Warm up your keyboards...Dave Ramsey

wow... I cant say any more. I really don't know where to begin.

Evan, you're my hero. :hail:

 

25mpg's? :lol: I thought he was talking about hybrids, not a compact car with an ICE and no hybrid.

This guy obviously failed the math and science classes and is therefore reduced to write crap on the internet.

 

There is soooooooooooooo much FAIL in that article ..... I just don't know where to begin. Indeed basic logic and math skills are well beyond this man's ability.

Do you think he get a stipend from the oil industry?

... Brad

 

:blah:
Wow! I am saving WAAAAAY more than that.....

 

Just did! I told him maybe I would feel that way if my car ONLY got 25mpg! Told him he should do more research next time before he writes! Surprised he didn't open his mouth about the battery too.....I hear alot of people talk about the battery for hybrids too....

 

25 mpg? Isn't that the Tahoe hybrid?

 

Oh yah - quit your job and start a home-based business is real sound financial advice.

Good grief!

 

Don't be so quick to judge. Purchasing our Prius was not a financial win, even with 10+ years of gas savings included. We bought the car because we really like it and we are now also enjoying eye popping fuel economy.

If you already own a car that doesn't need to be replaced it usually isn't a win to buy a new car, even one that gets 2x to 4x the mileage. The extra license fees, insurance, capital cost, loss of investment income from paying cash, or the cost of interest may never be recouped.

If you need a car (ours was totaled) then it makes perfect sense to buy something smart like a Prius. However we compared the Honda Civic non-hybrid to the Prius and the Civic would have been a financial win. In our case the extra $5K cost of the Prius over the Civic meant that we would have $5K less in investments. Figure your money should double every 7 years in the stock market and in just 21 years we've lost $20K. This is a hidden cost most don't consider.

If you are comparing two cars of equal cost then the one with the better mileage may be the better choice.

Dave Ramsey doesn't seem to have given this much thought. He certainly got his numbers wrong and is ignorant about Prius reliability.

 

There's part of me that agrees that there's a great deal "wrong" with this article, but there's another part of me that knows that for people with the means, a need/want analysis is really informative and can really help inform the whole hybrid decision. But there's another set out there for whom the need/want thing becomes much more black and white and for whom the pure financial analysis this guy did is a much better plan (heck, for some, it's the only plan.)

If memory serves me right, there was a case of this around here not too long ago. The general consensus in that thread, based on a nearly pure financial analysis, was that the poster should probably not buy the Prius they were interested in. In fact the argument to "not buy" was very similar to Mr. Ramsey's.

The difference as I see it is that the argument here was made to a specific person in a specific situation while Mr. Ramsey is trying to cast a much wider net to a much more broad audience. On casual inspection I found that the supposition that Mr. Ramsey is evaluating "cost effectiveness without regard to anything else" rather hard to support. IMHO, he seems to be making very general and rather encompassing statements that have wide applicability. Am I missing something here?

I'd love to see someone really sit down and put together a discussion that the "average Joe" could use to navigate through this that avoids the emotion that so often gets involved.

 

I would write <BLING> a reply <BLING> to Dave <BLING> Ramsey but <BLING> this dang <BLING> gas pump keeps <BLING> interrupting me. <BLING>

Bob Wilson

 

We should also remember that Dave Ramsey's audience is largely made up of people who have come to him with HUGE financial problems... debt up to their eyeballs, no self-control whatsoever with money, etc.

Ramsey's typical recommendation to people, I believe, is to sell whatever car they have (even if they aren't making payments on it anymore; even if they are going to lose big on depreciation) and buy a $400 jalopy. That way they can throw the rest of their money at their debts.

The majority of his audience is NOT in a good position to spend $20-30K on a new car without taking on another high interest loan.

A new Prius really only makes sense if you are of the financial means to be shopping for a new car of similar or higher value anyway.

Tim

 

Remember Dave Ramsey is in the business of making money from people that are in financial trouble..I have listened to him in the past even borrowed one of his book's form someone. Mostly what was in the book was common sense there was some good charts to help you see how bad off you where, I cant believe people pay him money for him to tell them not to spend more than they make but if it helps them I guess its okay..Back to my Prius I drive 174 miles a day and was getting 26 miles to the gallon in my truck now I am getting 56MPG + so it cut my gas bill in half.. I went from 33.36 gallons of gas($133.84) to 15.53 gallons ($62.12)a week based on $4 a gallon thats a monthly savings of $286.88 yearly savings of 927.16 gallons ($3708.64) not to mention all the other driving I do in my prius not just to work..

 

you know, i find it ironic that he would recommend trying to sell a car you purchased new after 5 years. i thought this was the anti-debt guy. most people are paying off their car loans at 5 years, so why the hell is he talking about trying to sell a car when you've finally rid yourself of the debt associated with it? might as well keep it at that point, right?

i think his methods are a little nutty, but that's just me.

any idiot can argue that a reliable used car is cheaper than a new car. however, lots of people think dropping a ton of cash on something in the long term (ie, in 36-72 car payments) is a good solution for the short term (gas tank fills) too. that's the short sightedness that gets people buried in such debt in the first place.

 

I love to read that kind of stuff- misinformation abounds. Is he subsidized by big oil? Or maybe the Big 3 in Detroit? Regardless, my Prius makes absolute sense to me and I would not trade it for anything but another.

 

Isn't he showing up in one of the GM commercials touting high gas mileage??
Buying a new car when your old one is still working for you is always a bad financial decision.
However, if you are buying a new car anyways, that is the time to look at a Prius as a money saver.