I enjoy reading the posts on this site. The posts about "when we should buy a hybrid", or "how long will it take to pay off" are the most intriguing to me.

I don't have a hybrid yet, but my next car will definitely be one. My car has nearly 200,000 miles and it's almost time to replace it. While I have been trying to decide what to purchase, I developed a simple Excel spreadsheet.

The spreadsheet compares the sticker price of a car to that of another car. Additionally, it stacks up the cost of fuel over time for each car. Last, the chart visually shows approximately where the cars "break even."

Oddly enough, the "break even" isn't the most impressive part. I look at the long term costs.
Feel free to try it out and put your own numbers in... Please let me know what you think.



-Joe

Attached Files

Break even hybrid_v5.xls (37.0 KB, 126 views)

Pretty cool, I like the graph. I have a similar sheet comparing my old '95 Explorer, a conventional Escape, and the Escape Hybrid, and did a 10 year breakdown. Even back in May I was going to come out way ahead after a decade even with static gas prices, nowadays, I'll probably make that price difference back this week.

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Great spreadsheet. The graph of my Jeep looks like the first hill of a roller coaster. The Prius graph is a nice smooth hill. Jeez.

Mr Fixit:

I like spreadsheets and graphs, and yours is cool. Makes me even more want to purchase a Prius.

Do you think the Prius potentially may have more (Variable )maintenance or repair costs as compared to non-hybrid civic? Maybe as a result of the additional Hybrid system.

If gas prices continue to increase the way they have the last two years, I think your break-even point and overall savings will be more accelerated.

Supermathis

Spreadsheets are the only way to go unless you just want a hybrid. For me I had to know that there was a financial incentive, not saving the spotted owls.

Historically the Prius costs less to maintain than non-hybrids and even other hybrids. What can be more expensive is using the dealership for service vs. doing the service yourself, but that's a personal decision.

See http://www.hybridexperience.ca/Reliability.htm for some more data.

2001 Prius Photos       2005 Prius Photos
'97 Prius Simulation Prius inner workings

Yeah, that graph is fun, and the information is presented much nicer than mine, though I did mine just as a barebones look to see when, and by how much I would break even or ahead.

The funny thing is that back in May I figured I'd break even at about five years. Using todays' numbers, it'll be June '07 when I'll be ahead. And that's, once again, with static gas prices.

That's also ignoring the lowering in insurance. $300 less a year is nothing to sneeze at either. (Of course, I don't know that for sure, it may have lowered had I gotten a conventional Escape as well.)

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Supermathis,
Your question was:
"Do you think the Prius potentially may have more (Variable )maintenance or repair costs as compared to non-hybrid civic? Maybe as a result of the additional Hybrid system."
My answer is:
I don't know. It depends upon how long you intend to keep the vehicle, and how long the warranty protects you from these unwanted variables. The "hybrid" is still a fairly new vehicle, so it is hard to judge long tem costs.
There must be a few people on this site who can give us some data to crunch.

I have had my car since dec of 02' I have not had any repairs done on my car. My original 12V battery died last winter but I have a massive audio system in my car so I have to think I may have drained it.

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Interesting, when comparing the Honda Civic EX to the Honda Civic Hybrid (they have the same features and options), the bread even point comes up quickly. With the tax deduction, almost instantly.