Want a Prius? -- Get ready for the wait
With gas prices as high as they are nowadays, more and more Americans are starting to consider hybrids as an option for their next car purchase. And if you want a Prius, better get your order in now and be prepared for the wait — according to ToMoCo, the waiting list in the U.S. has gone from two months in September to three to four months in October. Rest assured, the debate over the validity of hybrids will be raging all the while you wait for yours.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
BF 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Lu, have you had to fill up lately? "With gas prices as high as they are nowadays".
Gas is down to $2.15 here in Northern Virginia off a high of $3.19 after Katrina.
We can debate the utility of hybrids on AutoBlog until the cows come home, and I am sure this will be the most active story of the day, but here is my observation of why people are buying hybrids in Virginia and the DC metro.
1. They want the HOV exemption to avoid our terrible traffic.
2. I am finding that many folks "jumped the shark" so to speak on Hybrids. They think they are saving "real money", because they are paying less at the pump, but they fail to take in account the difference in savings between a regular gas powered standard fuel sipper like a Toytoa Echo or regular Civic. In fact, they are not saving any "real money" with the higher cost of the hybrid, although they feel better when they fill up at the pump and save $5 or $6 bucks.
My question is, the cheaper the price of gas, the less saving you get from a hybrid and you stretch out the cost recovery time....so when does the fad end....at $2 a gallon or $1.89 a gallon....I think if gas stay below $2.50 a gallon, hybrids will remain nothing nmore than a nitche.
Makes my new purchase of a Suburban seem very timely now that gas has retreated to a realistic level.
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Ryan 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Okay you guys, lets take a stand and not get sucked into this debate again. I can't belive it this is virtually the same damn post as Monday. Must be in need of traffic.
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Boilerplate Red Herrings 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Hybrids are invalid. They are an emotional purchase, not rational. Only do-gooder commie hippie nudies buy them. They never pay for themselves, unlike my Yosemite Sam mudflaps and racing flame paint job.
They actually get horrible mileage, electrocute lifesaving heroes, stop in the middle of freeways, and fill our landfills to the brim with highly toxic batteries. I'm very concerned about that, you see.
Hybrids are actually just a product of the Toyota marketing machine so they can sell millions of SUVs with worse mileage than M1 tanks.
The Prius itself is smaller than most Matchbox cars - completely impractical for American bodies.
Oh, and all hybrids are fugly and go super slow.
None of this applies to Ford's hybrid. Nor to Chevy's. Both of those work beautifully, like all American cars. They're the highest quality vehicles, as everyone knows.
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Bush Lackey 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Gas is at a reasonable price level. God Bless America. Let's all load up our Suburbans and drive to Disneyworld.
And no, I'm not some political hack. Why would you think that?
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Jaimie B 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
#3: LOL!!!
and don't forget to add - Ford and GM are pioneers in this area. after all, didn't they put out a commerical 5 years ago about their vehicles running on water? this definitely makes them visionaries in this field. LOL!!!
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Brilliant Economist 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
My Suburban costs 83 cents a mile. I'm a smart consumer.
A Prius costs 47 cents a mile. That's a ripoff.
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djSyndrome 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
"Makes my new purchase of a Suburban seem very timely now that gas has retreated to a realistic level."
You speak as though you are sure it's going to stay 'reasonable' (hint: it's not).
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Joseph Willemssen 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
"Gas is down to $2.15 here in Northern Virginia off a high of $3.19 after Katrina."
The lowest price in your area right now is $2.25 and is averaging $2.57 -- about the same as the national average.
http://www.washingtondcgasprices.com/
Also, the average price peaked at about $3.06 in your area, not $3.19.
If you have to fib, then your argument probably isn't very sound.
Oh, and gas prices are 57 cents higher than a year ago -- a 28% increase year-to-year.
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sam 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
even if they cost a little more, hybrids like the prius drastically reduce emissions released into the atmosphere. Which is more important to some people than Hemis, spinners, and so forth..
why doesn't anyone subject the purchase of a Durango to an economic analysis?
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BF 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
# 6, Econ, Make no mistakes, I am not trying to compare my Suburban with the Prius, a Prius is a small car, used mostly by commuters here in NoVA.....but comparing a Chevy Cobalt or Aveo to a Prius at $2 a gallon seems pretty fair right? I bet the Cobalt is a much better value right now, vs the Prius then a month ago, perhaps even a Impala or Avalon with more room make more sense at $2 a gallon.
My Suburban serves a different purpose, mainly moving my 5 person family and dog, plus large amount of baby crap on frequent trips to NYC and Florida.
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BF 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
#7, Joe, sorry pal, just paid $2.15 this morning at the Wawa in Stafford, VA....yes, prices are higher in Faifax and Arlington, but in Stafford and Prince William prices are between $2.15 and $2.35 for regular.
You can post all the web sites you like.....I am just telling you what I paid this morning, and for that matter I haven't paid over $2.30 for at least two weeks.
That's the facts Jack.....call me a liar if you want, fine.....But personally this Blog and in particular you Joe, don't mean that much to me that I feel compelled to lie about the price of a gallon gas in my neighborhood.
Stafford, Wawa, $2.15 for regular, $2.25 for Plus, $2.35 for Premo....that's the facts. The rest of the stations close by are matching those prices or are within a few pennies.
