Before you say you cant afford a hybrid, lets take a look at the web site, base Prius $21,100, base Corolla auto (apples to apples) $17,110, difference $2,715, City epa for Prius is 48, Corolla 26 Presuming that is the best you could do in either car (not likely) the Prius would use 250 gallons of gas a year, the Corolla 461 presuming your 12,000 per year driven....@ lets say $4.50 a gallon you would save $949 per year/ 2715=2.8 years for break even, then you would save oh I don't know $1000 a year in gas, not to mention be driving a MUCH cleaner car and doing your own little part to reduce the use of fossil fuel.
As for the batteries, Honda has had Hybrids since 96, Toyota about 98 (not positive) if there were massive battery failures, don't you think there would be a public outcry by now? why do you think no one really knows what it would cost to replace them? could it be not many are replaced? If it were a common item, I can assure you, there would be a price attached to it. By the way, Brakes last much longer in a Hybrid due to the fact that much of the forward energy is converted to electricity when stopping.
So, Lets recap, 10 years ownership, Prius, car and fuel only $32,350, Corolla, car & fuel only $37,855, so, looks like you can't afford to save $5,505?
I am not a fan of the Prius BTW, I prefer the H>
: Well, you may be thinking that it's "too expensive to buy". It may or
> : may not be too expensive to operate.
> :
> : The up front cost is only one of the many costs. You buy it once, but
> : you operate it over and over again. You must look at an overall cost,
> : per mile, to come to any conclusions.
> :
> : I'd compare similarly equipped Corolla and Prius...
>
> Just using round numbers, the price difference appears to be $6000. >
> If I drive 12000 miles per year, Corolla (30 mpg) would need 400
> gallons of fuel. Prius (40mpg) about 300 gallons. Difference is 100
> gallons, let's say $500.
>
> That would mean 10-12 years to merely recover the extra money you pay
> upfront. So, I am not saying Prius is not a good car, but it has become
> something of a fad/fashion too and I don't see the economy: I give them
> $6000, and hope that maybe I'd earn it back by 2020? :)
>
> So, I am inclined to stay with the best of conventional cars. Trying to
> figure out which one!