From 15 mpg to 52

Welcome! I also went from 15mpg to the Prius (also Blizard Pearl ;-). I love seeing how much I can drive on a tank of gas, which goes quickly driving kids around.

 

I'm not a CPA and those numbers make me happy! Congratulations! Nice Blizzard Prius!

 

I would have asked the dealer to keep the car until 18,000 miles, and then give it to me for free

j/k, but saving $1.1 a mile for prior use is pretty cool

 

You'l have some left for the following night as well. It's actually a 632 page manual! Great reading, though.

Enjoy!

 

And ask away if you have ANY questions or queries about the car or how it drives.

First thing to do if check your tyre pressures to make sure they're at least the recommended levels show on the door pillar.

Popular concerns are;

1, The HV battery will normally never go below 2 bars and normally sits at 6/8 bars. Sometimes it will go to 7/8 but only 8/8/ after decending a steep hill at which point it will rev its engine.

2, The a/c can make an alarming humming/buzzing noise when first switched on on a hot day. This is just the compressor (which is electrically powered instead of off the engine like a normal car) and is completely normal.

3, The B Brake function on the gear shift is only to be used when decending a long steep hill as it acts like an engine brake.

4, Enjoy your new ride

 

Also note that when setting it up, you can put in the current price of gas and the old van's mileage and the car will calculate and keep a running tab of the savings for you! Just because you're a CPA doesn't mean you can't have the work done for you. Congrats and enjoy!

 

I had a Toyota 4Runner that got about 16MPG. I drive about 35,000 miles a year. Over 10 years I put 305,000 miles on the 4Runner. The Prius will pay for itself in gas in 3.5 years for me. That is a $24,000 savings.

Another great fact about any Toyota is reliability. Over the 10 years I had the 4Runner I spent less than $1,000 on repairs. My 2010 Prius has 80,000 miles and zero repairs. I hope you did not waste your money on an extended warranty.

 

I think your math is off. In round numbers:
600 miles @ 15mpg = 40 gals, x $4/g x 50 weeks = $8,000
600 miles @ 50mpg = 12 gals, x $4/g x 50 weeks = $2,400

Maybe you only do this during the school year? At 30 weeks the numbers are $4800 / $1440, still more than $3000 saved in a year, enough to entirely pay for itself in gas over its lifetime.

This of course does not factor in the reliability of an (presumably) old-ish van vs. a new car under warranty.

Prius FTW! :rockon:

 

He was probably also factoring the added cost of a new vehicle and insurance.