Hybrids don't make financial sense

My Prius has already paid for itself in what I need for it to do for me... Like I said, I often get to drive under 30, and the ICE doesn't come on if I handle the pedal less agressively than I do normally in a sportscar... and besides, the C is just too small for my use.

The reason I got this little car is because I have owned other Toyotas, and they were darn fine vehicles... that was the selling point for Jr = the car was quality made.

I may get myself the V next because of the extra room, when I hand this car down to my son...

 

You can save a lot more money by not being stupid enough to pay MSRP for an automobile.

Idiot.

 

@TH

...to paraphrase Mythbusters: "I reject all your posts over the last decade or so and accept my reality over the past 13 years"

65.5 mpg lifetime - over twice as good as previous vehicles. Next January it will have been paid off for 10 years.

Your posts are refuted every time I drive my car.

I personally know other people, some on PC that can attest to the same.

There are two kinds of people: Those like TH that spend all their life finding fault. Then there are others that do stuff and make it work...that would be the PC members that drive hybrids. Does anyone remember the names of the people that said the Wright Bros., Goddard, Edison, Steve Jobs, etc. would never get anywhere?

Again, I choose to believe what is on my car's dashboard and the receipt at the pump over the posts by an internet stranger named Troy Heagy.

I have nothing to add - TH can bait me all he wants.

 

I didn't have that option when we got this little car... there were folks that had $500 or more on a wait list...

 

And I'm sure you got it because you genuinely liked the car.

But arguing saving money over MSRP figures is foolish.

 

Maybe, or maybe an integrated cycle route. That can be dedicated cycle lanes on normal city roads, priority to cycles at the lights and then dedicated cycle short cuts.

I'm sure some US cities have them and others could follow for minimal cost. It's classic chicken and egg stuff though; people don't cycle because they're scared and the city don't build the routes because nobody cycles. When I worked in York, about a third of the company would cycle to work. It was quicker than driving, cheaper and good for you.

 

Because I just do a lot of shot trips, after 20 years I'm still going to come up about $2000 short of what it would have cost me to just keep my SUV and not make payments. That's assuming that my SUV doesn't become a bigger maintenance-hog P.O.S. than it already is (well, was, I got rid of it). So, for me, it actually doesn't make more financial sense to get a hybrid but I got this one because I just couldn't help it

 

I think you make a lot of assumptions. I bought my C2 which is a hybrid for just over 20k how much less for a honda fit with similar options. and if you are going to look at non hybrids hwy mpg compair it to hybrids city mpg, that way it is a little closer to the truth. I dirve mostly in town and I get nearly double the mpg of my dodge neon I used to drive. it got over 40 hwy but my mpg was usually in low 30s now I average over 60 that is a large difference. Well worth the extra 2K I spent on it vx Honda fit

 

I figure your gonna pay somebody.

Take your punishment up front and pay Toyota, or drag it out forever and pay ExxonMobil.

I'd rather pay Toyota

_____________________________________
Alan

 

Totally incorrect Bra... I'd have to make two trips with the C to move one load I do in my Prius... and frankly, the frau's wheelchair won't fit in the C at all... so, your analogy is flawed.

 

I'd rather pay Tesla, use no gas at all, and buy my transportation energy from the Bonneville Dam. Meanwhile using half as much energy as the Prius, and it's sustainable and American-made energy, and leaving just about every other car on the road in my dust. The gas savings won't pay for the car, but the thrill of driving electric sure does.

Oh, and it was the Prius that first turned me on to how cool it is to drive electric, during those brief times that the Prius shuts off the gas engine and allowed me to experience the smooth, quiet, meditative peace of an electric motor, as compared with the noise and vibration and filth of internal combustion.

And one thing the OP does not take into account is the environmental impact of burning all that gasoline. He may not care what he does to the environment, but a lot of us are willing to spend a little more on a car in order to be responsible for a little bit less CO2 and filth spewed into the atmosphere. If gasoline were taxed at the actual cost to society and civilization that it causes, people like the OP, who care about nothing but their own pocketbook, would have to reevaluate their choice of automobiles. He says it "makes no sense" to buy a hybrid, as if money were the only thing that mattered in the world. Some of us care about global warming and air pollution.

 

GC I of course do not understand UK pricing as well as you do, but even here in the states, the Camry LE vs. Camry LE Hybrid the base cost difference is $3000 but last time I checked on Carmax.com (no haggle oprices) they are asking $4000-$5000 more for the hybrid version. So the first strike against the hybrid is the dealer mark-up.

Here is my checklist of strikes against hybrid cost effectiveness...if you have say 4 of these you may be break even at best. My state has 'em all:

• Higher base price
• Higher dealer mark-up
• Sales tax delta cost for more expensive vehicle
• State car tax system - higher rate of taxation on hybrids (or any more expensive car)
• State car tax system- Extra fee on Hybrids
• Low state gasoline taxes
• Owner drives less than 12000 mile/yr

In UK case, you have very high gasoline taxes, which helps to out-weigh the other negatives, and perhaps allows higher mark-up.

 

But when you melt it all down its a wash unless you don't keep your car till it dies .
I pass them down the chain to siblings.. Saves me a ton of money there too.

I'm up to 4 hybrids now

_____________________________________
Alan

 

I realize that you are quoting Edmunds accurately, but I find that that their assumption of driving 15,000 miles annually is not accurate for me. I drive less than 10,000 miles -- some years appreciably less -- and this makes a significant difference in the analysis with fuel use being less of a factor.

 

Also I have not found any online calculator for state car taxes that adds up the cumulative car taxes for a given state to be able to show the total tax cost. Of course, the big uncertainty is gaso base price...if gaso prices double you are gold with hybrid...you have a hedge. This is probably why my 2006 paid off.

 

Thanks Troy. It's good to have company with a dissenting opinion. Buying hybrids do not save money for everyone. It depends on your situation. I think it is unlikely I will make up the $10k+ difference between my PiP and a bottom of the line Versa. All I need is an automatic transmission and AC to carry me from work and back. (I actually looked at a Versa when I was shopping.) I'm hoping the PiP is as reliable and bulletproof as everyone says. My experience with the longevity of hybrid batteries and Toyota has been lackluster. I bought my PiP for the carpool lane.

 

Sooo..... 20mpg in stop-and-go traffic vs 50mpg in the carpool lane?

Sounds like it's saving you money (and time, time is money).


The garbage people say to rationalize their viewpoint....

 

This argument has persisted for years.
While coming out financially is sweet, most toys, amenities, etc rarely make sense with dollars alone.

But it's still a value based on your value system. If money is all someone cares about... Get a skateboard and save a ton.
But quiet, comforts, on board entertainment to make use of the road time, status and just pure fun all play into our value systems.

Why drive a Mercedes when a Prius kills the gas mileage right? There's more to it then that.

I too will end up with a tesla someday, prob not the perfect decision financially, but who cares!...

Theres a market for every financial class.
A teenager without a job will not buy what we may.

_____________________________________
Alan

 

lol I love your thinking.

Oh, which Tesla?