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Author: 85 Cutlass Brougham
Well, if it is just a Toyota someone wants, get a Yaris with a 5 speed. It was rated at 35mpg city before the gov't revised it's system, and even now it is rated at 29mpg city ( Prius is rated at 45mpg city). Plus, you CAN buy 2 Yarii for the price of one Pious. You just need to buy the stripped down model. I priced them at $11,500 with A/C and nothing else. It's the cheapest car with A/C you can buy, even cheaper than a Hyundai Accent or Kia Rio.

Most people do not drive enough to make up the additional price of the Pious vs the Yaris if you only count the time you are paying the payments. 16mpg does not equal around $14,000 over a typical 60 month new car loan, as you would probably pay $300 a month more in higher payments. Even someone like me who drives 3,000 miles a month could not justify the purchase of a Pious vs a Yaris based on purely fiscal reasons. I spend around $550 a month on gas with a 20mpg truck. The Pious would save me about $308 a month in fuel vs my truck. The Yaris would save me $172 a month vs the truck. I calculated this based on $3.70 a gallon, which is what I paid this week. Now, that means the Prius is only worth $136 a month to me, and I deliver pizza for a living! My payment on a Yaris would be around $250 a month at the $11,500 price, so the Pious would easily add $300 on top of that, making it $164 more expensive to drive every month. Most people do not average 100 miles a day, every day of the month like I do, so their real savings would be even less. The benefits do not outweigh the cost. Add to that the high cost of repairs on hybrids, and it makes even less sense.

However, the Pious makes sense in one way: It's a fashion statement. It says "I am more green than you, you worthless piece of regular car driving garbage!". This is the real selling point of the Pious: It allows you to look down on other motorists and have a holier than thou attitude....

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