Justify to me Plz. Purchase of a Prius vs Fiesta. I think Fiesta wins hands down.

[vskid3]

I owned a Gen1 Insight and Gen2 Prius at the same time. Which did we keep when we decided 1 car was enough? The one that could seat 5. The Insight is a great car, but for most people, it would have to be a second car because of its seating and size limitations. The Prius (and most of the other cars mentioned in this thread), on the other hand, would work well as the sole car for most people.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Vman455

Correction: Your Fiesta, driven intelligently, gets mileage quite close to that of a Prius, driven by a Luddite.

Exactly! Plus you're encouraging the adoption & further development of new technology. To make it simple, who's going to make lots of batteries of the kinds needed for electric cars (and so make them better/cheaper through tech improvements & economies of scale), if there isn't some market for the first bunch of batteries.

If it's just about money, as many people have already said, NO NEW CAR MAKES ECONOMIC SENSE, PERIOD. Whether it's a new Fiesta or new Prius, the minute you drive it off the lot, you're already lost more in depreciation than I paid for most of the cars I've owned.

PS: It's late, I'm a bit cranky tonight, so I'm going to be rude enough to ask (rhetorically, I suppose) why we have to keep re-stating the obvious.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by nathan01xl

I just bought a used prius for my fiance, '07 for 7k.

We're just about past hitchin' season in the NW. Are you having a winter wedding, or do you have some brilliant plan to keep the wife from exploding while waiting until next summer?

I'm looking for a gen III Prius for the wife, although she gets 30 mpg in the 6-speed TSX. She might be going to OHSU next year, and PDX traffic is ridiculous. If I often battled Portland traffic, I would quickly grow tired of the 6-speed. My plan is to wait until the Gen IV is released and then see what happens to Gen III prices. I'd prefer to get a 2012 model since it came standard with bluetooth, among other things.

[nathan01xl]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

We're just about past hitchin' season in the NW. Are you having a winter wedding, or do you have some brilliant plan to keep the wife from exploding while waiting until next summer?

I'm looking for a gen III Prius for the wife, although she gets 30 mpg in the 6-speed TSX. She might be going to OHSU next year, and PDX traffic is ridiculous. If I often battled Portland traffic, I would quickly grow tired of the 6-speed. My plan is to wait until the Gen IV is released and then see what happens to Gen III prices. I'd prefer to get a 2012 model since it came standard with bluetooth, among other things.

End of this month, it will be indoors! Followed by a week in Hawaii until returning to reality.

I really like our Gen II but obviously a Gen III is better looking and the tech is superior. For us it just came down to what we could afford. When I saw this one for $7k and it has a clean title, 114k, 1 owner and maintenance records I jumped on it. Had been looking for a Scion Xa before.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by nathan01xl

End of this month, it will be indoors! Followed by a week in Hawaii until returning to reality.

I really like our Gen II but obviously a Gen III is better looking and the tech is superior. For us it just came down to what we could afford. When I saw this one for $7k and it has a clean title, 114k, 1 owner and maintenance records I jumped on it. Had been looking for a Scion Xa before.

What part of Hawaii? I had to work 70hr weeks this summer and didn't see much sun, so I'm thinking a week in Kauai or perhaps a trip to Costa Rica this winter will make up for missing our 1st anniversary.

The fact that you can afford both a car and a wedding means you are doing something right.

Congratulations.

[nathan01xl]

We are going to Kauai actually!
We have been saving like crazy the last 18 months to be able to afford everything. Living with family, hypermiling to save gas, never eating out, etc... The car was really easy to afford/justify because our payment on it is only $120/month. She is saving around $100 in gas costs, so net cost of the Prius was $20 a month, no brainer.

[Xist]

I often think about what JamesQF wrote, that the only long-term benefit (at least to me) of hybrids is transitioning us to electric cars, even if Prius owners do not realize they are part of it.

Nathan, I paid cash for my HX, but I would have a difficult time passing up a good Prius for a hundred and twenty dollars a month. My ex-girlfriend is supposed to be paying me $150 monthly for Bacon, although she did not have a down payment.

I try to not think about all of the ways that this can go wrong. We have a contract and I am not sure that it helps.

So, did we answer the original question?

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

My ex-girlfriend is supposed to be paying me $150 monthly for Bacon, although she did not have a down payment. I try to not think about all of the ways that this can go wrong. We have a contract and I am not sure that it helps.

The contract helps in the court of law, but not so much in the friendship department.

If you value not getting screwed over more than friendship, then the chances of things going wrong is slim. You have the option to file suit and repo the car, keeping whatever payments have already been made.

I have a policy against maintaining contact with ex girlfriends even though all of my past relationships have ended on friendly terms. It's easier to make myself available to the right relationship when I divorce myself from the wrong ones.

The other reason I don't keep exes (or women in general) as friends is that the "friendship" rarely meets the definition of friend. Women have the magical ability to get men to do things for them because they are "friends", but it often is more of a 1 way street sort of friendship. "Sure, I'll fix your engine problems and replace your worn brake pads"; saving $500 of labor. You'll be lucky to get some cookies as a thank you.

I have all of the skills and interesting sports and hobbies to contribute to a friendship, while women typically have little of the things that would be of use or interest to me to make the friendship an equal exchange. Being useful and entertaining is how men show love, and we dote on women to compete for their attention. Typically one or the other will have romantic hopes for the relationship that goes unrequited.

I'm not saying that great friendships cannot exist between men and women (my wife is my best friend), but maintaining a relationship with an ex has tremendous potential to screw you over, and not in the fun way (more in the emotional/financial way).

[FordFiestaS]

As a side note... Yesterday I stopped @ a vw dealer here in Vermont and found a jetta TDI w/sunroof (important right?) with a list price of $31k + a tad. WTH?

I understand their longevity etc. But come on. How can you ever begin to recoup your investment with diesel running $4.00/gallon +/-? plus the initial investment.

[Joggernot]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Toyota has a gasoline direct injection turbo'd engine on the way with a thermal efficiency of 43%,rivaling the best in the world,including the best TDI engines from any carmaker,worldwide.

Do you have a link to this? I'll eventually have to get a new car and this sounds interesting. Is there a model that will have this engine?