Prius Economics


Everybody is looking toward the future with rising gas prices and trying to economize. How much they spend on a car and looking at MPG on the next purchase is one thing people are trying to change. Since graduating and staying at home full time, I have put forth an effort to become more green… grocery bags, recycling more, using less water, less fuel, raising my air and wasting less resources all the way around. In this spirit, I was looking to move from my large SUV to a hybrid car.

Going online under hybrid search I discovered for approximately $20,000 I could purchase a Toyota Prius which gets 46 MPG. My family of 5 was willing to squeeze into this car. But, much to my dismay, Toyota has put a premium price on their Prius. It has gone from $20,000 to $27,000 and one dealer quoted $29,000. We all understand capitalism and how great it is, but in this economy, where is loyalty to the consumer. When we have the money we spend the money on luxury items. But this economy has made us cut back on luxuries and look to save money on items like on cars.

What is the point of buying a hybrid car to save gas, if you are just putting the money into the purchase of the car. It no longer makes CENTS to make that type of purchase.

The economy is terrible. We all feel everyday the crush of companies raising their prices on the consumer to make up the difference.

For myself, I will walk away from the Toyota Prius which I was extremely excited to buy, and purchase a car that is more reasonable, fits my family and still be better on MPG’s. I will continue to pay higher prices for organic produce and look to save the environment wherever I can. But I will not go broke in the process.