Are hybrid owners thrifty in general?

aye.

 

Those buying a Prius know they will not likely save the hybrid premium in fuel savings. If I were thrifty I would have bought a Camry.

We tend to shop at Walmart for most of our food. We grow and can some of our vegetables. I guess that makes us thrifty in some ways.

 

G'day,
Another Prius-owning Aldi shopper here.
Some Scottish ancestry too (all Protestant).
Can't fight my genes.
David S.

 

Yes, I do believe prius drivers are very frugal. Next time check movie theaters and nice restaurants. No prius cars.......lol

 

" Thrifty In General" ....
Hmm....
A new or newer Prius in any incarnation is not a cheap vehicle. I paid around $22,000 for my Gen 3 Prius II. And at the time, I thought that was actually a very minimal, nearly non-existent "Hybrid Premium". Since I had owned a Honda Fit, which if I remember right cost me about $18000 and given the Hybrid efficiency, and things like Keyless Entry, push button start, which did NOT come with The Fit at the time, I thought $22,000 was a pretty good price.

Flash forward to today, and I don't think I could get back into a new Gen 4 Prius for anything close to that buy in. It would cost me more.

Did I buy The Prius with a desire to be "frugal".

Well if I'm TOTALLY honest with myself Yes. I bought in large part because I wanted the efficiency and great gas mileage a Hybrid offers.
Would nearly any of us buy a new Prius, at new Prius prices, if the gas mileage was 33 mpg?

No I think we would find other options.

So anyway, I think the desire to be able to reduce day to day, week to week auto fuel purchases. Is a big part of many peoples desire to buy a Hybrid.
It's a separate debate as to whether that purchase actually makes the general population "frugal".

The reaction many Prius Owners seem to have when their vehicle switches from Electric to ICE, is not unlike the reaction Scrooge has early in The Christmas Carol, when Bob Cratchit asks if he could throw another lump of coal on the dismal office fire.
How dare it do so, and everything is just fine the way it is.....

 

I'm 'frugal' dangit! Others say I'm 'cheap' though...

Seriously though...I consider myself a 'value' shopper...as in I like a good value on the things I purchase.

 

Not sure yet...tell you when I replace this 2006

 

Since I'm a driver and not an owner, it would be hard for me to say.

I'm thinking that from my perspective, Prius drivers break out into roughly three groups in what I presume is represented in reverse order of thriftiness......

1.) - Early adopters, HOV scofflaws, and the eco-chic.......people who buy a new Prius, and drive them for less than 100,000 miles, and then trade out. Some Prius owners have differing motivators than thriftiness, and others use statistical thriftiness to justify a new car purchase.

2.) - The desperately thrifty.
These are people who cannot afford to get a mechanically reliable Prius, and try to buy a car that's about 3/4 (or more) of the way through its service life. Sometimes......with a little luck, a lot of YouTube videos, and about $200 worth of hand tools, these folks will 'polish a turd' and get a good dependable daily driver that's fuel efficient.
Other times?
Sadder lessons are learned.

3.) - Thrifty Prius Drivers.
Generally buy used cars with less than 100K on the clock - or - buy a new base model and put lunar mileage on it.


So.....while Prius drivers are more thrifty than.....say......Dodge Challenger drivers, IMHO only about a third of Prius drivers are actually accomplishing the fine art of 'being cheap' since it's nearly impossible to buy new cars with lots of bells and whistles and 'save money.'
To be fair......the eco-motivated march to a different beat, although most of them are rolling PHEVs or BEVs now, and there are the urban warriors that just want the magic sticker for HOV lanes.


As always.....
YMMV.

 

Well, If I pull nails out of an old board, I'll hammer them straight, make sure the head is flat and then reuse them (OK, not really).

My Prime Advanced is one of the least costly cars in the parking lot at work, and among usually two or three Teslas, Bolts, other SUV's well over $65K. The number of Prii at any open business hours are about a dozen or more. Capacity is about 150 cars. I work at a California based grocery store, not unrelated to Aldi. Way more Prii than the general population would have, so I can join in with the premise that the owners of Prii are a thrifty bunch. Maybe the Tesla owners are a thrifty bunch too?

This is a good idea. Perhaps someone should start a thread? Prius Bingo would be finding every iteration of Prii, all parked next to each other. Photos would be mandatory. Prius Gen 1, 2, 3, V, C, Gen1 PIP, Prime. 7 points wins.

 

Do meet ups count?

 

Now, that is cheating.
Special rule for that case. You need a RAV4-EV as well

 

Both generations?

 

For the Win!

 

Looks like I'm in the minority yet again as I'm probably the least most thrifty person I know. If there is a deal on something, I'm good with that, but I don't go looking for it.

 

Still on the original wiper blades (they're fine), engine and cabin air filters (engine filter looks near new), tires (6/32"~ tread depth still, due to low kms and snow tire use in winter), though they're going to "age out" soon, think I'll replace them next winter, while they're off the car. Maybe...

I did have a lapse, replaced the 12 volt a bit too soon, oh well.

When our carpetted OEM driver's floor mat wore through (due to lack of rubber insert, thanks Toyo ) I sewed in a rubber insert, all good.

 

That's what happens when retired people get bored.

 

I picked up some 5W20 conventional bulk oil the other day (for another vehicle), for $2.80 (CDN) per liter. It was a "start the car" moment, they've charged me $3.50 per, in past.