Is it worth it?

Welcome to PriusChat!

I'd give you plenty, but I think your time is better spent reading through the many, many threads that address this subject.

Or . . . you could wait for Bill Merchant's answer.

 

It's all a huge mistake, a mistake made literally a million times. I wish I could get a steam car fueled by coal. Global warming is a myth and man's activities have nothing to do with it anyway. The price of gasoline is going to drop, just see malorn's thread.

 

If you get on the Toyota web site you can compare Matrix and Prius. Price of the Prius is $4000 more that the Matrix. Mileage of the Matrix is 25/31 Prius is 48/45. At 15000 miles per year you burn about 200 gals. more in a Matrix. So about $800 more per year depending on gas prices. It will take 5 years to make up the $4000 or possibly less the way prices are going. Matrix is slightly bigger than Prius. Prius probably has better resale. So it is a mixed bag.

 

I'm still waiting for delivery of mine, but I think it will be worth it with gas prices soon to top $4 by July....

 

Most new cars are a waste, get a used one !

 

July? National average was $3.93 yesterday May 25. My guess is that it'll reach $4 by Wednesday May 28.

 

Much easier said than done. I looked for a used Prius for 4 weeks. They were all more expensive than a new one, or salvage titles. My only choice was to buy a new one. I probably would have gotten a better price if I just bought a new one to begin with instead of wasting my time looking for used (as demand picked up).

 

The residual value of you Prius will be 71% if not more in 5 years when gas is at $8+ a gallon. I get 50mpg and could do better once I get use to driving the hybrid.

Since you are in LA... I am sure you are familiar with stop and go traffic... well the PRIUS is designed to do it's best work in the city with the regenerative breaking. The only way I would say that a Matrix has a chance is if you only do highway driving at a constant 55mph.

 

Are they worth it? Wow, as gas keeps rising I truly don't understand why anyone would buy any other car. I did the math too prior to the purchase of my Prius. But what you can't figure in is the added advantage of having almost a midsize car that is roomier in seating and cargo capacity than those $15,000 cars.

But it really is about the math. Even though I don't need to fill up every week like I was used to doing even in my Honda Civic (which my daughter inherited), it only has been costing me about $20.00 with the Prius. It is rare when I drive up to a pump that I ever see the previous customer spent less than $50.00 for their gas.

The gas mileages you read from Prius owners are true. Remember, there isn't a better car on the market for gas mileage. Why give any more money than you have to to oil companies and producers? You won't be sacrificing anything when you purchase this car.

 

I've had my 08 prius for a few weeks now. I was getting about 30 mpg in my 99 civic. I drive my daughter about 400 miles/week to dance classes. I am getting about 46-47 mpg, not polluting, and will not have to get smog checks. The price of gas where I live in the San Francisco Bay area is now $4.15/gal. I love my prius. I also checked on used prius'- they haven't lost their resale value and indeed, are almost as expensive as new.
love my new car!

 

Yes, it's worth it.

If you don't believe me, or the miriad of other posts on this subject, go rent one for a day or so.

As for your question about getting Matrix or a "super eco car", well, you answered it yourself. The Prius is not compact, or sub-compact and it's certainly not a cheap POS. People who want a compact or sub-compact do probably choose them over the Prius. But if you want a mid-sized car, the Prius is the way to go; it's got a ton of cool features included truely incredible FE.

If you're looking to make comparisons between the Prius and some other car, well compare it to the Camry or something that's really comparible.

That's the nutshell, go see the million and one other posts about this same subject.

 

Regarding 2009s, they will be pretty much the same. There are entire threads devoted to that topic. The big change is due in the 2010 model, which supposedly will be plug-in with much higher gas mileage. Also, there are rumors that Toyota will expand the Prius line and offer smaller and larger models.

As far as your original question, I don't know how to answer that. If a small, less expensive car meets your needs, the acquisition price is definitely lower. From what others have calculated, it will even out over time with the additional money spent on gas (even if the price of gas goes down, it's not going to go way down, IMO).

