Need someone to talk me into or out of a Prime

Fits my time horizon perfectly

 

If your daily commute is under 25 miles or so, then you'll be running on battery power most of the time. I had to run my car for a month without recharging just to get the gas down to the last bar (1 gal?). When the fuel light comes on, I put in $5 worth of gas. That's only happened once so far. So I've got 1800 miles and have only spent $5 on gas. (The dealer gave it to me with a full tank.)

When the ICE comes on, it gets 55-60 MPG, and unless I'm driving a long way, that barely moves the needle on the gas gauge.

I like this car because I get the benefit of driving an all-electric car 95% of the time for a much lower price. That's mainly a product of my personal needs, and won't apply to others with different needs. My monthly payments are a little more than the previous vehicle I had, but that's not a big deal to me. I've got so much negative equity in it that I'm stuck unless it self-destructs or gets totalled somehow. In the meantime, I really like it!

 

Maybe a golf cart?

Seriously you are almost overqualified for a BEV! You could pick up a used Nissan Leaf, get one of the years that got crummy range and has faster than expected battery degradation, people can't give those away but it would be more than enough range for your driving.

Okay maybe you're not ready for BEV just yet, or you don't want to buy used, and you really want a Prime. Well normally the answer would be that it is not a good financial move at all. However there is a unique situation going on with Primes at the moment, a $4,500 federal tax credit, and on the east coast a $5,000 factory incentive (what Bisco was referring to). The $5,000 Toyota rebate, which is available in several states including New York, is only on 2017 models, and only on the east coast due to an unusual CARB situation that Toyota is in there. On top of that dealers are discounting another $1,000 - $2,000. Add that all up and you're at about $11,000 below MSRP, which MIGHT make it not a terrible financial decision for you to upgrade so soon. This situation with the Prime has been going on since last year but there is no way to predict long it will last. The federal tax credit came close to being cancelled for this year but got extended, but it could be on the chopping block again for 2019. The current $5,000 Toyota factory incentive expires June 4th, however Toyota has been renewing it each month, but no guarantee how long they will keep doing that. And also the 2017's won't last forever on dealer lots (even though it seems like they are). Current Toyota east coast incentive on the 2018 is only $500, however it's possible that when the 2017's sell out the incentive for the 2018 will increase, but maybe not as high as it got with the 2017. The 2018 model is no different than the 2017, other than 2018 is not an actual prime number mathematically (so it should be cheaper!)

Several people have purchased from an east coast dealer via email/phone and had the car shipped to them, they said both the vehicle purchase and shipping experience was surprisingly easy. From New York to Minnesota figure around $1,000 to ship it, which still gives you a $4,000 advantage over purchasing locally. Others have been flying one way to the east coast then driving their Prime back.

Also you would need to sell your current car privately, which really you should do even when buying locally because dealer trade in will give you the least possible for your car. I remember someone said you would be better off accepting the most ridiculous low price that a private buyer would offer as that would likely be better than what you will get from the dealer. But of course in the case of purchasing from the east coast you would even more so need to sell your current car locally. Although one person got an east coast dealer to make a trade-in quote based on photos, so they drove their previous car to the east coast and traded it for the Prime. But I wouldn't count on that working every time.

And really financing makes things worse, I realize paying cash may not be an option or would be difficult, but at least make as big of a down payment as you can afford, and as short of a loan period as you can afford, because the five-year and above loans are almost pure interest and make the total cost of purchase very high.

So now here's the important point. If you don't think you would want to purchase from the east coast and you want to try and find a good deal locally, and/or you don't think you will have enough tax liability to qualify for the $4,500 tax credit, then stop reading this right now, forget everything I just said, and in fact ask the moderator to delete my post

Because without the $5,000 incentive and $4,500 tax credit then no it does not make any financial sense and you should follow the other advice that you are receiving which is to wait.

 

maybe get a used pip, perfect for 7 miles r/t and a larger hatch w/5 seats to boot.

 

I'm in Chicago. I was very surprised that I was in forced ICE mode due to the cold weather only about 12 days in the middle of December and January. The extra cold snap before Christmas was most of those 12 days. My commute is 1.5 miles one way.

If you get a Prime, you'll be in EV more often than you might think. The bonus is that you'll also be gaining a better hybrid.

That said, an upgrade from a 2016 might be way too soon. You could easily maximize the use of the good car you already have for several more years and then leap into a better designed and updated version of the Prime early in the 2020's.

By then you might gain a 5th (tiny) seat in the back, greater EV range (or a smaller battery and a lower rear deck), and better firmware behind the display (if Toyota finally sees the benefit in that).

 

If your ok with not getting your money's worth out of the 2016 model, then go for it. If you trying to save money, I'm not sure that is a good justification. You are probably getting awesome mileage already. I bought a '17 Advance model in November and love all the gizmos. If your kind of a gizmo/nerd/geek like me you will love it if you get an Advance. I commute 90 miles a day, 7 days out of a 2 week period. As you can see in my signature below, I went from about 13 MPG to averaging about 70+ MPG (if you include the battery only miles). Check with your Electric company to see how much per kWh they charge. You have to add in all the add-on charges they do. Our cost goes from .07-.08 cents per kWH to .13 cents per kWh after the add-ins. Also, your insurance may go up on a newer vehicle. Depending on how your state is, your personal property tax will go up. In Kansas, it starts out high and then decreases each year as the car gets older. We have to pay it every year with our tag renewal. I think my '17 was about $4 to 500 for this year.

 

Do what your heart tells you. Life is too short to worry about little things like money.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yeah but: OP has a 2016 with 9000 miles on the odo. Pretty much the most fuel efficient hybrid vehicle on the road, and the mold pips on the tires are barely worn off.

 

Don't we all do things that do not make logical sense from time to time? I'm getting old, and tired of being square all the time. It' okay to loose money if YOU can live with the traid off IMHO.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I've been there, went through a string of bikes in the early nineties. I'm feeling better now.

 

No matter how you look at a car it is a bad investment. I would drive the one I have, pay it off and save the same amount of money each month until I could put a big chunk of money down on a new one. When you look at the price of a car do you really look at what it cost with all those interest charges? We play games with our mind to make things look better than they are.

 

Sure, money is not important.......until you don't HAVE any.......and your credit runs out.

 

if you pay federal taxes, you get the incentive. up to $4,500. if you pay that much. it isn't that complicated.

 

I don't think the tax incentive was ever $7500. Did you pay at least $4500 into fed taxes last year and expect the same this year? Then you'd most likely get it all.

 

looks like the 2017's are almost gone anyway.

 

I’m in a similar boat so I know what you mean. For me, I know it’s a huge loss in the long run, something around 10k when you take into consideration interest, depreciation, and tax incentives. I mean I should have bought the Prime in the first place but alas I did not (my own fault). With all that said, i you are ok with the losses and that’s the car you want, then you should go for it. I’m in a unique position where I could afford the long term loss and it would be be worth it for me still. Do a Pros vs Cons list (which it appears you have). People will tell you it’s a bad financial move (which I would agree), but if you are okay with that then go for it. I’m on the fence myself for waiting for the next PHEV model in maybe 4ish years, by then my 2018 Two Eco will be paid off anyways.


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