Frugal and Energy Efficient Living

10 years is about when my cars are depleted. There is a chance that the car will be wrecked, stolen, or obsoleted due to the owner's changing needs in less than 8-10 years. A Prius will need a battery someday, too and those are not cheap.

My compact car cost less than a Matrix and gets slightly better fuel economy (33mpg minimum). The break even point would have been $8000 cheaper/$600/year -> 13 years. And that's presuming a Prius driver gets 66 mpg. A fastidious motorist would get 50 to 57 mpg http://ecomodder.com/forum/em-fuel-log.php?vehicleid=2828

The EPA rating for the 2004 Prius is 46mpg, only 40% better than my car
$8000 cheaper/$480/year -> 17 years

If the price of gas goes up, it goes up for hybrid owners, too.

Buy a Chevrolet Cruze Eco, rated 42 mpg highway. Owners are getting above 40 mpg and it lists for $19,200. $4300 cheaper than your Prius citation and I am sure if I was the owner I would come out ahead financially with a car that consumes $1000 in gas per year. The hybrid might make sense for somebody who had to drive a huge amount of miles per year, though.