It's so hard to drive anything but a Prius!

Exactly this. I read a startling statistic somewhere about the popularity of these 72/84 month loans with a comparatively high interest rate ....and that many people are only concerned about what the monthly payment will be. It is pretty darn insane... but sometimes 'people are stupider than you give them credit for'.

 

Eh, there's a lot of cost-benefit math to be done, and most people are terrible at math.

We have a new Toyota that's doing 40-60mpg. Awesome! We also kept the old Hyundai that struggles to turn in 32mpg.

Why? It's bought and paid for and it's a perfectly useful car. If something happened to it, I could replace it within a week for $1500.00 soup-to-nuts. Even at the years-ago peak (in my area) fuel price of $4.60/gallon, I could buy about 130k miles worth of gasoline between that cost and that of a new base trim prius c one, the cheapest model available. That buys a heck of a lot of flexibility in the "monthly payment" and in its due date- I can choose when I go to the pump, at least to a certain extent.

 

Simil

Similar situation here. We own a 2012 Hyundai Sonata Limited that is fully paid for ( had has been for a long time ). I'm having a hard time letting go of it because we have fully paid for the depreciation, the car is in mint condition, it is a huge car, it is in mint condition ( I've babied it ), and can easily pull 35 MPG on the highway. The thing just purrs along the highway at fairly low RPM...no upshifting at all on even moderate 'hills' in our area. I'd *like* a Prius Prime or something...but the 'cost-benefit math' just doesn't compute.

 

Talking about cost-cutting maneuver. Just until a few month ago, we had Sienna minivan which I was using more as a cargo van with all the rear seats removed. With only 20 mpg, I used it only in town for hauling gardening and backyard farming stuff. My wife sometimes drove short distance when we both needed a car on a same day. We were putting less than 5K miles per year on it. It was great having a large cargo van for moving stuff. But when it needed new differentials, I decided to let it go. Since then I have been looking for a cheap used pickup truck with regular cab and long bed, but I am not finding one. Pickup trucks now all come with crew cab or double cab most with a short bed. I don't understand why you need extra seats for pickups. In a meantime, we are starting to get use to having only one car, that is Prius Prime, and managing most of things we do around with just Prime alone. I think we are going to try one car household for a bit longer and maybe rent U Haul track when I absolutely need a hauler on occasion. This change had to be the ultimate gas saver for us.

 

I'm really trying to learn to like people.......but, they're so frigging STUPID! ..

 

You think that’s bad, out here in the early 2000’s they offered 40 year loans on houses.

Guess who waited to buy.

 

It was from Experian, they looked into Americans' credit report and whoever had a car note/loan, they average the monthly payments and loan duration.

• The report showed the number of consumers opting for auto loans with terms of 73 to 84 months on their new vehicles increased from 29 percent in Q4 2015
• The average monthly payment for a new vehicle loan was $506, up from $493.

Heard it on the Dave Ramsey Show, I listen to talk radio. I soo need a life

 

Radio? They still have that? Thought that went the way of cassettes.
PODCASTS! You can FF through the commercials if their are any.
But at least you are listening to GOOD radio!

 

Holy Schnikes! $500+ a month for an auto loan eh? No wonder nobody has any savings these days...that's pretty insane. Or I'm cheap...probably the latter.

 

Talk radio is still good. I prefer live unedited talk radio broadcasting at 16-bit 44,1000hz audio quality. Although callers are phoning in with cell phones thus call-ins audio quality is at its worst. A lot of them don;t speak directly to the mic and its all muffled so talk hosts will always have to remind people "speak directly to your phone's mic pick up."

 

Out of necessity, my wife's ride is a 2018 Sienna...... monthly payment of over $700 (4 years) with 20 miles to a gallon Been holding out for a Hybrid Sienna but to no avail.

Oh well, at least I am driving my Prius at over 50 mpg to off set that big hurt!

 

How’d the 60 k prepaid maintenance go?

 

Prepaid 60k Service? Oil change and tire rotation... Could be DIY in 30mins time LOL~! Check driver's floor mat is the major chore

 

Yup.....your "Fleet Average" .......

 

We were in your boat until few month ago, though our Sienna was 2005. My wife has been a stay home mom and kids all grown up, she needs car only occasionally. If both of us needed car on the same day, between I and my wife, whoever driving longer distance got Prius. Then our Sienna was hit with a huge repair on differential. So we sold the van. We now have only Prius Prime between us, and adjusting to a new lifestyle. You would be amazed how much stuff you can haul in Prime and a joy of carpooling to work.

 

I suppose my household fleet average of 35 mpg (20 and 50 mpg, combine mpg of 35 LOL) isnt too bad compare to families driving a Subaru and a soccer mom Tahoe for a combine of 19.5 or something?

 

You could always choose the HiHy and get into the 40’s for the average.

That’s where we’re at with the Prius and RX450h .

 

Too bad that I need every single inch of Sienna's cargo space along with seating of 6/7 person. The HiHy can't fit my double stroller when the 3rd row seat is up.