Guest Guest Posted February 9, 2008 Report Share Posted February 9, 2008 Interesting thread. Can't disagree with any of the posters. I'm the poster who switched from a full size Chevy van to a Prius and could save around $4,000 compared to the van. I'm not justifying a hybrid based on that comparison but I was interested that this switch could save that much gas. I do understand that I don't have the same capacities for passengers & cargo but the van became overkill for me as my family needs changed. Other posters are right in comparing a hybrid cost to the cost of a conventionally powered similarly sized high mileage vehicle. Using an average of 45 mpg for a Prius in all driving conditions should be fairly close. I'm not sure that using 35 mpg for a Camry would be an average. I'm sure it is a good estimate for highway mileage but not sure it would be that high for general average driving (combined city, highway, stop start etc.). Another reason why I pulled the plug to buy a Prius was that gas prices will not be going down in the future. There will be short term ups and downs but the big long-term trend is for our gas prices to approach the costs that Europeans are paying for gas now. I understand that the Europeans have addressed that issue by driving a high percentage of small diesel powered vehicles. Diesels have a difficult challenge in the US for various and complicated reasons, environmental being one. If an assumed gas price increase is factored into the savings calculations for a hybrid, the savings accrue much faster. Many reasons why I chose the Prius. Some do not make sense financially. Ooops! I said Camry above. Previous poster used a Corolla comparison. My point is still the same. 35 mpg would be highway, might not be average. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.