its alot of reading i know, but trust me you'll feel better about your 10mpg once you realize how long the savings take to pay off that new prius thats est 30mpg. (just a made up number)
trust me, i feel alot better about my 11.04 mpg now. =)
I originally posted this on
http://www.amazon.com/tag/automotive...x24CTDBP16P2XL
heres the deal... Diesel is a BY-PRODUCT of Gas, Yet it still costs more for Diesel, why? $$$$$$$ Common sense, if you will pay, they will play.
On top of that I also read somewhere that your $20,000 prius, will take you anywhere from 10-15 YEARS to see any real benefit from your original purchase, lets see here, you pay $20,000 for the car, then lets say your local tax is 7% thats $70 per $1,000 x 20= $1,400 in taxes, + lets say a 3% dealer fee which is $30 per $1,000 x 20= $600, with taxes and dealer fees alone your now at $22,000 then lets say a new tag costs $225(current here in fl for new tag, never owned a tag) then $75 registration(also current rate in fl) $225 + $75= $300 to drive the thing, now youre at $22,300 then you pay for the weight of the vehicle lets say it weighs 2,000 lbs. and thats another $10 or so now youre at $22,310, and youre financing it, of course you owe $2,310 at the time of purchase, and your financed for 4 years at 6.5% APR on $20,000, with $500/mo payments,
your first year interest is $1,300, you owe $21,300 when you drive the car off the lot, lets assume you make your payments on time, exactly $500/mo, $500/mo x 12 mos.= $6,000/year,
ok second year rolls around you now owe $15,300 x 6.5% = $994.50, $994.50 + $15,300 = $16,294.50
ok, third year $10,294.50 x 6.5% = $669.15, $10,294.50 + $669.15 = $10,963.65,
at the begining of the fourth year you now owe $4,963.65 x 6.5% = $322.64, $322.64 + $4,963.65= $4,996.29 (now your payments drop) $4,996.29 / 12mos. = $416.36/mo for the last year,
which brings your prius to a grand total of $25,596.29.
How long do you think it will take for the fuel savings to pay off $25,596.29? lets see... we'll figure this at $2.50/gal, on a 10gal tank, at 30mpg, and we'll say the vehicle stays in perfect running condition, exactly as the epa tested it.(not likely to happen but for this it will), you bought it with 0 miles on it(again not likely to happen for in this case it does)and we'll say 12,000 miles/yr. here goes.... 1st year 12,000 miles. $2.50 x 10= $25.00 per tank 10gal x 30 mpg = 300mpt(miles per tank), 12,000 / 300 =40 times you filled up. 40 x $25= $1,000/year in fuel. you do the rest, i gave you all the numbers, now you just do some math.
now for my paid off vehicle that gets 10mpg on a 26gal tank costs me $65 to fill up,
and 260miles/tank 12,000miles driven a year. 12,000 / 260 = ~46 fill ups a year 46 x $65= $2,990/ year. you paid $25,596.29, to save $1,990/ year?
Now the million dollar question how many years will it take that savings to pay off?
$25,596.29 / $1,990 = 12.862457286432160804020100502513, or ~12.9 years to pay for itself.
now lets see here $2,990(my fill up cost a year) x 12.9yrs = $38,571.
Sure I could save that money, but you know, im not gonna go buy some
$20,000 hybrid, just because of gas prices. I pay my bills, I'll drive what I like, and what I know won't get totaled in what should've been a fender bender.
Now I know someone is gonna say but you figured at a 26gal tank, and not a 10. well silence...
both tanks $25 to fill up
10gal/ea.
Prius = tank A
Mine = tank B
MPG's
A=30mpg
B=10mpg
Distance
A=300miles
B=100miles
# Fill ups/yr.
A=40 times
B=120 times
ok here goes.
you already know tank A costs $1,000/yr in gas,
so tank B $25 x 120= $3,000/yr
for a savings of $2,000/yr
$25,596.29 for the prius. $25,596.29 / $2,000= 12.798145 or ~12.8 yrs
Still takes over 10 years to actually see a benefit from purchasing a prius.
Don't you feel better now?
I DO.
If you dont think my math is right, do it yourself, i gave you all the numbers. =)
No, im not a math genious, I'm just capable of doing simple calculations. As should any educated person should be.(no pun intended)
*NOTE* I do accept/support research for other sources of energy, but I just see no point in rushing out to buy a $20K vehicle just to save on a little gas now. When it's gonna take longer than you'll own the vehicle to actually see any benefit from it.