Comparison Test: 2012 Toyota Yaris Vs. 2012 Toyota Prius c

[tk1971]

Originally Posted by bronsin

I want to keep people out of the "hybrid trap" as much as possible. Its not in my interest for Toyota to sell cars that hurt people and take advantage of their laudable intention to do right by the ecology at the expense of their financial situation.

Whats in my interest is a cheap, dependable car that gets 30-40 mpg.

What would be even better is one that gets 40-50 mpg.

I dont know if youve noticed but the practical out the door price of something like a Yaris is fast approaching $20,000. Its not there yet but my 2001 ECHO was $13,100
write the check. My 1980 Subaru Hatchback was $4600 which is what I wrote the check for. I made $15,000 in 1980.

I make $40,000 a year now. And the numbers show that figure is going DOWN not UP.

Do the math.

I don't think most people blindly buy the "Eco-friendly" bit. I think most people just like to get new cars. I know every time a friend or family member gets a new car, I get all antsy and start looking at new cars. Most of the time, I beat back those urges because of the simple fact that what I have is good enough.

I think the Eco-friendly / high MPG boast of the newest hybrids give people that final push to convince themselves that they NEED a new car, just like higher HP or AWD for others. Sure, one can sit down and do very simple calculations to show that spending tens of thousands of dollars for a $10-30 savings per fill up can net a break even point of about a decade or more, but that's not what its all about.

I'm talking from experience here, because that's what happened to me. The wife got a new car and I ended up buying one too because of new-car-itis.

As for the $10k 40mpg+ econo-box... Nissan has a $10k Versa Sedan that's about $11k-$12k. I believe there is a Kia that is around the same price range, so they are out there.