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what about a married couple (she in her 70s he in his 80s)? But be careful, they’re my parents. I think I clocked them at 17mph going up the hill from my house.

what about a married couple (she in her 70s he in his 80s)? But be careful, they’re my parents. I think I clocked them at 17mph going up the hill from my house.

I mean no disrespect to your parents, but I'll never understand why elderly people drive so slow. Time should be of the essence to them.

I actually sat down and crunched the numbers at one point. The Prius will most likely not pay off for most people who buy this car. Of course other have done the math as well and there are several articles written on this. Butt it’s a fairly simple and straight forward concept to understand. A substitutable product with a Prius may be a Chevrolet Aveo. Both are in the same market segment, both offer about the same capabilities and the same limitations. However, a Aveo costs: $10,560

http://www.chevrolet.com/aveo/specifications

The Prius costs: $23,070

http://www.toyota.com/prius/models.html

The selling point on the Prius is one and one point only “Mileage.” Every commercial focuses on rising fuel costs bla bla bla. Now lets look at the fuel costs and mileage.

Aveo: 27/37 MPG
Prius: 60/51 (That’s with the AC off - which actually makes a difference)

But you looking at a cost difference of nearly $13,000 between the two vehicles! How much fuel does $13,000 buy me? $2.97

http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/

With an Aveo you could buy: 4377.10 gallons of fuel before the price is the same as a Prius. With an average combined city and highway combination, you would have to drive: 140,067.34 miles before you break even with a Prius/Aveo. Now, not considering the fact that the batteries won’t last that long most likely and the warranty will expire at 100K, taxes which are based on the cost of the vehicle and the Prius costing more than twice, I can assure you, for the VAST majority of Americans buying the Prius, the fuel savings will “NEVER” pay off to any cash savings in the net.

The Prius is for people making a statement, it’s an over engineered car that caters to a low end market segment with near mid class prices and hopes to achieve sales through: Branding, perceived savings because of mileage, and saving the environment. Some cities and communities are buying this car because of those reasons. Economically, it makes no sense. It’s the intelligent car for the ignorant person.

Now some other interesting details that should drive the decision making process. The average new-car buyer trades in the car at 55,000 miles or right at four years (For a fact check: http://www.dot.gov ). Most people finance their car and the interest paid (total amount) will be more on the Prius. The Aveo is but one example and nearly every other brand makes cars that are economically a better answer than the Prius. So you tell me why people buy this car?