Having owned a Toyota Prius hybrid for three years I am finally confident in making a well-informed, critical review of this revolutionary car that intrigues so many. A ReInvented Daddy can often spend seemingly 25 hours a day behind the wheel taxiing children from one destination to another. My kids need a Franklin Planner to keep their social/school/atheletic/dance/birthday party schedules coordinated. The ReInvented Wife drives a half an hour each way to work each day and I usually put more miles on than she does, seemingly going nowhere fast. This means I need a great car and I have found one.
In 2006 I had never bought a foreign car but when I looked at the options Detroit was offering me I felt insulted so I voted with my checkbook. Yes, the environmental benefit of promoting hybrid technology was important to me but I put out the big bucks because it made too much financial sense. As a trend I am much better at love than cards so I don't brag about financial decisions too often. However even the most anal CPA type would have to be happy with my math.
The most important factor in the Prius' value is cost of ownership v. resale value. I trimmed about a hundred dollars a month off of my personal budget in gas savings over my previous beast of burden, a Dodge Intrepid. That means that over the 5 years that it is financed for I will save approximately $6000. Pennsylvania and the USA gave me $3000 in hybrid helping cash so I can chop $9000 off of my sales price, which, with taxes, was a little over $25,000. At the time of this posting a 5 year old Prius in excellent shape has a blue book value of $14,885. That means that I could optimally be driving I car that drills envy at every gas pump for a net cost of about a thousand dollars over five years versus keeping my old car and hoping nothing ever went wrong. I'm not making this up.
Now to be more forward thinking consider that gas is actually pretty low due to the current Great Recession and it figures only to go up. Each time gas soars my resale value solidifies.
We still have a three row GM option-barge for when needed but nothing cheers up a ReInvented Dad like filling up the tank with a twenty and the looks of "pump envy" are satisfying too. Cant' wait for Chevy Volt.
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