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After 12 years of interest, it arrived today...

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by R-P, Dec 6, 2011.

  1. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Followed the development of the Prius since the beginning and today I finally took the step: we bought a (previous model) Prius. It's a second car (for the three kids with the childseats we have a Volvo V70) and I wanted something without the choking roadtax killing me. (I'm in Holland and the Volvo costs 1900€ a year, that's 2600$ or so...). Until 2014, the Prius will be roadtax free, after that it will be up to 700€ (1000$) a year.

    Love to see what's possible to make it better and to solve any problems I may encounter (like it not wanting to switch to "Drive" yesterday: if it is the brake-relay, it is covered by the salesperson, for all other things I trust the Toyota quality :cheer2:, as I didn't purchase extra warranty, did have it checked by a Toyota dealer beforehand and he didn't find much except some bad repaint-work on some minor damage).

    May it last for at least another 125000km (~80k M) :D

    Next step: make it grid chargeable..:rockon:. as my solarpanels *should* (once actually mounted) supply too much and I will get nothing for it from the energy company.

    Hope to learn a lot and if possible also to teach a little here!
     
    #1 R-P, Dec 6, 2011
  2. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Congrats and welcome aboard!
     
    #2 Tideland Prius, Dec 6, 2011
  3. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Congrats!
    I'm so surprised to hear that after twelve years you haven't figured out that hybrids are unreliable fads.

    (nobody tell him)
     
    #3 TonyPSchaefer, Dec 6, 2011
  4. JonathanP

    JonathanP New Member

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    Woah! 12 years? You must have been anxious like a little kid getting his very first candy package. :)
    Nothing is more of a thrill than getting a fresh boiling prius in a hot sunny day. I envy you man, I can only wait for my next pick to arrive... :rolleyes:
     
    #4 JonathanP, Dec 7, 2011
  5. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Congratulations on your decision! I truly believe that the net, solar panels and Hybrid / Electric vehicles are going to continue to be the way of the world for a long,long time. Believe it or not, there are millions of people out there who do not use a computer, cannot use one and sometimes will not use one. I am speaking not just of Europe but other parts of the 1st. World, like the USA!. Obviously your decision was not taken lightly. Of course the same retinence in regards to the Hybrid exist also. With that horrendous road tax, your decision was absolutely the right one. Have fun with your new Prius and keep in touch. :rockon:
     
    #5 andyprius, Dec 7, 2011
  6. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Grid-chargeable? What do you mean by that?

    And congratulations, btw!
     
    #6 zenMachine, Dec 7, 2011
  7. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    I have solarpanels that feed into the powersocket, making my electricity meter (literally) run backwards at times. I bought so many panels, that when I actually install them, I will likely produce more in a year than I use.
    This abundance is my gift to the electricity company as they will not pay me for it. So if I can use it in some way, that would rock :rockon:.
    E.g. by charging a battery in my Prius that gives me a longer EV-range. In short: making it a plug-in version.

    Just to make it clear: it is not a new one, but a Februari 2009 one (so previous model).

    I've never had a new car in my life, which has to do with depreciation of new cars (Dutch cheapskate), but also, more importantly, with the horrendous differences in price between the US and Europe in general, the Netherlands in particular.

    As mentioned, the roadtax on my Volvo is killing me. But there's also a huge car-sales-tax on new cars (40%*). And of course the standard tax (compare to state+government tax in the US) of 19%...

    So a car in the Netherlands will often be twice the price it is in the US.

    One horrid example: The Tesla Model S, despite the fact the car-sales-tax is waved (!!!) because it is so fuel efficient and the exchange rate got you 1400 dollars for my 1000 euro's at the time they priced it, this 50k$ car would cost me 60k€ :confused:
    So 50k in the US, 85k$ for me.:eek: (To be honest: the 50k is probably before state and federal taxes, right?)

    Sorry about the long post, I just like alternative energy discussions as long as they make financial sense, and I love ranting about my moneygrabbing government (even though I have relied heavily on the Dutch healthcare system last year: this would have bankrupted me in the US, so it's not all bad...) ;)





    * this is being converted into a CO2 tax, but then explaining it gets even more difficult... tried to keep it relatively simple
     
    #7 R-P, Dec 7, 2011
  8. Codyroo

    Codyroo Senior Member

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    The Prius (as currently built) is not chargeable. There are kits you can purchase to convert your Prius to a Plug In Prius. These aftermarkety kits vary in price and range.

    While you may not use all the energy you produce with your solar panels, it seems (from what you are saying) that it will cover all your electric usage and still have left over to "share" with the power company. This isn't a bad thing, as you are contributing a small amount of clean electricity.

    Your electrical usage will likely change (increase) as your children age, so you should be good with your system going forward. Congrats!
     
    #8 Codyroo, Dec 7, 2011
  9. Codyroo

    Codyroo Senior Member

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    And seeing it run backwards NEVER gets old! :)
     
    #9 Codyroo, Dec 7, 2011
  10. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    Explain that.
     
    #10 andyprius, Dec 9, 2011
  11. R-P

    R-P Active Member

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    Took a while for me to see you had a calculation inside my quote ;)



    50k$ and 60k€ are both prices mentioned on the internet: they have nothing to do with what conversion I use, they are just given facts. I mentioned the conversionrate because the official price isn't released yet, but you can reserve one by paying 30k€ (the 500km range one, the base unit needs 10k reservationcost I think.



    We only pay a federal tax of 19% which is always included in the price: what you see on the tag is what you pay.


    I hope I explained how I arrived at the numbers above.
    When importing stuff from the US (motorcycle parts) I payed 200$. Shipping was about 100 iirc. Then importtax was 10% (which they also charge over the shipmentcost!!!) so that was 330 total. Then they did the 19% trick which made the total very close to 400$.
    If you use the same importtax and 'federal tax', then the 55k (I won't get the 5k discount that you get in the US) for the Model S, becomes 71k$ And if they also need to ship the thing from the US to us and if this shipping is also taxed with import and federal tax, then I can see how they arrive at over 80k$. The only thing I can hope for is a crash of the Euro :D

    BTW it bugs me bigtime that I have a special opportunity to see the Prius Wagon on the 28th of December where the darn thing is already on sale with you guys!!!     I have to actually reserve this 'meet' as it will only be in the Netherlands for 100 hours...
    It's starting at 31k€ btw...
     
    #11 R-P, Dec 10, 2011
  12. andyprius

    andyprius Senior Member

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    OK RP, I now see the direction you were going. You were adding all Dutch Government inflicted tax, fees, etc to arrive at a cost comparisom between the US prices and the comparable Netherland total expense. I havn't understood for years now why Europeans have not revolted over many financial issues. I know for a fact that the conversion of the Mark to the Euro ended up costing the average German 4x as much. They rec 1/2 with the conversion and then everything cost twice as much. I am sure in Holland is was much of the same and perhaps worse. Cheers.
     
    #12 andyprius, Dec 14, 2011
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