IluvKingLouis
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2004
I just bought a new car last year. I did a lot of research into the hybrids, but gas would have had to be at least $10 per
I'm not sure why these numbers are coming up so off? We bought a Prius 10 months ago. We paid 25K, and a comparable/non hybrid Civic or similar would have been in the 15-17 range. However, we got 7K back in State and Federal taxes...it was a straight refund, not a tax credit. That brought us into the 18K range, so 2-3K more then a Civic. We're getting 50mpg, as opposed to 35, so 40% better fuel economy. We figured our breakeven would occur at 2.5 years assuming gas at 2.50. Now that gas is about $3.50 in our area our breakeven will be sooner. We tend to keep our cars for 10 years plus. We are also finding our routine maintenances to be much less then with a traditional engine. I think the electric engine (gas asssist) is a much cleaner system, then gas alone.
I should also add, DH telecommutes and I'm a SAHM and I do a little website design from home. So if we were commuters, our breakeven would hit even earlier.
Now I'm not sure if there is a tax incentive at this time, but if not, we should certainly make sure they hear us loud and clear in Washington! People should recieve a financial incentive to go this route.