Tax Benefits & Ownership Commitment

You'd buy an SUV just for the two of you and one baby??? Lots of PriusChatters have babies and do just fine with their Priuses.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(guberif @ Jun 3 2006, 04:26 PM) [snapback]265314[/snapback]</div>

Well in a Minnie Van or SUV you get to be a bit more upright when strapping the Kinder in. I had no problem with a 75 SAAB turbo with our first. She seems no worse for wear . You need to look at the rear seat crash test with all the safety features installed. When the "little bundle of Joy" arrives you will get the instinct to protect. The Prius does a good job. Now having said that there is the A1 Abrams. Very few civilian vehicles will survive a crash with that. I am told it is a bit hard on paved roads and somewhat slower than your average BMW. When the time comes you will do the right thing.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(guberif @ Jun 3 2006, 07:14 PM) [snapback]265367[/snapback]</div>

Well, my kids were little before there WERE minivans, and we did fine in a Rabbit and (later) a Nissan Stanza, both of which were small-to-midsize cars.

I certainly wouldn't hesitate to keep on with the Prius until perhaps the second one is on the way.

But to answer your original question: another thread on here outlines the conditions for the current tax credit, and as I recall, as long as the car is sold to be driven as a hybrid, etc, I don't think there would be a problem.

On the other hand, I'm not a tax agent or attorney, and this is not advice. Your best bet would be to seek professional advice if/when the time comes. Even the IRS hotline might be able to help, if you can't afford a tax accountant (though I've found that the money a tax accountant saves + the peace of mind that the taxes are done right is worth every nickel I pay for that kind of advice...)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(guberif @ Jun 3 2006, 10:35 PM) [snapback]265385[/snapback]</div>

I'm not an expert, since I don't have kids, but there are a lot of car seat options to choose from today. Far more then when I was using one.

I also know that my familiy did fine when I was little with small-mid size vehicles and even when we had both me and my sister. Today's mentality I think is to take as much stuff as you can fit. So, when you see friends in a larger vehicle and see that it's full, it's simply because they make it full. Not because everything they have is required.

It's all about NEEDS... and the Prius can easily accomodate 2 adults and 1 child. I'd even say it could accomdate 2 children very easily.

 

Well, if you MUST get rid of your Prius (which I personally could not imagine doing!), the tax credit rules are actually fairly lenient for individuals.

See this page for detailed information (just released as of May 2006) on the hybrid vehicle provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=157557,00.html

Basically, there is no 3-year rule in this case; you just have to have been the first person to use the car for your own personal use.

You may still want to pay attention to the specific pronouncements that the IRS may issue before the end of the calendar year, but from what they have said so far, there is no specific tax credit recapture rule, except when the vehicle itself is no longer eligible for the credit (but since you have bought it and used it for your own personal use, that is not an issue).

 

I have three kids, 3, 5, and nearly 7. They fit just fine in the back of my Mazda Protege5. Earlier I had a Ford Contour, which actually had less rear hiproom. I believe the Prius has a roomier rear seat than either car.

On the other hand, I'm about four inches shorter than you, so that could be the limiting factor. The key question is whether you can buy a good rearward facing car seat that fits between the two front seats. I had a Britax Roundabout in that role, and it's a fairly large seat. But it also rides high above the rear seat, which might help lift its seatback higher than the widest part of the front seatbacks. I'd experiment with a few different carseats.

Consider that Europeans don't run out and buy a huge vehicle when they have a baby. There are ways to make it work if you want it to.

I generally don't use my car on long trips. Usually I've rented a car. At $15-25/day for a Ford Taurus or similar (with a large rear seat and large trunk), this makes a lot more financial sense than owning a large vehicle (especially when you consider the wear and tear avoided on your own car).

Now that we're past the baby stage with the Pack n Play etc., we actually took my wife's PT Crusier on the last 700-mile (each way) trip. Roomier rear seat than you'd think, and it served much better than I expected.

I hope this helps.

 

3 years if you deducted under the old (pre 1/1/06) rules, which you did:

from:
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p535/ch12.html#d0e10354

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(guberif @ Jun 3 2006, 09:35 PM) [snapback]265385[/snapback]</div>

FWIW, the car seat that we have for our now 1-year-old, installed both rear facing and more recently forward facing, fits fine with the front seat all the way back. Room to spare and room for his mirror to strap onto the front headrest. So, you just need to find the right carseat ... or perhaps, more likely, you just need to find one of many models of carseats that will fit correctly and comfortably in your vehicle.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jun 3 2006, 09:27 PM) [snapback]265349[/snapback]</div>

Yes I do.
Here's what we got in our Prius for vacation:
Two suitcases, one carry-on size, one a bit larger.
Freedom bag (about laptop sized bag for toiletries)
California Innovations cooler
Exersaucer, disassembled
Pak-n-Play
1 box of diapers (think Sam's club sized)*
1 box of wipes (see diapers)*
Diaper bag
Beach stuff: towels, footwear inflatable stuff umbrella
Baby in infant car seat
Large blanket for baby to crawl around on at rest stops
Two overweight adults

Was it crowded? A bit, yes. But for a 500 mile trip it was doable. When she was fussy and on the road, some of the stuff in the back was moved up front. We folded the 1/3 side down.
And if vacation is your SOLE concern, think about renting a vehicle when you need a bigger one.
AS far as the daily commute goes, it's fine, and I have plenty of room to attach the carrier into the base with both seats fully extended. We'll find out in a few months what happens with the next stage of car seat.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(guberif @ Jun 5 2006, 08:43 PM) [snapback]266384[/snapback]</div>

We have the Evenflo Triumph Deluxe. Link Our son hated the infant seat (Peg Perego), but outgrew it at 3 months. We call the new one his "throne" and the days of screaming in the carseat are but a distant memory. It fits great in the Prius with the front seat all the way back (and was fine in our CR-V and Civic too).

I'd imagine you could stick two of these in the back seat without too much of a problem either.

So, don't ditch your Prius just yet.