8th Generation Honda Civic Forum - View Single Post

peliROJO · 07-13-2006, 06:00 PM

I live in DFW and was commuting 40 miles each way. That got me out of my Jeep Cherokee and into a Civic sedan. My average mileage after 18,700 miles is 29 MPG.

Are you going to make payments on your vehicle? Interest on $28k versus $20k will kill your better MPG and your tax credit.

Don't make your decision based on a tax credit. If after all your math is complete and you are coming out ahead, then factor in the tax credit as a bonus to your research. But, I would not let it enter into the purchasing decision.

Have you been to PriusChat.com? I spent a couple months over there while on the Prius waiting list. I learned a lot and somebody had a good spreadsheet that you could use to compare the total cost of Car A versus a Prius. Note: I've been looking for it but can't find it. I actually created my own and deleted it not 5 days ago. Talk about timing. It's how I determined that I could pay X amount of dollars in a car payment and save X amount of dollars in gas payment. At some point buying a hybrid (or in my case even a regular Civic) made economic sense. Also, I like driving a cleaner car, emissions my friend. :)

--edit--
I am heavy footed and get one of the lower scores in MPG. Your "mileage" may vary. :) Also, many of the Prius drivers look at it more like a game, because of the display showing Gas and Electric consumption/regeneration. With that display I would see it being much easier to drive efficiently than a regular Civic (I'm not sure if the HCH has a similar display).

07-13-2006, 06:00 PM	#13 (permalink)
peliROJO Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: currently in Africa Age: 30 Posts: 1,234 iTrader: 0 / 0%	I live in DFW and was commuting 40 miles each way. That got me out of my Jeep Cherokee and into a Civic sedan. My average mileage after 18,700 miles is 29 MPG. Are you going to make payments on your vehicle? Interest on $28k versus $20k will kill your better MPG and your tax credit. Don't make your decision based on a tax credit. If after all your math is complete and you are coming out ahead, then factor in the tax credit as a bonus to your research. But, I would not let it enter into the purchasing decision. Have you been to PriusChat.com? I spent a couple months over there while on the Prius waiting list. I learned a lot and somebody had a good spreadsheet that you could use to compare the total cost of Car A versus a Prius. Note: I've been looking for it but can't find it. I actually created my own and deleted it not 5 days ago. Talk about timing. It's how I determined that I could pay X amount of dollars in a car payment and save X amount of dollars in gas payment. At some point buying a hybrid (or in my case even a regular Civic) made economic sense. Also, I like driving a cleaner car, emissions my friend. :) --edit-- I am heavy footed and get one of the lower scores in MPG. Your "mileage" may vary. :) Also, many of the Prius drivers look at it more like a game, because of the display showing Gas and Electric consumption/regeneration. With that display I would see it being much easier to drive efficiently than a regular Civic (I'm not sure if the HCH has a similar display). Last edited by peliROJO; 07-13-2006 at 06:06 PM.