“I’ve never met that person.”
I’ve only ever met that person. Of all my customers and friends with hybrids, none have bought based on the idea of monthly dollar savings. Anyone who does is making the wrong decision for the wrong reason. Buying a hybrid is a highly subjective decision and not easily quantified with numbers
"Buying a hybrid is a highly subjective decision and not easily quantified with numbers "
Kind of like the decision to buy a fancy car audio system, powerful engine, leather interior…except they don’t pay you back every time you fill up!
Buying a hybrid is a highly subjective decision and not easily quantified with numbers
Tell that to Toyota/Ford or anyone building and selling Hybrids.
If you are in a California emissions state, you have still about 30k miles left on your traction battery guarantee (150k miles). It will be worth more now than after you hit 150k miles. I am facing the same situation: '05 with 120k miles. To sell or wait? earle
@acemasters The people you meet at a cocktail party who drive hybrids are usually clueless what it costs to operate a car, let alone being able to do a cost analysis. They probably spend more on tennis lessons and golf club fees than on gas, so a hybrid is talking and bragging point.
During the first oil crisis in the 70s, Henry Ford II, who hated small cars, said “People will pay almost nothing for an economy car”!
On the other hand I see more and more Prius taxis and other hybrids used that way. These guys drive a lot, up to 90,000 miles per year in some cases. And they are saving a bundle with their hybrids.
Last year our dog had some health problems and the dog’s upkeep that year was about the same as the total gas bill for 2 4-cylinder cars, not hybrids.
To be clear, some hybrids (those costing about $3,000 more than their non-hybrid equivalent, like the Fusion, Camry, etc) make EXCELLENT economic sense (payoff less than 5 years is my cutoff) if miles are more than 15k a year, with a high percent city driving, and are around breakeven for 12k miles or more a year.
Just checked, at 90/10 city/hywy, $4/gallon, the Fusion pays off in 5 years with only 8,500 miles/year.
Lots of people would meet those criteria.
To be clear, some hybrids (those costing about $3,000 more than their non-hybrid equivalent, like the Fusion, Camry, etc) make EXCELLENT economic sense (payoff less than 5 years is my cutoff) if miles are more than 15k a year
The Hybrid Camry is about $6000 more then the base model…HOWEVER…it’s only $3k more then the LE which has about the same trim level as the Camry Hybrid. My wife’s car is usually NOT a base model…so the hybrid was/is an option for us.
You could check into upgrading to a brand new one, better performance than your '06 with equal if not better mileage. My mom bought her '10 Prius for the mileage but also because her Prius owning friends (one couple with two Prius’s) loved the cars. For mom the purchase was a long term deal. She drove her last car nineteen years and plans to keep this car for as long as she can
It all depends on what you need the car for and if $5K or so will give you a few more years to think about the next car.
@Docnick, the folks I know that drive hybrids–both customers and friends–are well aware of the costs involved in owning and driving a car, and are probably more capable of doing a cost/benefit analysis than most people. The thing is it doesn’t matter and they don’t care. It’s just not important. How do you do a c/b analysis on golf? It’s the same idea. One guy I know loves to drive his Insight carefully to see how high the mileage can be.
Prius owners are among the most involved and informed drivers I know. I sure see a lot of craptastic beater Caravans, Tauruses and Kias. I never see a beater Prius. Those that own them know how to take care of them.
^^ When dealer service department says to do a routine service, W thinks it has to be done tomorrow.
@acemaster Nice to hear that your friends actually crunched the numbers before buying a Prius. The lifetime maintenance and repair costs for a Prius are still not clear, but in taxi service they appear to be no more than keeping a Crown Victoria ion the road over 200,000 miles.
The jury is still out on hybrids other than Toyotas.
The lifetime maintenance and repair costs for a Prius are still not clear
Why do you say it’s not clear? The Prius has been in production since 1997 in Japan…and sold in the US since 2001. There’s plenty of data about it’s maintenance and repair costs. It’s a very very very reliable vehicle.
My mom, a mathematics major, bought a 2010 Fusion hybrid, and you can bet she crunched the numbers. For her, taking partial hybrid credit and comparing a similarly-optioned non-hybrid Fusion, the payback was fairly quick. I don’t recall the exact number, but at 80k mi, she’s there, and “in the black.”
(It was’nt the primary cobsideration, though: I think she was wowed by the “Buck Rogers” effect of all the technology.)
I agree with those who say there are people who make decisions on what we might consider strange factors, as bragging rights. The Prius owners can usually buy a wide range of cars, and sometimes people buy cars for non-economic reasons.
Higher gas mileage. The color. If it’s cute. Saves gas, even if it costs more. That is strange, but I can see people doing it.