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Hummer Versus Prius
WISC TV Channel 3000 ^ | April 14, 2005 | Staff Writer

Posted on 04/14/2005 2:25:36 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin

Hummer Vs. Prius Waiting List For Hybrids Pushing Up Cost

MADISON, Wis. -- GM is taking the wraps off the 2006 military-style, Duramax turbo-diesel V-8 Hummer H1.

A 300-horsepower engine moves the 7,600-pound beast.

But with gas prices inching toward $2.50 this summer, the Toyota Prius is the hot ride in the Madison area. The Prius hybrids are well known for their fuel efficiency, but now they're also becoming known as one of the only mass-produced cars that can demand $1,000 or more -- used -- than its original price.

Joanne McCann just bought her second Prius and wants to sell her first one.

"I paid a little over $20,000 for the car in '01, and I'm selling it for $15,000," McCann said.

With 19,000 miles on it, she feels this is a steal.

"There certainly is a market now for these cars," she said.

It's not common to pay more for a used car than a new one, but with gas prices increasing, dealers say it's also not surprising.

"Supply and demand can dictate that," said Doug Peitz, sales manager at Jon Lancaster Toyota. "Instant gratification is that you can get the used Prius right now. Some people don't want to wait the four to eight months to get a new Prius."

Peitz says at least two requests come in every day for hybrids -- 22 people are already on the April waiting list.

Other hybrids like the Honda Accord and Civic are also selling like hotcakes, but dealers here say they;re not dealing with a shortage of these hybrid vehicles.

A Kelly Blue Book survey says if gas hits $3 per gallon, 77 percent of buyers will seriously consider a more fuel-efficient car.

McCann said the growing price of her Prius is not what she expected when she bought the car, but is definitely not worried about getting it sold.

"You expect real estate to go up, but whenever you buy a car you expect it to depreciate -- that's just how it is," McCann said.

Because the Prius is so popular, other companies are coming out with hybrid vehicles. Look for them beginning this summer.

News 3 auto expert Matt Joseph said not all used Priuses will sell for more. Joseph said that while the hybrid cars bring a premium, they don't routinely sell for more than new cars.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: generalmotors; hummer
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Oh yeah, well a diesel hybrid is way more efficient, but the oil companies won't acknowledge that...and to think, they used to pump the components of gasoline back into the ground because they were undesireable by-products...

BTW the price of diesel in my area has stayed fairly constant for the last 4-5 weeks while gasoline prices have rocket, the local farmers just laugh at everyone driving a gas powered rig...!


21 posted on 04/14/2005 2:46:53 PM PDT by MD_Willington_1976
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

"Waiting List For Hybrids Pushing Up Cost"

What moron wrote this headline. It's not the waiting list that pushes up prices, it's the high demand relative to the short supply.

Wouldn't it be nice if just once a journalism major wandered into an economics class. Probably too much to ask


22 posted on 04/14/2005 2:48:48 PM PDT by The Lumster
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To: martin_fierro

LOL


23 posted on 04/14/2005 2:49:12 PM PDT by Conspiracy Guy (Ask about free shipping !)
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To: dirtboy

Yeah. Bet they are great when trying to get through 10 inches of snow. Like that never happens here in the land of the Frozen Tundra./sarcasm


24 posted on 04/14/2005 2:49:56 PM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
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To: MD_Willington_1976

Have you seen the size of the tires on the Prius. They look like they were taken off a tricycle. I wouldn't want to go around a turn too fast or they would come off the wheels.


25 posted on 04/14/2005 2:50:39 PM PDT by appeal2
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To: NoClones

"I recall reading something in one of Rush's newsletters that prius-owners were ticked because their milage was any better than a regular cars."

At a claimed 51 mpg highway, they are even with some Honda Civics. However, the Civic costs over $5,000 less. Volkswagen Jettas and Beetles are just behind in the mid-high 40's.

This article is uninformed and stupid.


26 posted on 04/14/2005 2:50:50 PM PDT by L98Fiero
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To: Spktyr

But that isn't a prius.


27 posted on 04/14/2005 2:52:12 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT (http://spaces.msn.com/members/criticallythinking)
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To: ambrose
The whole thing is stupid... the premium people pay to get a Hybrid pretty much wipes out the savings from the improved mileage.

