Hybrids will not likely save buyers money, studies show

i've already seen about a dozen different variations on the same old theme and i dispute its findings. they are taking partial data and manipulatijng it to suit their conclusions.

driving my Prius reduces stress levels in me. therefore

i dont have to pay for

visits to shrink $150@24 times a year for $3600
prescriptions to help me sleep... $400/year
blood pressure medication ....$500/ year
plane tickets for vacations im forced to go on for my anxiety $300
increases in insurance rates from accidents i didnt have $800 /year (not gonna mention the discount i got on my Prius anyway)

left out the heart attack because it could have been caused by getting cut off by GMC pickup...
so that is $5600 a year i saved by buying my Prius. i wont even consider that fact that if current trends continue, i will get a much larger portion of my investment back at resale time.

so only thing i have to say about the article, is what is a used year old hummer in excellent shape selling for these days?

 

I didn't realize I could buy a non-hybrid Prius to save money. The car was too cool for me to shop around as much as I apparently should have.

Have them tell me where I could have done that, so next time I spend less on my Prius purchase...

 

If I wanted to drive a cheap (low operating costs) car, I'd keep driving my 15 year old Camry that has been paid off eons ago.

The article is fairly neutral in tone, but it still demonstrates the fact that many people still don't get why many of us drive (or aspire to drive) a Prius. I am buying a Prius because I am willing to pay more to protect the environment.

Besides, since when has money and logic been the reasoning behind any car purchase (or any other purchase for that matter)?

 

i also think that before the end my current Prius' life, the savings on gas maybe much more than one may think

 

Something else that doesn't get factored in is the vehicle that was driven pre-prius. In my case, I went from driving a 1997 Ford F-150 that averaged a reliable 16.7 miles a gallon to a Prius that on the worst tank still gets 42 MPG (lifetime avg ~ 45-47). Add that in and even with cheap Texas gas (1.95-2.05 a gallon) the savings add up a lot faster that the study claims.

 

Two points:

1) According to the NADA, the national average retail selling price of a new car in 2004 was $28,050. What are the respective MSRPs of a 2005 MY Prius and Civic, again? I might care about the hybrid v non-hybrid cost premium argument IF the two most popular hybrids were both priced substantially ABOVE the national average selling price of a new car.........but they're actually priced well UNDER that figure.

2) Both the BCAA and Edmunds would be conducting studies concerning the cost premium of various breeds of horses if people weren't willing to make a few changes around 100 years ago.

 

It's difficult to compare the cost difference of using a Hybrid when there is no non-hybrid Prius. Comparing other cars is just comparing apples to oranges. I was originally shopping for a Matrix. The extra cost of a Prius can not be made up in fuel savings until the price of gas gets around $9/gal (any day now). But these are two different cars so that comparison makes no sense. I could have bought a cheap Chevy, Hundai, Suzuki and saved lots, but the car would not have been as nice.

The real comparison for cost could be made with a Honda Civic Hybrid vs Non-Hybrid Civic. I have not looked at that car so I don't know which is more expensive.

 

Here's my take on it, and why my wife and I are considering a Prius.

Number one, we are in the market for a new car. Regardless of what the car may be, our major requirement is that it is new.

Number two, we have a budget that allows us to spend about $23,000 on a car.

Number three, we can find a new Prius for a little more than that.

Number four, the gas savings between my current vehicle and the Prius (I commute) is about $80 a month (based on $2 a gallon).

Over the course of 5 years, that's a savings of $4800.

This means that we can take roughly 75%of that (taking out 25% for financing costs and such) or $3600 and deduct that from the cost of the car.

This means that we can afford a nicely-equipped Prius for less than the apparent sticker price.

To me... that's saving money, is it not? When I'm willing to spend X, but I'm able to get Y for the cost of X, I consider that a savings.

As for the argument that when the car nears the end of it's life that it will be expensive to replace batteries and such, I don't plan on fixing it. I drive all of my vehicles until the wheels fall off of them. If the battery can last 100,000 miles or a little more, and if the car is worth $1000 at the time, that's pretty much on par with other cars I have driven to 100,000+ miles. When I trade my cars in, they are rarely worth more than $2000 by the time I'm done with them anyway.

So, to me... the battery replacement cost is a non-issue. When it dies, it dies. I sell the vehicle for what I can get out of it, and move on. I've always done that.

Just my angle.

 

They also did not take into account the tax deductions and credits we get for purchasing a Prius. Anything extra I may have paid for my Prius was more than offset by the state tax credit I got this year.

 

This argument doesn't make sense with the Prius. I consider my package 6 Prius to be comparable to a Camry, not an Echo or Corolla. If you look at the price of a Camry with Navigation and Homelink it is very close to the Prius. The Camry has the advantage in that it has a more powerful engine and possible more comfortable seats, but the Prius wins if you value the PZEV, gas mileage, and technology. So, I really don't see how the Prius is a bad economic decision, unless you cannot afford a mid twenty thousand dollar car. Then of course it makes more sense to go for an Echo, or Corolla.

I haven't looked at the price differences of the Hondas, or Highlanders. They have non hybrid models that are essentially the same car, so maybe that is what they are basing their argument on. I still think saving the enviroment should be considered a big plus and worth a little extra $$.

 

You know what I LOVE about these articles? The fact that one comes out every 6 months and everything is the same, except that the duration of ownership keeps falling in the example.

In this article:

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...BIZ01/506020318

the duration is down to 5 years. 5 years! When I first started reading these articles two years ago, it was 20 years, then 6 months later, 12 years, then 8 years, now 5 years. Next thing you know, the duration will be two years, then 6 months.

