Comments on: Buying A Prius Is An Emotional Decision

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:56:58 +0000

I was waiting for someone to say this! I totally agree. Additionally, if you get a lightly used Prius the argument for the Prius becomes more compelling. People are reporting the vehicle remains stable and efficient well into the 200,000 mile range, which isn’t a complete shocker a Toyota. Various members of my family own Prius’s, two of which have well over 170,000 miles and are still going strong.

By: N

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:15:41 +0000

A Prius can hardly compare to Mercedes. A Prius hit the back of our Mercedes (with steel bumper beneath the fiberglass) and did $500. of damage to replace a fiberglass bumper cover on our car…but totaled the Prius, crunched the front end completely, buckled the driver door and my husband had to work to get the door open for the young “fuel economist” to escape the horror! Think twice about saving a few gallons of gas or saving your life, we have photos of this!!

By: cys

cys — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:26:02 +0000

“If you really want fuel economy, there are plenty of cars that give you similar performance without the toxic battery and with a stick price under $22,000 starting price.”

Tell me if you can find any car that does not have toxic battery.

Don’t tell me lead-acid battery is not toxic.

By: Karen

Karen — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:38:57 +0000

Just a thought…if they pass Cap & Trade, gas WILL be $5 a gallon.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:16:57 +0000

I don’t think it’s reasonable to compare the Prius, with an interior volume similar to a Camry, to a tiny thing that can hold two people and 4 bags of groceries then declare the large one a purely emotional choice. There are many pragmatic reasons for wanting the Prius over other vehicles.

However, I’m currently considering a new vehicle and I’ve been crunching the cost of ownership numbers. I’m looking at the numbers over 10 years, or until a vehicle makes it to 150,000 miles (estimating 15,000 miles per year). What I’ve found is that it’s really tough to beat the Prius on price. Although I didn’t come to the same conclusion as The Simple Dollar did, the Prius doesn’t seem to be the cheapest car that could possibly satisfy my needs. That seems to go to the Honda Fit. The Prius is right at the top of the list, though. Rough estimates have the Fit at 3,100/year and the Prius at 3,250/year, that includes several years of driving after the car is paid off.

For the money you get a decent sized vehicle with a comfortable and flexible layout. That could fit a lot of somewhat objective requirements. At this point, emotion is the only thing that could potentially push the decision over the top. Even if it does that, I don’t think I could qualify the decision as an emotional one. If I was going on emotions alone I’d probably go get a Camaro.

By: Bad_Brad

Bad_Brad — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:36:40 +0000

I’m also in the “buying a Prius is more of a political statement than a sound financial move” camp, but in fairness, there is a benefit to driving a Prius in that in some cities, you are allowed to drive in the HOV lane if you are driving a hybrid. And in some cities during peak hours, if you have a long commute, that could save you an hour of commute time every day. For someone who values his/her time, and who does not have a viable carpool buddy, this could easily make it worthwhile to get a Prius or comparable hybrid vehicle.

By: Trent Hamm

Trent Hamm — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:13:11 +0000

Cap-and-trade means reducing emissions will have financial value.

By: Trent Hamm

Trent Hamm — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:09:49 +0000

The M5 got better gas mileage running “pedal to the metal” – over 100 miles per hour. If you drive like that, the difference will be made up easily in traffic tickets.

By: Damon Day

Damon Day — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:44:17 +0000

Ya, the sad thing is that the government will be using our tax dollars to give incentives and rebates to make up for this clear financial gap that you are talking about Ian. They use our money all the time to try and influence us into certain behaviors.

By: ian

ian — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:59:42 +0000

An ROI of 26 months is great! Unfortunately, and as other posters have pointed out, that is not the actual ROI on these two cars.

I recently did a comparison of the Toyota Highlander vs. Toyota Highlander Hybrid. I think everyone will agree that these are pretty similar cars. The Hybrid version gets 27/25 mpg with combined 26mpg for $31,577 invoice. The standard version gets 18/24 with combined 20mpg for $23,134 invoice. The difference of $8,443 and 6 mpg is not made up for 17.3 years (at $3/gal) or 10.4 years (at $5/gal).

This ROI is too long to make it reasonable. What would be reasonable? In my opinion if the ROI is less than the loan terms or the time you expect to keep the car, then it is a good deal. In my case, I would be looking for something with ROI less than 5 years.

I looked at all of the following hybrids and none of them had an ROI of less than 6 years even at $5/gal (when compared against their non-hybrid versions). >> Saturn Vue, Toyota Highlander, Mercury Mariner, Mazda Tribute or Ford Escape.

I wanted a hybrid but unfortunately will pass.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:26:59 +0000

LOL.

I have lived in Alabama all my life and now in Louisiana for the past year. SUVs and trucks make up more than 1/2 of the vehicles on the road. Smart cars are certainly a death wish versus those larger vehicles.

By: superch665

superch665 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:50:52 +0000

Smart cars seem to be all over Houston, including the Interstates. Personally, I consider it a death wish and can’t believe anyone dares it!

By: superch665

superch665 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:40:22 +0000

Agreed. I really don’t like the styling..

By: dilbert69

dilbert69 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:27:00 +0000

I saw someone driving on on I-880 south in Northern California less than an hour ago. They seemed fine.

By: dilbert69

dilbert69 — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:25:16 +0000

Really? Four years at a top university can exceed $200K, not to mention the opportunity cost of lost wages. Few cars cost anywhere near that.