TheStreet article "why you shouldn't buy a hybrid"

[miscrms]

Couldn't resist:

You're pretty on the money with your comments regarding the GM and Lexus hybrids. Your argument on the Civic hybrid is a little weak (2 years to break even and 3 years of profit is not good?), and its too bad you chose to basically ignore the Prius all together other than to infer that its the same as all the rest. So lets look at the Prius.

The Prius and Chevy Malibu 4 cyl (non-hybrid) have pretty much exactly the same amount of interior space, luggage capacity, and accelerate at roughly the same speed. According to Consumer Reports, the Prius costs $1-2k more upfront, but $6k less over 5 years. According to fueleconomy.gov the fuel savings alone for the Prius are $1100 per year. So even without difference in maintenance costs, depreciation/resale etc you're in the black after 1-2 years. The almost 50% (3.3 tons/year) reduction in CO2 generated and almost 50% reduction in petroleum (264 gal/yr) bought from Al Qaeda sympathizers and South American dictators is just a bonus really.

Last month, Toyota announced that the Prius had broken the one-million-sold mark, truly a milestone for the poster child of the hybrid car movement. With those sales numbers, you'd think that the hybrids are saving people money, and you'd be right! :-)

Rob Smith

Rob

[ZC1]

Originally Posted by MegansPrius

Yep. Brian Walker.
Editorial Intern.
Now there's a moniker to instill trust.

As an future Editor, you can't say he's not off to a good "spin the story" start.

ZC1

[ZC1]

Originally Posted by HayaiKuruma

....Months from now, you'll overhear idiots at cocktail parties say: "I read in the street.com that hybrids are all a bunch of hype." Almost makes you miss Art Spinella.

Or Michael Moore.

ZC1

Little known Michael Moore fact: He dropped out of the University of Michigan-Flint, where he wrote for the student newspaper "The Michigan Times" and worked for a single day at the General Motors plant.

[brad_rules_man]

Originally Posted by ZC1

Or Michael Moore.

ZC1

Little known Michael Moore fact: He dropped out of the University of Michigan-Flint, where he wrote for the student newspaper "The Michigan Times" and worked for a single day at the General Motors plant.

Cool fact. I like many things about him. I'm not blind to his faults but enjoy him.

[carz89]

Perhaps there was an ulterior motive to TheStreet publishing that article. Since the website serves to provide news and advice on stock market investing, I am inclinded to think that they have published the article in hopes of driving down Toyota's stock price, then jumping at the opportunity to buy at a future depressed stock value.

[PriusSport]

I agree you shouldn't buy a Prius right now. Not unless you can get one at MSRP.

Another argument is gas prices may tumble soon--when OPEC or world governments do something about oil futures speculation. The British Finance Minister was talking about this today. The Euro countries are also affected. Something will happen soon. They can't tolerate oil prices going up much further. They will have to come down closer to $100 per barrel.

[TonyPSchaefer]

Originally Posted by HayaiKuruma

I've been a newspaper reporter and editor for 30 years and believe me, this was simply an attempt at creating buzz by writing a story that takes the opposite tack from the conventional wisdom -- no matter how much you have to contort the facts. It's an old trick that unfortunately never fails to get results. Months from now, you'll overhear idiots at cocktail parties say: "I read in the street.com that hybrids are all a bunch of hype." Almost makes you miss Art Spinella.

I was sitting on an airplane last weekend and heard a guy telling the woman next to him that hybrid batteries HAVE to be replaced every 5 years and cost almost $10,000. He went on to discuss how much they pollute, how much Nickel goes into the batteries and about the EMF dangers.

It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. But I was on vacation and not in the mood to have an intellectual debate with an unarmed opponent.

[nerfer]

Originally Posted by hiremichaelreid

I agree with your points, but will point out that just about every analysis (including my own) assumes constant gas prices.

Just because you think it will be 6 or 8 and someone else thinks its 1 or 2 and someone else 20, doesn't mean that will be true, and the author or analyzer CAN'T and shouldn't use your "biased" assumptions.

That's not true. Even Consumer Reports in their hybrid hype article assumed gas prices of $2/gal for 3 years, then $3/gal for 1 year then $4/gal for the 5th year. Of course, at that time prices were $2.50/gal and they've only gone up since. Over the last year, the raw product for gas has increased faster than gasoline prices themselves, so it's likely gas prices will continue upwards just to take current oil prices into effect. If you look at a chart of gas prices over the last 5 years, you'll see the trend is up. To assume otherwise would take an explanation of why you think the current trend will be broken. There may be some speculation in today's prices, perhaps 15% (pick a number, I used my trendline below), and gas prices could easily have a short-term swing into the mid-$3's, but for year-over-year, the trend is clearly up.

Another argument is gas prices may tumble soon--when OPEC or world governments do something about oil futures speculation. The British Finance Minister was talking about this today. The Euro countries are also affected. Something will happen soon. They can't tolerate oil prices going up much further. They will have to come down closer to $100 per barrel.

Dropping down to $100/barrel is hardly a tumble, considering that until this January, $100 was considered an improbable ceiling.
I like this argument - "something must happen because people can't tolerate these prices". Or what? Will we stop buying it? Will we go back to whale oil? Will we open up ANWR and magically get as much as we need in a couple months? Will we suddenly shake the sheiks into realizing it hurts us to give them that much money?

High prices are here to stay. The better you protect yourself now, the better you'll be in the future.

[Carbot]

Here are some "real world" facts that the goof-ball who wrote the article could have used. maybe he wouldn't have come off looking so uninformed about what's really happening. I have posted this on two other Hybrid sites to get the word out.

My '04 Prius turned 200,000 miles on 6/12/08. I bought it on 1/15/04.

Has anyone else out there got that many miles on one?

I am self employed and use the car for both business and personal use. I do not baby it for mileage, but estimate that over the life (so far) of the car I have averaged around 47-48 true mpg. I have kept a record of every mile driven and every ounce of gas that I have used, and will, when I have time, post a "lifetime" average.

I am in and out of it around 30 times a day, leaving it in "ready" mode all day some days.

Here is a quick summary of everything that I have ever fixed or replaced on the car. The upholstery is holding up very well, even though I wear jeans most of the time, which are kind of an abrasive material. I have worn a hole through the floor mat and into the carpet where my right foot sits. The "damper" on the top clamshell glove box gave up long ago, because I open that around 30-40 times a day too. The plastic cover over the accessory power outlet has broken off.

All of the above can be expected in a car that has seen the heavy use that mine has.

Now for the FEW things I have replaced. 12volt battery---130,000 miles. serpentine belt/plugs/water pump---155,000 miles. The plugs were still plugging, the belt was still belting, though frayed, and the pump was still pumping, but "weeping". I just replaced it because the belt was off. Just bought my fourth set of replacement tires. Still the ORIGINAL BRAKES. Replaced one key fob battery. I am in the car at least 8 hours a day, sometimes 6 days a week. It is very comfortable. I can make a U turn on a residential street. Parking is a breeze. Plenty of storage nooks for my "office supplies". I use the nav. system all day. The key never leaves my pocket for those 30+ times I get in and out of the car.

Bottom line: I don't know how Toyota knew how to make the perfect car for me and what I do, but they did. Even putting aside the great mileage and the "feel good" aspect of doing the right thing for the planet, it would still be the best car I have ever owned, by far.

[Bill Merchant]

Wow, Carbot, what a GREAT first post! Welcome to PriusChat!
What kind of work do you do that you're in and out and driving all day? You may know about the Prius Taxis in Vancouver BC, and other cities, but you're the first individual I've heard of who puts that much milage on a Prius.