How wealthy are prius drivers?

You need a clarification. Do you want the actual driver of the car, purchaser or household?

My wife owns the car so I voted with her salary, not mine and not a combined..

 

I like money.....but I had to finance half this total vehicle payment for 3 years so I'm not really "wealthy".
I'm confident in the purchase - still think it is an amazing invention!
You should perhaps review net worth or household salary.

My last vehicle was a used GM/Saturn.

 

On mine i only used my salary because i bought all 3 cars i own. My significant other Has only recently got a job In the past year That pays a decent wage.

 

Terrorism is the main problem, not chrome plated excess that returns money to the west.

 

I have read data (presumably from Toyota) that Prius purchasers have somewhere in the 80 - 100k household income. I presume the data comes from people requesting credit.

Subaru purchasers are about the same income demographics. GM is at the bottom among the auto manufacturers.

 

I really don't want to appear rude, but as an Englishman in North Carolina (a state inhabited primarily by Scots), I cannot but feel that this question is incredibly vulgar.

 

Comments in bold below.

 

The 80 - 100k refers to median income.

As for cash payment -- yes, that was my point.

 

Prius does seem like the kind of car that people from all sorts of income would buy. I used to drive a Mercedes and then I bought a BMW but being a tech geek when the Prius was anounced in my country I instatnly put my X5 up for sale.

 

lol and just who is it who funds this terrorism?

 

In USD our specced up Prius would cost 43k, does that make me wealthy or as my friends say stupid no I don't think so...

We just bought the car that suits us (my wife) best and that we liked best at this moment in time...and when we (she) downsized in car we quite like the quirky look and a statement that it makes and are happy with that....

No matter what you drive someone always has an opinion about it...That's what makes talking about cars fun...

 

Mate I am just a humble public servant. I have a good job but am not rich. I have never bought a new car in my life. I didn't buy a new Prius either. Buying new seems to be throwing money away to me, 60,000km of someone else driving the car dropped the price by $12,400. I still got the same shape car as someone who bought a new prius at the time, and now we both have the superceded shape. Every time I tell my friends I bought my Prius used they always say, "but I thought it was a new car when you got it!" SO if I kept my mouth shut I'd still have the kudos that comes from driving a new car!

All I know is I love my Prius and it (and Toyota) loves me.

 

And ultimately that's what matters isn't it...

 

I'm an at-times-poor touring musician. If it weren't for the cash for clunkers program, I would have never been able to afford a prius.

 

This is a really stupid thread. The car you drive does not make you wealthy by any logic. There are people who try to buy class by buying a BMW or Mercedez when they are poor and still living in an apartment. Okay, you're really cool. I see it a lot these days.

Nor should you think that you're wealthy if you drive a Prius. That's one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

It's just a car, albeit a really cool car, but anyone can drive one and you shouldn't judge people based on what they drive.

 

Oh but they are!

I used to drive a flash top of the range Merc 600 with all the options for my ex boss. Peoples attitude on the road would change when I was driving that car. I'd get let out of junctions quickly, foxy ladies would smile and sometimes even wave as I passed them. It also happens when I drive my friends Bentley Convertible. Now call me shallow, but that has never happened to me in the Prius or any other bog standard car.

So either I suddenly become much better looking only when driving a flash car or people judge you on the car! I fear it is the latter.

 

Well those brits are awfully nice. Here in the Bay Area, where everyone drives a Mercedez, none of that happens.

 

While the "wealth" question started this thread, you bring up some points worth examining closer. One surprise for me has been talking (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not) to the many homeless that occupy downtown St. Pete, FL. Very, very few of them are homeless because of a lack of opportunity. I'm really serious about that point. Every case is unique and no blanket statement characterizes why they got there, but between the multitude of addictions and mental illnesses that can afflict someone, this accounts for most of the cases I have been in contact with....and that's a lot. The oddball cases are guys that would rather be homeless than have a job. I did not realize that there were homeless of this type, but there are.

Now on the other end, the fact that most rationally behaved individuals in the US can own, or have access to a car is really an amazing thing. It really is not the gap between the rich and poor that matters. It's the gap between having enough resources to live decently vs. struggle to survive. From that viewpoint, we are living well.

 

IMHO, new Prius owners are all over the map financially, and I did not vote because it is too intrusive a question.

The message I try to get to younger people is that auto payments are not investments. As soon as you can, save up (earning interest along the way) to buy your next car for cash (no interest because there is no loan), and continue that cycle forever. If you buy cars wisely, you will have time to save up between purchases. The first time it is hard, but from then on you're on the right track.

Click and Clack once recommended buying a 3-year-old car in good condition (ducking the depreciation for driving it off the lot) and driving for seven years, with some numbers to back that up. If you eliminate the car loan interest in their calculation, it is a wash with buying a totally new car (you know where it's been, and how it has been treated) and keeping it for 10 years.