I can't wait until the article reads "Hybrids aren't worth it because it takes over six months to recoup the extra dollars blah blah blah."

I think the average "life on the road" of any car is 17 years. If the Prius makes it this long (likely) and gas stabilizes at $2.00 (unlikely) then it will be worth it THREE TIMES OVER.

Nate

 

Lets see, a base no-frills model Camry has an MSRP of $18,195. A base no-frills model Prius (with interior space comparable with a Camry) has an MSRP $20,975. Difference of $2,780. The Federal Government gives me a $2,000 tax deduction for the Prius, of which I will probably reap about $1,200. Pennsylvania gives me a $500 rebate. Therefore, the Prius costs me $1,080 more than the Camry.

A Camry is rated at 33 mpg, of which I would probably get only 28 mpg at best. A Prius is rated at 55 mpg, of which I get 45 mpg. I travel approximately 16,000 miles a year. At $2.30 a gallon, that would cost me $1,314 a year in gas for the Camry. It would cost $817 in the Prius. Therefore, I save $497 a year in gas. At that rate, in just over two years, I break even.

I keep cars as long as they still move and are reliable. My last car went 12 years and 190,000 miles. If my Prius lasts 10 years, and assuming a Camry would have lasted equally as long, and gas remains at $2.30 a gallon, then I will save almost $4,000 during the lifetime of the car. If gas prices go up, then my savings go up.

Of course, I didn't buy a base model Prius, but then again, I wouldn't have bought a base model Camry either.

 

The argument doesn’t hold true in the case of my wife and I. Here were our requirements:

- Must be a reliable brand.
- Must not be too large. A mini-van is too large for example.
- Must be able to fit both of our dog kennels, the kid, me and the wife all at once.
- Must get good gas mileage.

The closest thing we could find that met these qualifications was the Honda CRV. Well, the CRV EX cost almost exactly what our mid-level Prius cost. Add the better gas mileage, side curtain airbags and all the features (the CRV won’t even tell you what the outside temperature is!) and the Prius is the clear winner. I say clear winner for expense as well as desirability. The only thing the CRV had that we would have like that the Prius doesn’t is AWD, since we live in Wi, and at the top of a hill.

 

Maybe they're just trying to do a public service by pointing out to non-fanatics that Prius is not an economy car. Which, of course, we all knew before we bought ours.

 

It is the long-term net cost, not the short-term gross cost. In addition to the other comments, Prius, Highlander, et al., are PZEV - partial zero emission vehicles (no smog checks).

Amazing how Keynsian economics always view avoided costs as "externalities" to be ignored. Prius acknowledges air quality costs up front and provides a constructive, real world alternative to conventional ICEs ("pay it forward").

I was driving a 1991 4Runner with 180k mi getting 23 mpg. My Prius now earns 50-55 mpg (10k mi). I have doubled my efficiency by doubling fuel economy. The Prius doesn't idle (vs. majority of ICE vehicles) and is quieter than conventional vehicles.

I do contribute to congestion, traffic and particulate matter (PM 2.5µm), but in a more conservative manner. I model what I teach (vs. ostentatious consumption in a Hummer, SUV or similar vehicle).

I do preventative maintenance and normally keep vehicles 150k to 250k miles. Payback? Immediate and long-term.

 

It's like comparing apple pie & ice cream to liver &

Harrrruuuummmpppphhhh. I used to drive a 1996 Dodge Neon. It averaged 28 mpg. It had 104,000 miles on it. No damage or problems. I dumped it cheap to get my Prius. I drive 52 miles or so 1-way to work. That's 105 miles a day, more if I go to lunch. With my neon, I was filling up every other day. That is a huge waste of time, not to mention the added mental frustration of watching the $$$$'s add up so often at the pump. With the Prius, I can go 4-5 days before filling up, saving time, money, emissions, and frustration.

Look at my signature to see how much gas and money I have saved since getting my Prius last year. That's not beans. And that's compared to a "good" gas mileage car. How can that not pay off? At this rate, I'll have the cost of my second set of batteries paid off next year, and I won't need them for at least 8 years. Everything else is gravy from now until then. I have car payments now, but the neon would probably not have lasted too much longer. So I'm not too concerned about that. And the Prius should last 300,000 miles or more.

Service costs? The Prius requires a lot less service than any other car I've ever owned.

Comparing the price of a Prius to other cars is like comparing apple pie and ice cream to liver and onions. So it costs $2,000 more than a "comparably equipped" car? I have an electric motor the other car doesn't have. My gas engine turns off and runs on electric because of that motor. The air conditioner runs off the electric, not the gas. No gears to shift. The supposed extra cost of a hybrid sounds like a reasonable additional cost to me, even a steal.

You know, an automatic transmission costs a couple thou more than a manual too, would anybody compare a manual AMC gremlin to an automatic Hemi Dodge Charger? Heck no. This Prius-bashing is all sour grapes and jealousy.

 

What gets to me is their constant comparison of Prius vs Corolla or vs Camry or whatever.

All 3 are very different cars. I wanted a hybrid and that was that. Most people aren't trying to decide whether to get a Camry or a Corolla because they are built for different markets.

Yeah, the Corolla gets better MPG than Camry. That isn't applicable. Most people want a Camry and that's what they're getting. And then they throw all this nonsense about comparing the Prius in there.

I don't like having to justify every decision I make financially. Sure, it made sense. But if it costs me another $1000 over 10 years for peace of mind, that's my decision. I'll deal with it.