Really leaning toward a 2014 Prius Plugin, need your opinions/thoughts

depends on what kine of deal you can get... if your numbers are correct, it depends on how long you keep it. if it's all about the money. when you say your commute is 170 miles (wow), and 'all the other days' does this mean two? that's not much charging, but could be fun on the weekends.

 

i spoke to soon, see my edit.

 

Do the math. I doubt you will save any money. Some $10+k for the PiP after trade in is quite a long time to recoup at $2-$4 a day. I think it's best to just wear out your current Prius and purchase a Tesla Model III in say 2019 or whatever is available in 5 years.

 

what are you getting now? should be a 5-10% increase, not counting the electricity. sorry, i'm having senioritis tonight. 15 to 20 miles 6 days a week? this is the perfect car for you. and solar panels? why would you want a volt, that would be overkill. look at my stats, i do 15-20 a day, plug in at home only, and 90 miles one day a week.

 

dianne has some great pricing, road trip?

 

that used '13 might be fine, it doesn't take much service. i did an oil change at 5k and 15k, i'm at 20k now. tyre rotations at 5k intervals.

 

When your 2010 gen Prius is paid off, you could save more money by going from full coverage insurance to liability. This decision is up to you of course.

The solar panels may not generate enough electricity for you on overcast days, another factor to consider. I'm unsure whether the panels generate enough power for your household on any given day, and how many sunny days there are in your area. It's great you're thinking about how to potentially save more money, but as with most car purchases, it's almost always more economical to drive your current car to the ground before upgrading.

The regular liftback model still gets great MPG overall. The savings won't amount to much on your 170 mile commute. Not enough to spend hundreds per month for a year or two to pay off a new PIP.

Aside from the financial perspective, having a spare tire in the trunk is a great feature to have for long trips, one feature lacking in the PIP I weighed considerably before purchasing.

I think the PIP would only be a smart purchase in your case if there is a green decal for carpool lane access, similar to California.

 

I second 7-0-SAV's comment - the thing that pushed me over the wall to get a PiP was the ability to get one of the few remaining HOV stickers available. With your weekly commute you'll probably only get 10-15% EV usage, but it's nice to have EV on the weekends when running errands.

I'd be leery of the "only one service" comment -- the service interval is pretty rigorous. I just had my 5K service, which wasn't much more than checking that the floor mat was fastened, fluids check and tire rotation. Oil changes are every 10K so the PiP you're looking at should have had 2 by now.

 

The money part seems obvious ... an EV is not going to save you money.
I'm not sure what version PiP you are considering but I have read about much lower purchase costs. Sorry I do not know details.

If you want an EV, then a PiP seems like a good choice for your driving routine. I can certainly understand the attraction now that you have PV. Are the panels producing more than your home consumes ?

 

It appears you are looking for an economic justification for a non-economic situation. Use the economic analysis along with all the non-economic priorities that also matter to you and your family. Specifically when you say "stick it out" what would be your decision point later? The economics might be the same, better, or worse. Yet I expect you have some priority for making the change. [I for one would absolutely like to use solar generated fuel as soon as viable even if a short term economic hit was involved. What I would not like is taking out a loan (or bigger loan).]

 

It'll cost some money to restart the ODO back from 0 miles.

 

Inferno,
If you buy the PiP 1.0 tomorrow, how happy will you be with it in ~ 18 months when PiP 2.0 arrives with say double the EV range, new toys, AWD, and a new look ?

If the answer is 'not very,' I suggest you keep making car payments to a personal 'PiP 2.0' savings account. You will then be in very good financial shape to enjoy the new car on the block in 2016.

 

Would you rather pay a $1000 for maintenance over 2 years or $5000 in car payments? Heed Sagebrush's advice.

 

It's rarely a paying proposition; it's never easy to justify the extra cost, but...

It's hard to beat the feeling of a $30 gas fill-up after 500 miles.

 

Pretty easy to beat if you're filling up after 700 miles. Come on Greg, you can do better.