What I like about the Prius is that it's not an econobox. It is like driving a nice, roomy sedan, only with amazing fuel economy (I am averaging 54 MPG) and low emissions. I bought mine just over a month ago before they started getting scare, though, and you could have your pick of Prii and the dealers would negotiate. If I were buying right now I'd prob wait until the 2009s come out.

 

The Matrix reminds me of a rolling Nike shoe. I just sit weird in it. Admit it, Matrix's aren't flying off the shelf at the dealerships, not at the locals here. Gas mileage sucked (Hello OPEC) and emissions didn't impress me.
I'd be concerned about resale value on a used Matrix.
Maybe you can pawn it off on some college student after 5 years.
It won't hold the resale value of a Prius, for sure.
(I looked at it rather closely, before deciding on a Prius and I looked heavily at a 2008 improved Mazda5).

Super eco car means harsh ride due to shorter wheelbase and less weight and again fuel economy. Some people here have a Smart TwoFour (33city, 41 highway, if you get that exact mileage) which I think is great in a small urban area. Seems like a TwoFour would be great in NY City, where manueverability is important. In Detroit, I'll rely on some crashworthy bulk as people drive like this place is the Indianapolis 500.

The Prius can cost 21K new. A new lower priced version called Standard came out for 2008, you are 6k too high OR look for a used Prius which you can certainly find on Yahoo Autos.

It all depends on your goals. I think the Prius is wonderful for the environment. As I read about it, I see more environmentally safe features, like very low emissions, no mercury in the headlights, recycled batteries at manufacturing level, etc..

I think the title "Is the Prius worth it" is a very undefined question, "Is the Prius worth WHAT, define the word "it".
Since you've given a subjective question, expect subjective answers despite your desire for great points in the big debate. I see no big debate on the Prius anywhere.

Certainly for the environment it's a leader and personally it is quite enjoyable and will be remembered as the Hybrid that solidified our journey towards cleaner other fuel vehicles.

ZC1

 

I am getting out of my 2005 Pathfinder that gets 14mpg for the 2008 Prius. I went through the same decision making process of trying to determine if the Prius really made sense in the big picture. It absolutely does when you consider overall cost of ownership. You may pay a little more to begin with, but with the fuel savings as prices rise and the resale value...this is the vehicle to have no question about it.

However, I think we are doing our argument a disservice when we bash oil companies for fuel prices. Their profit margins are not huge. They are making their "record profits" because of insanely high volume (demand). The latest number I have heard is that they make about 8 cents a gallon. 8 cents a gallon and they have to find it, bring it to the surface, transport it, refine it, transport it again, and sell it. For all of this trouble...they get 8 cents. The government gets about 45 cents a gallon and they don't do a darn thing to help this process along. If you want to blame someone...it is liberals in congress and the environmentalist wackos who won't let us bring our own oil to the surface because they are worried about the mating habits of the Porcupine Caribou. We pay $4 a gallon for nonsense like this. I am going to feel like I am cheating the system when I drive that 2008 Prius off the lot!

 

Oil is so heavily subsidized it isn't even funny. Your lack of education on natural resource extraction and environmental sensitivity is showing through on the rest of the post. Or could it be you are just listening to too many mentally challenged radio personalities? I'm going to assume by your choice of wording (dead giveaways for the Neocon mentality) that you just listen to too much BS and have not done the research yourself.

 

I had a different epiphany about the gas prices just this morning. In fact, I will go one step further. It is probably unfair to also bash the oil producers. They are just doing what our government has failed to do and should have done ages ago: motivate people to leave their gas guzzling SUVs/autos for more fuel efficient vehicles like the Prius or even electric cars. With the exception of how gas prices are affecting the trucking industry, the rest of us are better off with more fuel efficient autos.

 

Oh, well please educate me. It is funny if you think oil is "heavily subsidized". I would just love to hear you try to educate me on "natural resource extraction" as well. By the way Mr. Wizard, why aren't we drilling in ANWR? You must be one of the wacko liberals I was talking about. You are part of the problem and not part of the solution. Thanks for the $4 gas. Everyone appreciates it.

 

If you're going to make a transportation decision based only on purchase and operating costs, you'll never justify anything more than a new pair of runners. Or maybe a bus pass. You'll never make back the difference.