Prius vs. Honda Fit

These don't apparently factor in any tax incentives.

Raising the question, do tax incentives remain?

notaguru wrote:

And entirely irrelevant. I doubt that many Prius owners bought their cars with saving money in mind--except for those who were considering other cars in the same price range.

A man who can't decide which woman to marry so he gives each of three women $5,000 to find out what they would do with it. The first one buys herself clothes and makeup and a new hairdo, all to make herself more attractive for him. The second one buys a wonderful t.v. and stereo setup because she knows he likes such things. The third woman takes the $5,000 and invests it and turns it into $10,000, so he'll know she's thinking about their future together. So which one does he decide to marry? The one with the big t*ts, of course.

For a new US Prius purchased between April 1, 2007 and Sept. 30, 2007, you are eligible for a US Federal income tax credit of up to $787.50. (It could be less if you are hit with AMT.)

7557,00.htmlhttp://www.toyota.com/prius/tax.html Used Prius do not qualify for the credit, and the leasing company gets the credit if you lease...

Note that no credit is available beginning with purchases on or after Oct. 1, 2007!

Individual states or cities may offer incentives as well (income tax credit or a deduction, reduced sales tax, free metered parking, reduced tolls, single-occupant HOV lane usage, etc.)

Now that you say that... Yeah, I was probably mis-remembering (It's been a while since I needed to fold that seat). I know that the front seat had to slide somewhere to allow the headrest to clear something, but I guess I had it the wrong way. fold the seat back, pull the base of the seat forward.

Note that he didn't claim that they fold forward. I carry 8-foot 2x4s in mine by folding down the rear seats, fully retracting the headrest on the front passenger seat, moving that seat fully forward, and then fully reclining it. (And then throwing a new $2 plastic sheet over everything to keep it clean.)

That would be me. But I did consider resale value too. At 100,000 miles the Prius has a much higher value remaining. I wouldn't go as far as saying calculations are entirely irrelevant. I could be wrong but I think trade-in value for some is irrelevant; they're just happy to unload. To me, the difference between the Prius and non-hybrid is like above and in ground pools. You can swim in both but only one adds value to your yard and is most likely to be kept up and enthusiasm continued. Mine is rapidly approaching 98,000 miles and hasn't required anything but oil & filter changes and a set of tires. In the coldest winter it always starts and the cabin warms up in just under two minutes. But alas, if someone can't afford it you might as well be talking to a wall. Some who drive fat ass cars have fat asses and nothing is going to change it. And the Cooper crowd look down right silly when two people are crammed in that bread loaf pan with wheels.

I take it he married in Nevada all three?

I've torn cloth ceilings carrying things I shouldn't have.

Oh, so this is a Mitt Romney thread?

That's really quite an achievement. Even my large Volvo station wagon handles 8 ft lumber poorly; the front end has to hover inches away from the windshield like a javelin.

Mike

Yeah - I'm not carrying jaguars again ;-)

We almost bought a Matrix before choosing the Prius. One advantage of the Matrix is that the front (and rear) seatbacks are hard plastic and designed to fold (forward) nicely and make a nice rugged flat cargo surface. 2x4s, bicycles, whatever, that we can't put in the Prius (lest we tear the precious cloth) would have traveled nicely in the Matrix.

Not to say that we aren't happy with the Prius for a dozen other reasons, just that it would be nice if the front seat folded forward and flat like our old Volvo wagon, and the Matrix, and the Honda Fit, and the Mazda 3, and the Ford Focus, and the ...

The price differential was $824 or about 5%. I also got the same interest rate as a new car.

Historically we drive our cars until the wheels fall off. This seems to be about 180,000+ miles.

No, use historical data such as is avilable from Consumer Reports. Fortuantely, the two vehicles were both Toyotas. They are functionally identical.

Better still, use fleet data. Don't guess, use direct obserations.

Already done but I learned about the experiment after buying the car:

Don't forget, the driving profile is very important since that determines the ratio of fixed to operating costs. But there is one other aspect that needs to be addressed, accounting method.

Some folks prefer to lump capital and operational expense in one pool. But there is an equally valid accounting method based upon keeping the capital and operational accounts separate. This has the advantage of paying attention to depreciation, the cash-flow and operational management.

I had approach the local Toyota dealer but they weren't even in the running. However, Ebay is a terrific resource for finding a used car at a fair market value.

Exactly! It is important to aquire the right tool for the right job. It is also important to deal with the reality when the decision must be made.

In 2001, the Echo costing $7k less won over the Prius. After six years, the Echo has a little over 25,000 miles on it and still on the original tires. The Prius would have been the wrong answer for her driving profile.

In 2005, the Prius won over the $824 cheaper Scion xB because I knew the operational expense would be a significant part of total ownership. In less than two years, the Prius has already given 52 MPG over 37,000 miles. The only major maintenance has been a new set of tires, $225. However, I also got a 10% discount on the insurance.

Bob Wilson

Not in my case. There is no tax incentive for a used hybrid nor a new Scion xB.

Bob Wilson

Actually there is an extreme case, a taxi company:

The results are as expected. The Fit would not be a cost-effective taxi.

Bob Wilson

[...]

• If my Prius ('05) got only 44 mpg, I would take it to the dealer and find out what is wrong.

Since January, '05: 47,193.7 miles on 943.987 gallons = 50.0 mpg.

earle

*

It's well-known that Prius gets between 42mpg and 50mpg for average drivers under average conditions.

Those getting consistently higher than that are choosing to be not average: not running the AC, driving weirdly, etc.

I get in my 07 Prius and go. In the heat of the summer, mixed driving in town with some freeway, I'll see 42mpg. But on one 400 mile stretch a couple of weeks ago, all freeway, cruise control on, 75mph except for some construction areas, climate control on (not very hot, but AC still running), I got a solid 53mpg.

I have yet to see how it behaves in the winter for me. Do you have extreme heat or cold? Do you choose not to run the AC?

Your environment plus your choice of driving style may indeed get you

50.0mpg on average. That's fine. Not everyone will, or even *can*, get that. 44mpg city is a good number to use when evaluating Prius. If Fit gives 38mpg city, that's a good starting place to figure out the differences.

I tend to get between 48 and 51, but I've had one tank at 45 and one at

2. I keep my climate control system set to 75 degrees all the time. I tend to drive on the freeway at 65 or the speed limit, whichever is lower unless traffic conditions cause me to drive slower or faster--e.g., if there's heavy traffic going faster than 65, I'll go with the flow, or if traffic is crawling at 45, I'll go 45.