Should I buy a Prius? You do the math.

Anne, remind your husband that the Prius has lots of storage space.

All the money you save at the gas pump fits perfectly!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(anne loftus @ Apr 18 2006, 09:18 AM) [snapback]241516[/snapback]</div>

Dream on. Crude at 71+ a barrel today.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Apr 18 2006, 08:06 PM) [snapback]241891[/snapback]</div>

Yep, oil is much too high and no one is worried about it any more.. that tells me its going higher!.....
What the market will bear means it goes till people squeal, then they back it off until the pain stops and then go higher the next time......



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Apr 18 2006, 08:06 PM) [snapback]241891[/snapback]</div>

Yep, oil is much too high and no one is worried about it any more.. that tells me its going higher!.....
What the market will bear means it goes till people squeal, then they back it off until the pain stops and then go higher the next time......

Much of the same tactics used when trying to wring out water from a towel or chamois..... except "we" are the towel and money is the water..

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(anne loftus @ Apr 18 2006, 01:18 PM) [snapback]241516[/snapback]</div>

You came to the right place to learn about the Prius. I applaud your decision. Recently a friend pointed out that if you change from a car that gets 15 MPG to a Prius and gets 45 MPG, it is like buying $3 a gallon gas for $1. He is a Republican so it may be voodoo economics but it feels good to think about it like that. Good luck and come back to share what you learn driving the Prius.

 

Also using real world gas usage over what the sticker says to compute gas usage, I've had so many argue with me that my Prius is not saving that much of a cost savings (which might be true) by whipping out sticker efficiency on something like a toyota corolla and comparing to the prius. Problem is that sticker efficiency is only if you drive like the EPA says, however if you are in bumper to bumper traffic on a regular basis (ie live near a large city) then your 38mpg highway efficiency of the corolla is going to take a nose dive in a hurry, while your prius actually will go skyward.

 

I have the same questions regarding my new 06 Pius. I've never seen pink and almost never see green. The Dealer has done a great job obfuscating the issue. I emailed Dr. Fusco since he seems to have a wealthof info on the Prius. In general, you all seem to have similar results.

Nice forum

From a dollars and cents standpoint. I purcased my Prius for its total practicality. My C6 Vette is the other side of the coin - totally impractical but a joy to drive. Between the two I average the best of both worlds

 

i see an error in your logic. You said that assuming $3/gallon for gas, you'd save $1637 in gas. That's $1637/year.

So.. If you assume that you plan to keep your prius for 10 years, and assuming that the gas price will stay at $3/gallon, that's $16370 in savings

EDIT: oops! Sorry.. I didn't notice that someone had discussed this already!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Apr 14 2006, 12:13 AM) [snapback]239566[/snapback]</div>

That's what I did after the same recommendation! I have a beautiful midnight blue CTS. I rented the Prius for one week from the local dealer, and at the end, I didn't want to give it back, so I ordered my own! I have noticed driving my CTS, I am getting better mileage, because I am more aware of how to drive after renting the Prius. Once I got my car back, with the exception of the Prius mediocre (sp)? seats, I actually preferred driving the Prius. Mine is due sometime next week hopefully, and the dealer gets the CTS. CONGRATS!

 

askin for help on a prius forum, u will most likely get a biased opinion

 

I tried to download the xcel file and it keeps telling me its missing or parts of it is. Anyone have it on here that can email it to me? [email protected]

 

The prius is a very practical car.
Dont do it for the money or potential savings...however at the rate gas is going up and will go up it may not be a bad idea!
For me buying the prius at $3 gas cost me an extra $50 a month over driving my vette. As well its more practical for my needs now as well. The prius is a very friendly car and is a very impressive piece of machinery.

 

Forget the Math: The Prius is a neat car. Period. OK, I could say that after 34 years of driving manual transmission cars I didn't want to switch to a slush transmission. The Prius doesn't have a transmission in the conventional sense so it fills the bill.

One of my pet peeves is the question "what is the payback time for a Prius?"
Why don't more people ask the owner of a 300HP sports car what his payback time is?
Unless he races it (and wins) the answer can be approximated as 10,000 years.
That doesn't mean I disapprove of the purchase or that he shouldn't drive a sports car. I just want more people to ask him what his payback time is.

 

YES!

...no math needed

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kirbinster @ Apr 14 2006, 11:48 AM) [snapback]239746[/snapback]</div>

Question, I am not sure if I understand you. How do you reduce your tax withholdings so that you get the credit month by month rather than wait for the refund? How does that work?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drift Motion @ May 17 2006, 07:44 PM) [snapback]257248[/snapback]</div>

And what's wrong with that? :blink:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fan-atic @ May 22 2007, 05:51 PM) [snapback]447624[/snapback]</div>

Probably infinity! :lol:


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FreshAirGuy @ Apr 19 2006, 10:11 AM) [snapback]242066[/snapback]</div>

"Voodoo economics"? Now that's really good, I like that!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(loveit @ May 22 2007, 08:04 PM) [snapback]447655[/snapback]</div>

The concept is that you figure out the $3150 tax credit amounts to $131.25 every 2 weeks (presuming you get paid every other week). If you reduce your Federal withholding by that much, you 'get' the refund as time passes rather than waiting until you pay your taxes and get a refund. BUT:
The $3150 is not guaranteed, it is income sensitive. You better figure out ahead of time how much of it (if any) you will actually get.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bruceha_2000 @ May 22 2007, 07:11 PM) [snapback]447664[/snapback]</div>

The hybrid credit is down to $787.50 which is $30.28 every two weeks.