Should I sell my 05 CRV with 39,000 mi and get a Prius for better gas mileage? Is it worth it?
About 2 months ago, MSN Money had an article on their website about the amortization period for each hybrid vehicle, in terms of how many years it would take for the extra cost of the hybrid to offset the price of gasoline. Of course, whatever price they assumed for gasoline a few months ago is now outdated, so the amortization period would be shorter than what they concluded.
However, despite the fact that they found the Prius to be the best (or among the best) in this sense, “best” in this case meant something exceeding 12 years for the Prius to be a good value, IIRC. Try to find this article (hopefully archived) on the MSN Money site, and you will get an idea of what I am talking about.
No. Not if you are looking for saving money. You are almost always better to keep what you have. Your CRV is basically in the worst part of the depreciation curve, so the amount of money you will lose will probably never be made up. For most people they would have to keep a Pruis for 8+ years to make up the extra cost of the Pruis over say the Corolla or the Echo. That is if they were in a situation were in the market for a car anyways.
The CRV already gets pretty good fuel economy, not as good a Prius, but overall quite good. It would take ages to recoup any gas savings.
The time to think about mileage is when you are going to buy a car anyway. One good thing is the new mileage figures for all cars is more accurate. The best thing we can all do for mileage is the foot modification. That means going very easy on the accelerator.
It is interesting that the US automakers have been caught again on the wrong side of consumer demand with few compact high mileage cars just now when the buyers have started turning away from the SUV stuff.
Keeping your current car for 200,000 miles rather than trading in now will save you approximately $30,000 in interest payements and depreciation costs. If you are in the market for a car, a hybrid is a good option, but I would not trade in a vehicle with only 39,000 miles only for better fuel economy. A Prius won’t save you $30,000 in fuel in comparison to a CRV.
I agree with the others, but I wanted to point out that you only drive, on average, less than 10,000 miles per year. The people profiting from buying hybrids are the ones who drive a lot, such as taxi drivers and others who use them as business vehicles.
Buy a more fuel efficient vehicle next time you’re in the market for a car - which is ideally at least 5-7 years from now, if you’re concerned about saving money.
I think everybody’s right. My Honda’s in good shape, nothing wrong with it. Just a panic over gas prices…or an excuse to get something new. I think I’ll wait. Thanks
Well, I’ll REALLY be sick of my Honda by 200K. But, I think you’re right. I’m gonna keep it for a while longer. Thanks
Any cost accountant would do a cash flow and depreciation calculation, and probably conclude that, yes, you should trade it in on a Prius, a 2013 model!! Your car puts on 13,000 miles /year, and will not show any severe wear for another 5 or 6 years. By that time, you are ready for a trade and you will easily justify a Prius since gas prices will likely be around $7/gallon.
The CRV is hardly a gas guzzler, and it’s one of the most reliable SUVs on the road; my neighbor’s wife drove one for over 10 years without major repairs. She is going to trade this year after logging over 150,000 trouble-free miles.
See you in 2013. Happy motoring.