Good hybrid article in today's paper

[Per]

G. Chambers Williams III has a daily article in the San Antonio Express-News discussing cars, and today he covered hybrids starting with the Prius. He contrasted the mileage on his pickup with that of his sister's Prius: "...my siste was bragging about how she had owned her Prius for over a month yet had only put gas in it twice." He mentions most Prius owners average about 50 MPG in everyday use without giving that a negative connotation. Not all hybrid news stories are negative!

Would give you a web reference, but couldn't find the article on line.

[Godiva]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Per @ Jul 7 2007, 01:50 PM) [snapback]474709[/snapback]</div>

G. Chambers Williams III has a daily article in the San Antonio Express-News discussing cars, and today he covered hybrids starting with the Prius. He contrasted the mileage on his pickup with that of his sister's Prius: "...my siste was bragging about how she had owned her Prius for over a month yet had only put gas in it twice." He mentions most Prius owners average about 50 MPG in everyday use without giving that a negative connotation. Not all hybrid news stories are negative!

Would give you a web reference, but couldn't find the article on line.
[/b]

Here it is:

The Hybrid Alternative

He does go back to the same old yawn:

"But if you're just looking to save money on your total vehicle ownership experience, then most of the hybrids won't help. That's because the extra cost of the hybrids over the prices of comparable gasoline-only vehicles can make it difficult to recoup the difference at the pumps."

In a previous article he compared a Prius to a Yaris and recommended the Yaris for the same reason....half the sticker.

He did get the size of the Prius right: midsize.

[zqfmbg]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 7 2007, 12:04 PM) [snapback]474713[/snapback]</div>

"But if you're just looking to save money on your total vehicle ownership experience, then most of the hybrids won't help. That's because the extra cost of the hybrids over the prices of comparable gasoline-only vehicles can make it difficult to recoup the difference at the pumps."[/b]

It is true. I would be far ahead money-wise if I'd kept my old Accord as opposed to getting rid of it for the Prius. But then, the cheapest total vehicle ownership experience consists of driving junkers into the ground and then replacing them with more junkers.

[4futrgens]

Any car would get you ahead money-wise as long as you kept it and maintained it well for like ever. Remember the Consumer Reports article with the best bets of cars getting to 200K miles. Prius was on that list, and also laid out how you could potentially save $20K-$30K by keeping your car for 15 years versus 5 years.