VS
;)
Toyota Tercel 1997
MPG (city) 28
MPG (highway) 35
MPG (combined) 31
Cost to Drive 25 Miles $3.29
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles 0.81 gal
Annual Fuel Cost $1977
Toyota Prius 2008
MPG (city) 48
MPG (highway) 45
MPG (combined) 46
Cost to Drive 25 Miles $2.23
Fuel to Drive 25 Miles 0.54 gal
Annual Fuel Cost $1335
This all sounds great, until you realize the cost of one vs the other..
You can find a great 1997 Toyota Tercel (these things last forever) for about $3000. A decent one for about $2000, and a dumper for about $1000. You can't find a Prius for under $15,000 on any market.
So we go ahead and crunch the numbers..
We'll say you paid for the most expensive Toyota Tercel in Pristine condition, like mine. $3000. (I paid $3300 for mine because I'm in Taiwan, but the car is like brand new, inside and out. The owner just changed the timing belts last year too, runs great, no problems.)
Let's take the average Ebay Motors price for a Prius about $25,000.
So the Toyota Tercel has got $22,000 head start on the Prius.
We do a little math to see when the Prius will catch up to the Tercel in terms of recouping the cost from fuel savings and we arrive at:
518,867 Miles.
That's how many miles you need to drive on a Prius before it "pays for itself" against a Tercel. But wait, there's more! At that many miles, the amount of pollution is ridiculous.
But a Prius is "cleaner" you say?? WRONG. Because the Tercel was already built!! You forgot to factor in manufacturing cost and pollution! When it's all said and done, for a tiny car, a used Tercel can't be beat. It gets great mileage, has pep, is not a hybrid (hybrid = worst of both worlds) and pretty much a Prius will never catch up to it in terms of savings.
And it pisses the tree huggers off..
