New Prius shortage coming?

Two thumbs up to cycledrum's post. We went from a Matrix to a Prius but first considered another Matrix. I usually tell people that the payback of a Prius over a Matrix is 4 years but I'm basing that on last year's gasoline prices and being conservative with my calculation.

The new Matrix isn't nearly as good on gas as my 1st gen Matrix, went from 1.8L to 2.0L for whatever reason. You can get 1.8L, but it's with the cheap transmission, so the mileage is about the same. Disappointed when I found that out because I really liked my Matrix, but love the 2010 Prius.

 

Hi gang! Newbie here. I reserved a 2011 red Prius five w/beige/nav. paid $1k deposit. I Tried to get it through Sam's club for invoice but dealer said they would not 'honor' the invoice price and would not offer any deal of any kind. In southwest Georgia they do seem to be in short supply and their lack of flexibility on the price is disappointing. Some even have $3K ADMU. Dealer said mine is on a ship that left before the tsunami hit Japan and is supposed to be here on 4/11. I have been doing tons of research, and 'lurking' here for a while. I do like the outside design of the Gen III and have to get used to the dash layout, but my wife and I are excited to get some great gas mileage and thumb our noses at gas stations as we drive by. Needless to say it gets HOT down here and I wish the Five had the solar roof as an option (or the others w/LED headlights). I actually tried to get a four with solar and nav, but they did not have the colors I wanted. Anyway, Thanks for the other great info too! Nice web site! eace: BTW: I also checked on the vaporware Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. Dealers are completely in the dark on whats going on with that thing.

 

Why can't it be discounted? Changes in solar irradiance are measurable. Energy imbalance needed to warm the earth can be estimated. These should provide the hooks to take a stab at it.

Solar Variation
Radiative Forcings

 

That is merely one piece of the puzzle of global climate. The pseudoscience begins when the predictions are made as to what a reduction in human CO2 emissions will do in terms of global temps, which generally (and unsurprisingly) fails to account for reductions in the West/Europe being offset by growth in developing countries like China and India. It's a fool's game playing right into the hands of the wealth redistributionists. There is not even a consensus as to the accuracy and evenhanded application of the temperature measuring methods that some of the studies have used to reach their conclusions.

There are two sides of this aisle, none of us are going to convince one another otherwise in this thread, I'm afraid. I have seen the caliber of the authoritarian control freaks pushing for carbon taxation, and that alone is enough to give me pause whenever I see another government-issued "science" study proclaiming the end is nigh if we don't get total CO2 emissions down by an arbitrary percentage point or 2. How quickly some forget how absolutely wrong certain other scholars were in the 70s about what was just supposedly around the corner.

Proof of the lack of consensus:

[ame="http://www.scribd.com/doc/46238620/2010-Senate-Minority-Report"]2010 Senate Minority Report[/ame](I am sure someone will claim next that many of these aren't bonafide climate scientists so as to diminish their opinions/conclusions as less than credible...don't bother, I'm bowing out of this thread as you all try to convince me that human CO2 emissions are the sole cause of planetary warming)

 

I totally messed up math (post #140) to figure how many miles to make up MSRP difference between a 1.8L Matrix and Prius Two ...

at $3/gal avg., it's ~ 95k miles, not 33k miles.

Fixed it.
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Note: As for climate science, we should skip the discussion in this thread. The subject is extremely complicated and highly controversial. Personally, I just look to the governing authorities and hope for the best with it.

 

I was just about to post the error in your math CD ! LOL.

Gas is more like $4 a gallon now, which will yield even less miles to break even.

At 20,000 miles per year, I'm saving right at $2400 per year over my RAV4, which got roughly 20 MPG.

Prius is looking pretty good now.

For 50,000 miles ....

A car that gets 50MPG (Prius) uses 1000 gallons ....

A car that gets 28 MPG (Matrix) uses 1785 gallons ....

Therefore the Matrix uses 785 gallons MORE than the Prius in 50,000 miles ...

785 X $4 per gallon (far more realistic now than $3), = $3,140, so it's really more like 70,000 miles to break even over the Matrix, and that's assuming gas stays at or under $4.

At $5, it's just over 50,000 miles.

REV

 

Wasn't sure which thread to add this to:
Toyota to resume production at all Japan plants - Yahoo! Finance

 

I'm surprised that "global dimming" has not entered into this conversation. Particulates have reduced solar effect, as shown by reduced evaporation rates measured since WWII.

A study of temperatures in the US on 9/11-13/2001, when all planes were grounded, showed a clear spike in temperatures.

This seems to be one reason the warming hasn't been as fast as predicted; but if the sky clears, the warming will be that much more rapid than it is now.

And my Prius is fun, economical, green, good for national security, and a symbol to rub in the faces of some I tire of. A good investment all around.

 

Prius over my old sienna minivan is a win win for me. Aside from fact that i love how my 2010 prius 2 in black looks (only mod is window tinting)

 

A quick glance at Toyota's website offers the following correction:

Prius two MSRP is 23,050
Matrix 1.8L w/ auto MSRP is 17,510

$5,540 difference

 

I think if your primary goal is to save money on filling up gas, Prius isnt the best bang for your buck. Yes you can get a cheaper Toyota and justify saving 5-6k up front. That is a lot of gas you can fill up.

I bought a Prius because it looked cool, loved the technology in it, and at the same time, it saves gas.

Let's look at Lexus CT - it is a Matrix Hybrid with nicer interior and better rear suspension. 35k? How about RX hybrid, GS hybrid.

Point is, they all have different function and people will use the car for different reason. I did the math of "how much will I save if I got a Prius?" Math doesnt make sense but I went out and bought it. Enjoy life. Can't become a winner in everything in this world. We are already under the control of cartel business of oil industry anyways. Shortage of oil/gas or supply/demand problem? Bunch of bs... Why are we fighting in middle east? To protect our investment probably...

 

At today's local prices, for the distance I plan to keep this car, the Matrix would consume $15,200 more fuel than the Prius.

And at the time I bought it (sorry, the deal has expired), the Prius cost $1700 less in sales taxes.