I am looking to buy a hybrid because I can't stand the gas prices. I have attaced a picture of the only car that I found that I can afford. Let me know if this price is way too much or not. I guess there is price gouging on more then just gasoline. Take a look and tell me what you think.........


http://autoextra.com/vehicledetail/a...P=OTC-Fms&a=86

I have additional questions before I can tell you what I think:

1) What year/make/model of car are you replacing?
2) How much do you still owe on it?

If you're buying JUST to save on fuel costs, you may want to consider non-hybrid vehicles also. However, if you're buying to 1) save on fuel costs, 2) want to put fewer exhaust emissions into the air AND 3) like to play with new gadgets and learn how to drive all over again - no jackrabbit starts at lights, coasting toward red lights, using less a/c or cruise to improve your mileage, THEN BY ALL MEANS, get a hybrid.

As for the particular vehicle you're considering, I have not researched used Prius' to know if that's good or not - you'll need to look to others for that answer.

C&J the Gas Pirates

I'm the Captain of this ship and I have my wife's permission to say so.

Not knowing anything else about the Prius, I would assume good condition.

They did have OBO in the ad, so I would offer $16,000 if you think the car is what you want.

Will this purchase have a payback for you in fuel savings at some point? And how long for the ROI?

Regards,

Hi Jmurray:

___You will not be receiving the 05 Tax deduction or the much larger 06 Tax credit on this vehicle so you might consider a few other alternatives.

___On the hybrid side of the fence, a brand new 06 non-NAVI HCH-II (~ $22,000 including dest. possibly?) after the 06 Tax credit should net you ~ $19,500 + TTL out of pocket. If you live in some of the more green states, another tax credit is available on your state form (Colorado, N.Y., and recently MA. come to mind)? Would you rather own a brand new 06 with front, side, and side curtain airbags, ~ 20% better performance, much better handling, much better crashworthiness, much better equipped, larger interior volume(s), even higher FE (EPA rated 50/50), and BRAND NEW for $3K more? I would have mentioned the 06 Prius II here as well but you cannot purchase one of the package #1 types off the lot at $22K anymore that I have read about recently? $23 - $27K + is the usual for one of those and your TCO goes through the roof even after the tax credits

___If I were primarily a highway driver, the 06 Civic LX w/ Auto (EPA rated 30/40) for ~ $17K or better yet, an 06 Corolla LE w/ Auto, the side and side curtains as well as VSC and TC options (30/38 or 32/41 w/ a stick) for ~ $16.5K would be a better overall value then a used 03 Prius I (EPA rated 52/45) at $16,000 - $16,900 imho. I bolded the highway FE of all 3 because the 03 HCH was not that efficient imho. Both the non-hybrid 06 Civic and 06 Corolla have more passenger/luggage volume then the 03 Prius I.

___Gas prices or not, a very high priced - used hybrid may not be the answer you were looking for given the tax incentives to purchase new and/or the brand new yet better equipped non-hybrid options available today. It is a real bad time to be looking for an HCH-I, HCH-II, Prius II, non-hybrid Civic or Corolla so expect to pay higher prices then I quoted above in the short term. Invoice + or – a few hundred $’s was available on the non-hybrid’s (not the 06 Civic because they just became available for purchase) as little as 4 months ago so take you time and vote with your wallet but vote wisely.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Hi Jmurray:

___I forgot to mention the domestics. I would not touch them and it is not for fear of a quality gap because it is not. The domestics offer much lower out the door pricing but the resale is what absolutely kills them! When looking at the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership/True Cost to Own), the domestics are at an extreme disadvantage in comparison to the Honda/Toyota contingent unfortunately

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

That's excellent advice, Wayne. At one point, my wife and I were looking at a 2002 BMW 325i and a 2002 Ford Taurus. The BMW was $12,000 more. However, they had the same cost-to-own over 4 years! Crazy, really, but true. A lot of people just see the upfront price tag and don't take into consideration depreciation, service costs, etc.

ROI is something you have to calculate on your own.

1. Go look at your odometer to get an idea for the number of miles you put on per year.

2. Take your current vehicles MPG to estimate the number of gallons of fuel you have to buy per year.

3. Take the MPG estimate of this car and estimate the number of gallons of fuel you'll need if you drove this.

4. Subtract #3 from #2 to figure out how many gallons you're saving. Multiple that buy the price per gallon at the pumps. That's how much it'll save you per year in fuel alone.

If you put on 15,000 miles per year and your current car gets 20mpg, then you need 15000/20=750 gallons. If this car gets 55, then that's 15000/55=273 gallons. This car would save you 750/273=477 gallons. At $2.65 gallon (which is what I pay around here), that's $1,264 annually in fuel. Assuming you'll keep it for 5 years thats a little over $6,300.

NOW... what you really want to know is WHY someone is selling a Prius when most people are trying to buy one. Is it a lemon? Or did the current owner just trade-up for an '06 Prius? Was it a return on a 3 year lease that's up? (hard to believe a leasee would return it. As a leasee you actually DO have the option (under every lease I have ever seen) to sell the car on your own and just pay the manufacturer the residual value which was listed on your contract when you bought the car and pocket the profit. A Prius, I would have to believe, would ALWAYS sell for a tidy profit now that they're in hot demand.

Yes it is too much money. You are better off financing a new prius or honda HCH2. Well thats what i have to say.

It's a bit on the high price side, but since there's not really much room for bargaining with demand being so high, it might be the going price for them... The first gen Prius is a good car, not quite as peppy as the second gen, and it's FE isn't quite as awesome, but there's certainly plenty of potential for excellent FE as is evidenced by the database.

The thing that's good about a high used price is that you'll probably be able to get a good price when you sell it. High resale value is not something we're used to with cars, but really it's not such a bad thing when your car doesn't depreciate like most pieces of sh**.

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