Yahoo Green: Rethinking the cost of hybrid cars

Why wait? Autotrader.com has over sixteen-hundred Priuses when one searches for Prius with minimum cost of $6,500. I use min of $6,500 to lessen the likelihood of the search results containing WRECKED Priuses. Sure, some will be listed for more than $6,500 even if it's wrecked, but any Prius under $6,500 is MOST CERTAINLY damaged goods.

So, just find one you like, and buy it today. 1,600 is nothing to sneeze at. And most people only need ONE (maybe two).

 

fthorn nails the time value of money. This does not mean don't buy a Prius. Instead this means don't buy any new car. As such we ought only buy used cars. Apparently, a trickle of used Prius are available. If you can find one that hasn't been whacked, and at a price indicating >10 cents/mile depreciation, it might be worth a close look.

 

How will the supply of used cars develop unless someone buys new cars and drives them long enough to make them used cars? And who will pay for the inherent financial losses on the new cars?

 

The buyers will be those who swoon over autombile advertising, those who favor new tech (Prius, Volt, etc) and those with plenty of extra cash.

As ever, the rational buyers will be the cautious ones, and not necessarily in any of those categories. Rising fuel costs mean more emphasis on mpg. But if you make a spreadsheet for total ownership costs, you can put in whatever fuel cost (depreciation rate, $ opportunity costs, etc) that you consider appropriate.