Best Excuses to Tell Your Friends Why You Bought A Prius are.....

^Using 5% for the discount rate (very generous for 2012), used for both the fuel savings and the $6,000 has a payback period of 13.89 years.

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But this is erroneous because we aren't factoring in the faster rate of depreciation of the ICE vehicle.

 

umm..

2011 Ford Focus SES: $17,000
2010 Prius II: $19,000

What is the price difference there? Also keep in mind that I drive 30,000 miles per year and the fuel savings of *shocking!* $2,000 makes up for my initial investment in the prius.

It wasnt Camry vs. Camry Hybrid or Prius vs 1980s Honda Junker vs Prius for me.

I worked out the numbers on an excel spreadsheet HOPING to find out the Prius did not financially make sense because before I got one, I hated them and the people that drive them.

But if you want to believe that everybody is making a political statement with their car, thats your right.

 

You do want to do like to like comparison in order to see through the smoke of "saving money on fuel" rationalization for buying a hybrid.

If your friends are fooled by the "greed is good" chest beating, it works for you.

 

uhh.. whatever makes you happy bud. it never was a like-for-like comparison for me... so i dont know what to tell ya.

everybody has different reasons.

 

Hi Adam,

Sorry to draw you in -- I was just shutting ProxSuns up since I know very well he is incapable of backing up his opinions with data, let alone math.

But fwiw, here is my calc:
I compute based on:
15 year car life
20k miles a year, ~ estimated $67 a month fuel savings
4% apr (savings or borrow rate)
$4000 - $6000 hybrid premium

$4000 hybrid premium over 15 years: 4000 * (1.04^15) = $7203.77 in 2027 dollars
$6000 hybrid premium over 15 years: 6000 * (1.04^15) = $10805.66 in 2027 dollars

Fuel savings in 2027 dollars from a deposit savings of $67 a month, 4% savings rate: $16,488.06

 

On the hybrids, not really. The reason for buying them is what you get for your money. You reduce your oil usage and all the damage that does to nation and environment. You don't save money on fuel as the numbers show.

 

My best and only excuse....

Driving a JKU only to work at 14-17MPG with a high loan balance.... investments in the tank thanks to the economy... so needed to find more places to save $$$ ... filling the JKU tank every 1.5weeks at around $85 a tank... etc... etc...

Now... got my 2011 Prius 5... lower price tag (got a great deal on it)... visit the gas station after 3wks of driving and pay $35 to fill up the bladder.

Best excuse? I am saving money which is what I needed to do...

 

Nice man. I am fresh from running solar power savings calculations. To make your final number more interpretable, thats a $9,155.23 savings in 2012 dollars which is greater than $6,000 premium. So over a long horizon of 15 years thats a smart financial decision.

 

Did anyone consider the cost of brake jobs over that period? The regular camry would have had a least 3 brake jobs in the first 150K. If each extra brake job costs about $250 then that's at least $750 extra in savings for the hybrid version.

 

but you DO save money on fuel.. 30mpg in the focus vs 46 mpg in the prius. 30,000 miles a year over many years... id say thats saving money.

 

Is 30 mpg for the Focus a combined city/highway value ? Seems likely the lion's share of your miles are on the highway.

 

Yes you save money on fuel BUT you pay more for the Prius than you will save in fuel for 10 years on average. More if one factors in financial facts like the value of having the $6K invested or just in the bank for financial security. Less if you drive more than they average 15,000 year. The 30K would reduce the break even point to five years.

The main effect of having a Prius is you are going to use less gasoline. If you live in US it is good for US as it cuts US oil imports which are responsible for big trade deficits, oil war debt, dead and wounded in oil wars, oil caused and financed terrorism, oil pollution, air, water and ultimately climate. Secondarily it promotes the technology allowing manufacturers to invest and come out with new and better fuel saving cars.

Those good things are considered "liberal" which is in turn considered good or bad depending on one's political affiliation. People who do good, liberal things but have the opposite political affiliation have to hide it and the "I did it for the money" is the sole justification for doing stuff for some people or they will think they are being "liberal".

 

yes, a combined figure. most of my driving is highway, but its on the hell known as I-95 between Richmond and DC.

I am not an "average" fuel consumer. I do not have $6k extra invested in a Prius, it is $2k for me, I bought used.

The main effect of using less gasoline is that I spend less money on a weekly/monthly basis. For all I care, the hybrid system could run on baby seal blood. All of those other things you mentioned are fine and dandy, and any sane person would favor those outcomes... but none of them are a reason for my buying a Prius.

I honestly don't care what people think about me or what my political views might be. I bought my Prius for financial reasons... end of story. Many people surely do buy hybrids as a statement, but for me it was a smart financial move.

 

"Where the men are good looking, the women are strong and children are all above average."

 

A prius owner that listens to NPR, not THAT is a shock!

 

Alternative was Monty Python's "He's a lumberjack and he's OK" which is probably more appropriate to the in the closet Prius owners who have to cover up in case they get accused of being do a gooder liberal by their peers.

 

I bought the prius to replace a 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. Although I loved the car, after 160,000miles I was constantly putting 100 here, 100 there into it to keep it going another couple weeks. and gas had hit $4

Excuses for buying a prius, My parents have been buying Toyotas for the last 20 years and have an awesome track record of vehicles going well over 250,000miles.

In my 95, I was getting roughly 22mpg on a good day. Lots of in town driving. So every 310-320miles, I would have to put another 15 gallons of gas in.

With my prius, I have the peace of mind of a reliable vehicle, 9 gallons of fuel will get me 400miles with no problem.
My savings in fuel with the prius vs the 95, in roughly another 57,000miles the gas savings compared to old car will have paid for my prius!

 

You have some serious insecurities man.

 

Don't let your stereotypes overwhelm you. I find NPR annoying because the analysis is so skewed, but NO ONE will confuse me with a Republican, or find me within miles of Faux News propaganda.

IMHO, your problem is that you have yet to grasp that benefits to your world/country/community/family benefit you personally. Similarly, if you pollute your neighbor's air and nest, if leads to degradation of your quality of life too. In short, even the abject narcissism you attempt to portray (clearly a disease, defined by DSM) is not a logical argument against environmentalism.

 

I am not making an argument against environmentalism, I am making an argument that it has nothing to do with my decision to buy a Prius.