I don't disagree w/ some of this.
I would not pay above MSRP for a Prius or any other hybrid - or any car for that matter.
I would not pay the difference between a Civic hybrid and a Civic non-hybrid, the Civic hybrid is not that good a car. I am skeptical of the standard cars that have had "hybrid" slapped on them, rather than being designed that way from the ground up.
But comparing a Prius to a Yaris is misguided. People who don't know much about the Prius do that. People who do know the car realize they are in a different class.
The Prius MSRP starts at $23.7K, it is more comparable to a Honda Accord MSRP starting at $20.3K.
P.S. Funny, every time we discuss this someone says "I'd never buy a Prius - if I really cared about MPG I'd buy a Yaris/Accent/etc." But no-one here ever does end up buying a Yaris/etc. So logically, EITHER no-one cares about MPG (as some have boasted, though not as many are bragging about their $100 fill-ups lately) OR the Yaris/etc are in fact not appealing cars. Ha ha. Its like saying "I'd never eat that - if I really cared about eating healthy, I'd eat rice cakes all day" - something usually uttered by fat people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sammyg2
The problem as I see it is that the hybrids are selling at a $12k premium around here lately and the mileage on comparable conventional cars is almost as good (difference in MSRP is almost $8k and they are marking up the hybrids big time).
Take a civic hybrid. Expensive. Close to $28,000 in so Cal. A regular civic with the same trim level is closer to $16k.
A regular hybrid is much cheaper, will hold it's resale almost as well and still gets good mileage.
If a regular civic is getting 35 mpg and a hybrid is getting 45 mpg, you have to burn up allot of gas to justify the $12k difference in purchase price.
Break-even point is probably long after the car is gone unless you drive a crapload of miles every year.
If ther hybrid was a $2500 option it'd be a no brainer but for the serious bank they are asking for one, a hybrid doesn't make sense to me at all.
If I werer that worried about gas mileage I'd buy one of those new toyota yaris sedans for $13k and get 30 mpg before I'd spend $28k on a new prius.
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