http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...s-prices_N.htm

"An analysis for USA TODAY by auto-price consultant Edmunds.com shows that the difference between a Toyota (TM) Camry hybrid and a similarly equipped gasoline Camry was $889 Friday, up from $850 a week ago. Assuming 15,000 miles a year, Edmunds figures just 1.7 years for the Camry hybrid's fuel savings to offset the car's higher price — slightly longer than 1.6 years when the price difference was less a week earlier."

 

But will they last that long???
As a recent (Nov. 2007) purchaser, I am not sure, but don't believe the price differential was this slim
Spoke to my dealer and he said the spread (if he were to buy the car for himself, a better basis for comparison, since sticker has a lot of 'fluff' in it) of a similarly equiped car was $3,000.

 

That sounds like a reasonable amount of time. I'm looking forward to reaping the benefits of owning a hybrid. 1.6 years is not long.....and i plan on keeping mine for many years.

 

I seriously doubt you can find a comparably equiped gas Camry for $850 less than a hybrid. I'll bet the author didn't do a good job of researching to come up with their numbers (probably went to kbb.com and spent 5 minutes at the site).
I think the true payback is around 4-5 years.

 

But will they last that long???
Quote:
...And the $106,000 Lexus LS600h hybrid, compared with the gasoline LS460L — 102.6 years...


Yes true but what a sweet ride, my sunday car. Who gives a rats @$# when the payback is? Money is to spend lol!!! PS sort of a gas guzzler lol!

 

When I got my TCH last month, the similar gas version was only $1200 less. I think it depends on location.

Which at 25000 miles a year (yes I drive a lot) @ $3.50/gal - I break even in less then 1 year. ($4375 yr/gas vs $2243yr/gas)

Kristi

 

I think I got a steal. I got a fully 07 TCH demo in the beginning of '08 when '09 models were already coming out. It had 11k on it. My previous car required Premium fuel. I drive about 24k a year give or take and figure I will save about $2600+ a year at the rate I am going.

I was going to check CarMax for both new and used prices today....but they don't have 1 new TCH in the country according to their site. The only had 3 used TCH's. All were '07 models and less equipped than mine. ALL were more expensive than what I paid for mine.

 

Coming up with a cost differential and comparing models is an inexact science, at best.
Here is what I did.
I called my dealer and told him I wasn't going to buy a car today (joking around) but wanted to know what it would cost him (as an employee, thus stripping out much of the extras that a dealer could pack into the cost) to buy a gas and hybrid version of a similarly equipped car. With nothing to gain by giving me false information, he said "a similarly equipped car" with a gas engine is $3000 less.
CarMax, KBB and all the other web sites don't have precise information (although the world assumes that they do). They do informal surveys, since KBB doesn't actually buy the cars, they can't possibly know what the true cost is.
I love the TCH, but don't delude yourslef into thinking that you will have a one year payback...unless gas doubles (triples?) and you drive your car around the clock.

 

I will say that many on-line sites do have information that is pretty darn close when trying to figure out the invoice pricing.

While researching the purchase of my TCH, my gf's RAV4, and my mother's RAV4, all of the invoice numbers I came up with based on internet information were within 100 - 200 of the real invoice quoted by the dealer. (These purchases were spread over 1.5 years.)

If someone goes out and gets the invoice number for a i4 XLE with the same options as a TCH, does the math, they should have a reasonable number to base the difference off of. I think the bigger issue is the rated MPG and the actual MPG.

But with current numbers...

Lets assume the i4 XLE is $3,000 less than the TCH with the same options, gas is $3.75 /gallon, and we drive 12,000 miles a year (this is another important number and the it obviously changes the outcome greatly).

From Toyota, the MPG of the i4 XLE is 21/31 (we'll say 26) and the TCH is 33/34 (we'll say 33.5).

12000 miles/year / 26 = 461.54 gallons/year x 3.75 = $1730.77 / year
12000 miles/year / 33.5 = 358.21 gallons/year x 3.75 = $1343.28 / year

1730.77 - 1343.28 = $387.49 (fuel savings in a year)

3000 / 387.49 = 7.74 years to payback -- a little too long to be worth it.

But the problem is, I do not believe the difference in price is $3,000. The difference between the MSRP and the invoice is usually around $3,000 so I wonder if there was confusion.

Who knows....I am just happy with my purchase and would rather pay a little more for the technology because if all of use based this off of numbers alone, the technology would go nowhere.

 

MikieBoyBlue nice job with the numbers. I think you are showing a worst case scenerio, because:

1) The average pump price is about 4$ a gallon (according to gasbuddy.com). Also from what I hear, in the long run gas will not be getting cheaper.

2) 32mpg on a TCH is a bit low compared with the average shown on these forums (even on this website it shows the average at 36mpg)

3) A Rav4 getting 27mpg is very efficient for a vehicle that is gas powered alone (city driving assumed). Even my old Grand Am (4 cyl) was getting that at best with very careful driving. Most vehicles are much worse (according to the guide I have for fuel consumption)

With that in mind, I think the pay back is much quicker not to mention if gas goes to 5 dollars a gallon in the next few years, which by the looks of it, it will.