Fleet Prii Make Sense, dollars and cents

The Prius makes even more sense when you consider they will need less repairs and will give a much better return on the initial purchase price when it comes time to sell them.

 

Hey, that picture of "Eagle, Colorado" (it's "Red Cliff", actually) is of a bridge I happened upon on a random drive! It took me forever to track down where it was after I started trying. I began to think I saw the thing in a dream!

Anyway, the bridge is pretty cool in-person.

 

As usual, read the fine print.
That's an additional 8ct in cost.


quote: The 20 Prius cars, which make up about half of the county's light vehicle fleet, were purchased at an original cost of $23,897 each.
A few months later, the county successfully obtained rebates of $3,013 per vehicle through the Colorado Department of Revenue's alternative fuel income tax credit program.

 

huh? they are talking about operating costs, which have nothing to do with purchase price. lol.

 

Depreciation costs are still "dollars and cents" in the real world.

 

Are you saying their stated operating costs should be $.08 higher or lower?

 

Even the maintenance and repair costs seem high for a new vehicle over 4 years/36K miles.
Why ?

quote: average lifetime maintenance and repair cost for each Prius is $3,503.

 

Depends what is included. Some fleet operators would include car washes and bodywork repairs (since drivers do sometimes have minor accidents) in maintenance figures. after all, if one car was cheaper to buy buy ridiculously expensive to replace the front bumper, you'd want to know. Short answer, we don't know, they don't tell us.

 

And i suspect a 7 year old prius is worth more than a 7 year old dodge intrepid.

 

well they didnt talk about depreciation costs at all, but operating costs.

... and in general, prius has best in class depreciation, it is excellent in holding value.

 

Cool article. I've driven over and under that bridge several times. Shorter and much quicker than going through Redcliffe. Some of the reporter's statements beg for more information or border on nonsense, though.

First, does the "fleet average" include the Prii? If so, and if Prii comprise half of the fleet, the average cost of non-Prii is $0.20 per mile and the Prius is 30% less costly to operate than the non-Prii.

Second, you can't "use" 175% less gas. That means you've manufactured gas in the course of driving the Prii. What they mean is that the Prius is 175% more fuel efficient.

I wish they'd stated how much they've saved over the course of 3 years of ownership. The comment about saving $45k (in fuel savings alone) in the first 6 months is incredible. Now they've been spoiled and can never go back to the gas hogs of the past.

 

and what loss was taken when they got rid of the 20 vehicles the prii replaced?

 

They could have made big savings going to Corollas. They went from Jeeps and Tahoes to a Prius, a reduction in operating costs isn't really surprising.

 

#1. That's a beautiful picture.

#2. I think Prius advantageous in a lot of "Fleet Service" type of situations.

#3. My admitted guess is that most vehicles, Prius included, once obtained and pressed into "service" by a local, state or federal goverment agency as a fleet vehicle, do not hold the same value as their like counterparts in the civilian world. So I would "discount" the depreciation part of the equation.

Near end of life, they are likely going to be sold at significant discount or simply wholesale auctioned...

But that doesn't change the fact that it's a beautiful picture, and that I think more operations should consider Prius as an absolutely fantastic choice as a service or fleet vehicle.