Trying to Rationalize a PIP

It's entirely possible BUT I wouldn't expect the fuel savings to cover what you'll lose in the trade. If you want the PIP then go for it but with such low annual mileage I don't see it as a good choice financially speaking. Not that I have room to talk. LOL

 

72 month loan!!?? Sorry you can't afford it if you need a loan that long, in my opinion.

 

I purchased my PIP from LuvToyota in Lakewood, New York. I drove my 2010 Toyota Corolla there and traded it in. I got $11,900.00 for the trade in, still owed $19,000.00 on it. Toyota Financial assumed the remaining amount I still owed and included that amount plus the $32.750.00 for the PIP into a 72 month 6.38% loan. I now pay $778.34 a month. but hey! my gas payments are smaller! lol.

 

sorry, I tried to just put what was relevant to me and ended up putting wsbsteven's quote into my situation.

 

trade your hatchback for f8l's pip.

 

Don't forget to consider how much your electricity costs. A full charge is about 3 kWh. Full meaning from 20% SOC to 85% SOC. The plug-in didn't make sense for me until I installed solar panels. Now I can do a full charge at night for 15 cents.

 

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that makes no sense - I bought one could've paid cash but Toyota offered 0% interest for 60 mos
I can earn at least 3-4% safely so why give them cash when I can keep my cash and make another $2,000 over the period of the loan. In my opinion you can't afford to not take free $ for 5-6 years !

 

As far as "worth it $$" I would have to make a short study of St Louis/MO incentives and taxes. Also of importance is elec cost, some utilities offer low charge rates for EV.

Keep in mind, in general Plug_ins offer the ability to fuel switch from gaso to elec. Whether or not that switch is cleaner or cheaper is a local calculation. But Prius is the most efficient ICE on the road, so you have a hard base case to improve upon.

Most cases people are using Plug-ins to get HOV access or commitment to reduce oil use or enjoyment of new tech and nice EV ride. In the special case of a place like Washington State, low cost green power (hydro) something like a Leaf can be the cheap clean wheels.

The best deal we had on a PiP was around $25,500 in NY and that guy got $2500 Fed + $7500 WV tax credits. So $15500 after credits!!! But don't move to WV...they stopped the tax credit.

 

I'd stick with your current vehicle thus you don't get killed on the trade. Your commute mileage is very low.

When the next Gen Prius comes out in 2015 consider that time to review.

That's my opinion

 

Have you considered a PHEV conversion? You can get a pretty good system for your $24k with the same or better range to boot!

I would recommend the PlugInSupply 10kwh kit (if you can afford it). If you're not up to installing it yourself, Steve at AutoBeYours.com in Indiana might be willing to install it.

 

It's not a good idea to trade in cars as often as you do.

If your commute is five miles a day, that's 100 miles/month, or $8 in gas. Not worth an extra $128/month car payment. And the PiP Basic has the same trim as your Prius III, except for alloys and seat heaters.

 

If you get 0% it's almost always worth it. 0% was not part of the discussion though.

 

I just had to put the "quote" in and that fixed it, I musta removed it before.

 

don't forget, no heat in winter! no defrost. heated seats are toasty, but your front and feet freeze.

 

I would wait for 2015's I think it is possible that good things are coming!