I am trying to figure out if it makes sense to get the plug in prius or the regular prius. Does anyone know if there is a federal tax credit on the PIP? Also if I get the car one thought is to lease as toyota has a very good lease program out now. At the end of the lease I would buy it out and the dealer said the buyout would be $17K wondering if the PIP would hold it's value better than a non pip and is that worth the higher cost?
Toyota | Toyota Confirms Prius Plug-In's Eligibility for an Additional State of California Consumer Incentive and Its EPA Mileage Rating It confirms it in this article as well as the article mentioning California residents get even more money back.
In general terms, you can can get a federal tax credit of the lesser of your total tax liability and $2500. Partial credit cannot be carried forward to the next year. Note that this is your tax liability, not what you have to pay or get back when you file your tax form. Alternate minimum tax does not disqualify you from this this credit (not to be confused with a very similar tax credit that expired a couple of years back that WAS subject to AMT). But as Paradox says, consult a tax professional for your particular case.
OP....Im also in NY state, I nearly bought a NON Pip for 170/mt...8k down. Then aug 1st toy offered 3150 off sticker on PiPs. My payment went from 170 to 178/8k down. So i pay 8 dollars more /mt then i would have for a NON Pip. This is a 3 yr lease. BTW the residual is 17,600....while the NON Pip resid was 15,300 IIRC. I can buy it for that or if the new PiP at the time has increased EV range I will give it back for a new one. Check to see if the August offers are still on. Its the only reason I even looked at the PiP cause the cost was way more then I was ready to pay. Dan
Will PIP hold it's value? I think so, until the technology is replaced by something better. And that will happen, but when?
The used car market is a different market than the new car market. In the used car market, there will be few options for plug-in hybrid vehicles, just like there currently is for the new car market. So IMO, it will hold value better than a non-hybrid or even a hybrid.
Mileage is the king in the used car market. Try search how much an used 1999-2005 corolla/camry/civic/accord cost , even with 150k miles on it, they quickly move out of 'craigslist', or 'autotrader.com' as there are lots of buyers who are in need of good mileage. Same with 2001-2005 prius. Based on the current trends, I strongly believe that PiP will hold its value very well with in 1k/yr loss.
Leasing could be a good deal, even for those who could buy the car outright. At the end of the lease, you have the choice to keep it or not. You can decide based on the value of the used PiP at the time. So heads you win, tails the dealer loses. Compare the total cost of leasing and buying the residual against the cost if you just bought outright. Whatever the excess cost of the lease is, that's what you're paying to have the option at the end of the lease.
