[you] need your help

I guess you don't need my input to convince you not to buy any of the cars in your list and purchase a Prius instead.

Buy a car for the long haul not for the one or two times you might need a large capacity vehicle. Rent a vehicle for those times you need large hauling capacity.

Save the enviroment the rest of the year and get incredible gas mileage!

But that's just my opinion!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drift Motion @ Jun 13 2006, 11:03 AM) [snapback]270617[/snapback]</div>

The tax thing is new for 2006. Since your other one was 2005 it was a 2000 deduction. The new CREDIT is very different. It's off the bottom line. For example, let's say he pays 20% effective taxes:

Pre-2006: He got a 2000 credit, which at 20% tax rate he only got $400 back :-(

2006 (if you get the car before Sept. 30): It's a $3150 CREDIT, which means it's after all of his taxes are calculated. So, if he pays at least $3150 in federal taxes, he gets ALL of it back. If he pays less, then he gets up to that amount - for example, if he only paid $2500 in taxes for the year, he'd only get back $2500. It's not subject to his tax rate at all. Look at the IRS web site for more info on how it works.

You haven't indicated anything about your own taxes, but that can be a game to play is if the car is really for you, register it to you (there may be some insurance effects there that you should find out about). If you pay at least $3150 in taxes you can get the whole thing back where his may have been limited.

The other thing you can use as arguing point is from the list that you had, your insurance will probably be cheapest with the hyundai and the prius. The RAV4 will probably be somewhat higher. Some insurance companies are discounting insurance a bit more with hybrids.

Steve

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drift Motion @ Jun 13 2006, 11:03 AM) [snapback]270617[/snapback]</div>

here's some more info on the tax credit that may explain it easier. it was on hybridcars.com this morning:

As part of the Energy Bill, hybrid buyers are eligible for tax credits of $1,300 to $3,150, depending on which car they buy, according to Hybridcars.com. The credits are "dollar-to-dollar" drops in what hybrid buyers must pay the federal government in taxes.

In previous years, hybrid buyers could deduct $2,000 from their adjusted gross federal income, which lowered how much they pay in taxes.
"The $2,000 deduction, depending on your income, was worth $400 or $500 max," said Brett Berman, editor of Hybridcars.com. "This year, the Toyota Prius will get you $3,150" in credits.

Tax credits can help erase part of the roughly $3,000 premium customers pay for a hybrid model compared with a gasoline model, Berman said. But for some hybrids, the different can reach, or surpass, $8,000, according to Consumer Reports.

But hot Prius sales could block future buyers from getting the tax credit. Hybrid buyers can get full federal credit only until the automaker that produces the vehicle sells 60,000 hybrids. Toyota hit that point recently, counting purchases of the Prius, the Highlander, the new Camry and Lexus hybrids.

The full tax credit is available until the end of the quarter when the automaker hits that mark. In September, the credit will be cut in half for six months, fall to 25 percent for six months then expire for Toyota hybrids on Oct. 1, 2007. There have been discussions about raising or scrapping the cap, Spofforth said.

 

9 out of 10 Vampires drive a Prius, you know... All black, of course. The other one lost his job, and rides a bike.
Seriously, I have 90,000 miles on the '04, and my dad rode in it once and bought one. My sister is waiting on her Camry Hybrid now. My sister in law just bought a Rav 4 and absolutely loves it. My wife's friend bought a Civic, and I had the misfortune to be stuffed into the back seat for a test ride. NEVER make someone ride in the back of one of those things. Unless you want them to die a slow painful death.
My prius is worth close to what I paid for it. This won't happen with a Hyundai, or any SUV.
As far as hauling goes, I'm tired of trying to wedge lumber and car engines in the back, so I'm picking up a 4x8 foot trailer, 1500 lb. capacity. U-Haul is putting the hitch in tomorrow.
Any really big deliveries I need can be hired out a lot cheaper than the cost of buying a truck, feeding and insuring it. I'll let you all know how the Prius does with the trailer...

Just tell him to get another toyota; B)

 

How is your Dad really going to utilize the vehicle? From your Dad's perspective... How long is he really going to keep it? How important are the hard costs as opposed to the soft costs? How does he maintain his current vehicles? What type of "stuff" does he want to move and how frequently? What are the percentages of city/highway driving? Will he be doing and towing?

Put yourself in your Dad's shoes instead and instead of trying to persuade him to get what you want, try helping him buy something he wants. Once you have a clear understanding of his priorities, you can be very helpful in doing the research and steering him in a direction that works for him.

I always wanted my Dad to buy a Barracuda and he told me that when I got old enough i could buy one myself. i don't think either of us dreamed they would become collector items.

 

1. You can't haul anything in the Civic
2. Renting a truck from Home Depot is way cheaper than paying to gas up an SUV every week.
3 You can haul some pretty remarkable stuff in a Prius....

32" plus the buffet under it (seperate trips)

 

I personally liked the toyota matrix idea, with the seat down in the back i bet you could fit a good sized sofa in there and almost, if not full get the hatch down. Anyways, i am assuming that used cars/trucks are out of the picture? Why not just bet a beater, a old pick up for a few hundred that will run when you need it too, then spend the rest on another hybrid, and just park the old truck somewhere where it can't be seen. In attempts in trying to convinve you dad, make some flow charts, graphs, and models showing how your savings on gas will be greater than buying a SUV in the long run, present it like a buisness proposal, and let him see how serious about this you are.

 

I understand your parents' appreciation for diversity in the family cars. The ability of a Prius to haul occasional large loads doesn't seem like a strong argument for buying a second one. If one Prius is adequate for the occasional bulky load, the second car only needs to handle typical loads.

This humor probably won't help you but you could suggest that by having two Priuses, when you crash one of them you can still use it for replacement parts on the second one. If you crash the second one, with luck you might be able to rebuild one good car from the two. :lol:

Do you need an SUV for ground clearance in Southern California? If he's set on more hauling capacity and reasonable fuel efficiency, my personal favorites would be a Scion xB, Honda Fit, Mazda3, Mazda5, PT Cruiser, or Honda Element.