6 price difference. That's 10 years to break even on fuel savings, probably 15 years if you calculated time value of $6K over 10 years.

 

Go ahead, show the calculation. Remember to compare your result to the time value of the fuel savings money.