I did an Excel trade study of Prius vs. Corolla around 2005 and for me the break even point was gasoline at $6.45/gal, so I am not sure my friend ever really got his money back. He is not now, nor was he ever, an environmental whack job, but I guess he felt a smidgen of guilt about the long commute. His job moved about 30 miles south, and he bought a home even further south to be nearer to his parents and siblings. When the job moved back north, he kept his home. He still lives there. He retired in 2018, shortly after getting his second Prius.
I was at a gathering of my wife’s friends over the summer. Two of them were talking about how great their Prius cars were. I butted in and said that Prius cars were so yesterday and that they should be looking at the new Teslas and other electric cars if they wanted to stay part of the in crowd. They actually did look a little hurt.
At this point new Prius cars have not escalated in value as much as many other vehicles. With the current price of gas they may have reached a breakeven point for a lot more people. My wife and I actually did purchase a used hybrid Ford Escape years ago. It got almost no better fuel economy than a normal Escape and cost a small fortune in repairs. There were so many problems that we got rid of it after a very short time.