I work as a Sales Rep in Southern Ontario, Canada. Currently, I drive a Pontiac Vibe but, given the rapid rise in fuel costs, I am considring buying a hybrid. My favourites are the Prius and the Camry. I put about 40,000 miles per year (mostly highway miles) on the odometer and was wondering whether the Prius could perform on the highway over time. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I have a neighbor with 80K+, mostly highway, on her 2006 Prius. She's on her third set of tires but otherwise hasn't had a problem.
I would guess that you already have a Pretty Good Solution. It would be hard on a monetary basis to justify replacing your Vibe. Guessing you get 35 MPG on the open road, 40,000 miles at 35 MPG of $4.00/gallon is $4571.43. At 45 MPG its $3555.56, a savings of $1015.87 per year.
If its simply time to replace the Vibe and the Prius amuses you, then get the Prius. Thats what I did, replaced a perfect 2000 Avalon XLS with less than 55,000 miles for a 2007 Prius. Cost about $17,000 to trade. Will probably never break even but the geek in me likes "booting" my car rather than starting it.
Paid $5,000 less for the Prius new than the Avalon new, which shoots the "hybrid premium" argument in the foot.
As for the Camry Hybrid, I'd expect similar or little better MPG than your Vibe.
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