I am sure the gas prices change faster than the website.
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satish 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
#3, yet these "highest quality" cars and companies seem to bring in zero profits? I never knew highest quality products=loss for the companies that make them. Oh, that must be why the rest of the world hates us. Damn us and our backwards economics.
If you're so pissed about the japanese and their cars, don't buy it. Plain and simple.
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BF 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
#9, Sam, that's an easy one:
"why doesn't anyone subject the purchase of a Durango to an economic analysis?"
Because most folks who buy the hybrids brag about how much gas they are saving or how much they save at the pump. It is the hybrid owners who try to make the economic case for their purchase.
When I buy an SUV, like my new BURB, I know I am going to be filling up a 31 gallon tank. But I didn't buy the thing to save money or save the planet. I bought the damn thing because I needed the space to haul the family and dog, I needed the comfort for long road trips and I also wanted the capibility to pull a camper or bass boat a couple of times a year.
So the answer is that, hybrid owners in defense of THEIR purchase are trying to make an environmental and economic case for THEIR purchase.
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BF 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
#12, Satish, I think the poster in #3 is just pulling your leg.
I love the part about the Yosemite Sam mudflaps....maybe I should talk the wife into a pair for her new ride. LOL, LOL!!!
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djSyndrome 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
"But I didn't buy the thing to save money or save the planet. I bought the damn thing because I needed the space to haul the family and dog, I needed the comfort for long road trips and I also wanted the capibility to pull a camper or bass boat a couple of times a year."
Your family is spoiled. I haul my wife and three kids all over California in a much smaller car (which gets nearly double the gas mileage of a Suburban), and have heard nary a complaint. I have plenty of room for all of our luggage, and can strap a carrier to the top if I need more. Mind you, in my situation, this is purely by choice, not by necessity - a Suburban is well within my economic reach. I just don't feel like destroying the planet, dealing with horrible driving dynamics and wasting fossil fuels in the name of a little more legroom for my kids.
The towing bit I can somewhat understand, although I doubt that something as large as a Suburban is necessary to tow most boats.
Bottom line: the only one trying to justify their vehicle purchase here is /you/.
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Joseph Willemssen 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
"You can post all the web sites you like.....I am just telling you what I paid this morning, and for that matter I haven't paid over $2.30 for at least two weeks."
You didn't say "this is what I paid at a gas station 50 miles from DC". You said "here in Northern Virginia". So the prices you're paying are what are called "outliers" -- far from representative for your area. And I used to live in NoVa, so it's a bit of a stretch to be calling a town half way to Richmond as "Northern Virginia".
Plus, you claimed the price maxxed out at $3.19 -- also an "outlier" price, if true. So what you were comparing are maximum prices versus minimum prices, not averages with averages. And that's a form of "lying with statistics" to further your argument.
"I am sure the gas prices change faster than the website."
Oh, yeah, I'm sure those price changes have at leats a 30 minute lead from the time they're changed to the time someone reports them. Again, not a single gas station in the DC area is reporting prices as low as you're seeing, yet somehow your ultra-exurb locale also went through super-high prices after Katrina -- higher than levels around DC?
Go ahead and stretch the truth, but it just shows that you feel your argument isn't very strong without resorting to things like that.
"But personally this Blog and in particular you Joe, don't mean that much to me"
Oh, I'm so crushed. Some person who posts as "BF" and makes up crap on some random website doesn't care for me. Where's the strychnine? I can't go on! lol
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Ryan 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
Straight up arguning like bitches in here is going on, you guys have more in common with a Prius owner than you think, apparently.
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BF 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
"even if they cost a little more, hybrids like the prius drastically reduce emissions released into the atmosphere."
How much more than other low emissions vehicles?
At highway speed the difference is not much greater, say a Civic Hybrid vs. a regular Civic?
Also, if you look at Viginia's HOV exemption. I would make the argument that a single driver in a Prius of Civic Hybrid is doing less for traffic congestion and fuel economy than the three car poolers in a Civic, Camry, Accord or even an SUV in the HOV-3 lanes. My Aztek that I am now using to commute gets 24 MPG on the hwy....24 MPG x # riders is 72MPG vs the Prius with a single at 50 MPG....who is really doing more for the enviornment?
Perhaps the commuter bus that gets 3 MPG and bleches black diesel smoke does even better than any combo of cars on the highway in saving MPG per person and emissions?
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Joseph Willemssen 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
And anyone who thinks a Prius is comparable to an Aveo or Cobalt has sat in none of them, nor even gone to one of those things called "websites" to compare their sizes.
Prius - same rear leg room as a Grand Marquis. That's the facts, Jack.
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Joseph Willemssen 11:17PM (12/18/2005)
"So the answer is that, hybrid owners in defense of THEIR purchase are trying to make an environmental and economic case for THEIR purchase."
Horseshit. It's people like you who bring it up, so people like me take it up and shoot your b.s. down. If I were in the market for a new vehicle, I wouldn't think twice about buying a hybrid -- even if gas were free.
But if you want to bring up the economics angle, people like me are more than happy to comply. And when we do (and the numbers work out), guys like you just retreat into emotional arguments about size, power, "not meeting EPA", and other lies. You lost the economic argument long ago.
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