Nah. YOU get to pay for it. The Prius driving weanie gets a whooping big tax credit for his income tax, both federal and state.
28 posted on 04/14/2005 2:52:29 PM PDT by Kozak (Anti Shahada: " There is no God named Allah, and Muhammed is his False Prophet")
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To: Pukin Dog

But only if you don't run out of gas first.....


29 posted on 04/14/2005 2:52:36 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT (http://spaces.msn.com/members/criticallythinking)
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To: appeal2

Yep, there's a Finnish lady at work here that has one...my buddies metro has bigger tires...


30 posted on 04/14/2005 2:52:48 PM PDT by MD_Willington_1976
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To: Spktyr

I went head to head in my '74 CJ-5 with a Subaru Forester this winter. The Forester came apart like a rusty can of beans! The CJ needed some fender work.

Everybody walked so I can be embullient with a good conscience. The Forester, which lost it on an icy curve and slid into my lane was packed with anti-Bush bumperstickers. It's being converted into beercans even as we speak. I had an artist friend paint a Japanese "meatball" on the cowl of my Jeep.


31 posted on 04/14/2005 2:53:14 PM PDT by NaughtiusMaximus (What this country needs is dirtier hands and cleaner minds.)
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To: KarlInOhio
How many Priuses can you fit in your wheel wells before you have to take a stick and poke them loose?

I can't speak for a Hummer but with my Dodge Ram truck (with the 5.7 Hemi and 20 inch wheels of course) I gotta clean the wheel wells out when it gets up to 14 or so Priuses.

My wife, the wimp, hasta start cleaning them out of her Durango at 5 or so.

32 posted on 04/14/2005 2:53:25 PM PDT by An Old Marine (Freedom isn't Free)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

I ran my prius into a concrete light post at over 20 mph and walked away. The passenger compartment virtually untouched.


33 posted on 04/14/2005 2:53:37 PM PDT by CharlesWayneCT (http://spaces.msn.com/members/criticallythinking)
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To: speed_addiction

Love the pic. If it was mine I would put "Run Hillary Run" on the front license.


34 posted on 04/14/2005 2:54:31 PM PDT by NaughtiusMaximus (What this country needs is dirtier hands and cleaner minds.)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

She has a 4 year old car with 19,000 miles? She needs a bicycle.


35 posted on 04/14/2005 2:54:54 PM PDT by Old Professer (As darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of good; innocence is blind.)
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To: NaughtiusMaximus

I gotta '49 Hudson that'll glean the glogk of your Jeep.


36 posted on 04/14/2005 2:56:08 PM PDT by An Old Marine (Freedom isn't Free)
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

Rush Limbaugh foolishly insisted on telling his listeners to get the biggest SUV. This has been proved to have been deadly wrong for our country, and for the individuals who listened to Rush. Please don't take me wrong, I don't care for the "environmental Wackos" as Rush likes to calls them, however, our national energy security and efficiency is a whole different thing. Blow hard radio talk people like Rush don't have the experience to encourage people to buy big gas guzzlers even if the supply is going down, and the refinery capacity in this country is shirking. Rush is correct more than 90% of the time about most issues, but on his diatribe regarding the big & and bigger SUV, he did this country a disservice. He had this funny cowboy song about the little idiot guy buying a Yogo, and the big man buying a huge SUV, and he runs over the little man.


37 posted on 04/14/2005 2:58:28 PM PDT by conservlib
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To: Pukin Dog
Not if you cannot afford to buy gasoline for the damn thing!
38 posted on 04/14/2005 2:59:48 PM PDT by conservlib
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To: martin_fierro
"I'm deader than a doornail. But what gas mileage I used to get!"

Whatever kind of car that was... It lost in a collision with a medium sized motorcycle!

39 posted on 04/14/2005 3:02:55 PM PDT by RJL
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To: Diana in Wisconsin

What I find kind of amusing about this article is that when the 8th-generation Honda Civic arrives this Fall, you'll get a car that is almost as roomy as the current Prius, gets decent performance (thanks to a new 140 bhp 1.8-liter I-4 engine with variable valve timing), better fuel efficiency than the current Civic, and costs several thousand less than a Prius. And you don't have to deal with the hassles of the longevity of the hybrid drivetrain, either.


40 posted on 04/14/2005 3:03:33 PM PDT by RayChuang88
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