Define 'end of usesful life'.
Yes. It runs and it's sitting in my driveway.
It also averages around 25 mpg.
So you can get a net payback on the upcharge of buying a Prius (for how much $$) vs. a (for example only) a 4 -cylinder Ford Fusion SEL (26/34) @ $21,000 in how many months? [Fusion has higher initial quality ratings and (much) lower lifetime TCO when you count Hybrid battery refit.)
BTW, check your math (and you may have already; no flame intended)... to save $400/mo in fuel, at $4/gal she has to be *saving* 100 gallons. Even vs. an Expedition or Suburban that’s 1500 miles per month ( 50 miles every day )
Serious commuter, eh?
FWIW, I *LIKE* hybrid cars and wish I had one ‘cuz they’re cool. I currently drive a paid for reliable vehicle that gets 22/26 MPG (Ford Escape). There is basically NO economic model for me to replace that vehicle with a hybrid anything, not even a hybrid Escape. *IF* all people replace conventional vehicles at end of useful life with hybrids, that’ll be a good thing.
Ditto on driving a paid off vehicle.
I drive a 1998 Chevy Lumina that gets around 24.5mpg (320 miles on a 13gal tank).
I paid $200 for the car when my lease car expired just before a trip to Korea. I didn’t have time to do the research and shopping, so I bought a fairly well maintained fleet car for cash.
Every day, I watch a particular rust spot with pride.
I hope this thing runs another 130,000 miles, because not having a car payment is addictive.
And, like you, I’m a fan of the hybrid concept for certain applications, just not he current cost and applications.
She drives over 2000 miles a month. Her Trailblazer got WORSE miliage that the Suburban we had previously. I haven’t put pencil to paper with the new gas prices, we many be saving more than $400 a month.
If we had not bought the Escape hybrid, we would have bought the V6 Escape or a Subaru, neither of which were less expensive than the hybrid.
I wouldn’t know about the payback on a Prius. We need AWD and more room, the Prius was never on our list.
Define 'end of usesful life'.
Yes. It runs and it's sitting in my driveway.
It also averages around 25 mpg.