Who wants to Buy a Hybrid But Can't Afford the Price?

[The Cleaner]

I may be in the market for a car soon. I would LOVE to own a Honda Civic hybrid or a Toyota Prius - but the prices (approx. $22-24K) are a bit too high for me right now. Will the prices come down soon? I hope so, I simply could not afford the $350-400/month payment right now.

I would like to know if anyone else is in this same boat.

[hobbit709]

1. My wife and I are getting by on under 30K/yr.

Afford a new car?:rofl:

[HughBeaumont]

2. I am.

The next car we get after her Corolla is paid off (it was used) will be a Hybrid, but again, that's in 3 years. No way we'd be able to buy one now. Too expensive.

[Strawman]

3. I'll wait and buy one used

When our current second car is ready to go. They are pretty hard to find used right now, but in a couple years it should be better.

[Phredicles]

7. Are they available used yet?

I'd love for the next car I buy to be a hybrid. However, I don't know if our current car has a whole lot longer (but fingers crossed - we'll have it paid off in like 6 or 7 months).

[Strawman]

11. Probably more used available around LA than around Detroit

http://tinyurl.com/3259wn

Personally, I like to buy used from a private seller who seems anal about their car. Get financing through a credit union. I hate dealing with dealers.

[MADem]

4. They need to make a nice, compact hybrid at around ten to twelve K.

A car for regular folk, ordinary people. Not fancy, but with a cage and airbags. Of course, then the poor won't be buying heavily discounted used SUVs and choking everytime they have to fill the fucker up...

[CottonBear]

5. Me.

The payment would be more than my mortage. :(

I'm going through a nasty divorce and have less than no money. (It's all going to my lawyer and to pay bills.) Even if that were not the case, I still couldn't afford the payment and the increased insurance costs. :(

I'll have to stick with my trusty 1993 Corolla for now. :)

Maybe I'll buy used Corolla or one of those little tiny Toyota Yaris mini cars when my legal case is over.

[DKRC]

6. Right in there rowing next to you

Would love to move up to a vehicle that helps the environment and cuts off the $$ to the oilmen simultaneously. Can't afford it now.

[taterguy]

10. Vehicles that help the environment and cut off $ to oil men are less than $500

Just sayin'

[hobbit709]

13. Yeah, if you're physically able

and don't live in a place where its 110° in the shade and everything is 20 miles away.

[DKRC]

19. It would be more like this

with all my equipment loaded for work and if I could do it physically.

[The Cleaner]

22. For small trips to the corner grocery store or to see a pal, maybe.

Otherwise very impractical in our current suburb/exurb lifestyle.

Try driving one of those things down I-75 from McKinney into central Dallas (approx. 25 miles) or down I-270/495 into Washington, D.C. (over 30 miles). I don't think you'd get further than your front curb...:crazy:

[taterguy]

29. That's why I choose not to live in a suburb

Last time I checked this was a generally free country and no one is forced to live in a suburb

[The Cleaner]

21. Yup.

From the responses it sounds like lots of people are in this same boat. As with any new technology I suppose prices will be forced down eventually.

The Prius sounds cool - it is supposedly "electric-dominant" and remains all-electric under 12mph.

Oh well...guess I'll keep dreaming for a sudden boatload of cash to appear on my doorstep, or the advent of $15K hybrids, whichever comes first. :)

[onehandle]

8. Considering that the average new car price is over 25k, unlikely.

And used hybrids are selling near their new prices.

[alfredo]

9. All I can afford is a "welfare Cadillac." When gas prices sour, gas

guzzling cars (like Detroit iron) are dumped on the market because they don't sell. The rich can afford hybrids, we can't.

[Jonathan50]

12. Afford *any* car?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[CrispyQ]

14. A guy I work with,

who makes a lot of money & has for a very long time, told me that "given availability, there is no reason why every family in America can't afford a Prius." :wow: :crazy:

I told him he was out of touch with the reality of most working families & that $25k is a significant amount of money for most Americans. Funny thing: he owns two SUVs & two big Ford trucks. No Prius for him, you see. Conservation is for us poor folk.

[The Cleaner]

24. Yeah, I love that some wealthy people think everyone can afford everything just like they do.

I say, :eyes:

especially because the guy was being just a "little" bit hypocritical...

[China_cat]

15. There's no way we can do with anything less

than a minivan. My wheelchair and scooter and 3 dogs to schlep around. We hold our breath hoping that what we have will last until we can at least get a decent down payment on something else. We'd love for that to be a hybrid but seriously doubt we'll be able to afford it.

[AZBlue]

16. Me too. Not in the market until at least next year, but I'll be looking at

cheaper cars that still get great gas mileage. I've got my eye toward the Toyata Yaris right now, but haven't test driven it yet. Or, as an earlier post suggests, I may look at a used Prius - they are getting excellent ratings from Consumers Reports.

[Ganja Ninja]

17. me.

I hear Honda is coming out with one that will be closer to the cost of an entry level car in the near future. We can also look forward to some of the Korean makes coming out with their hybrids in the next year or two. Also in the next couple of years some of the Japanese and Korean makers are suppose to bring in their diesel versions of cars they already sell here.

[KansDem]

18. I am in the same boat about buying a hybrid car!

I simply can't afford a (second) car payment right now...:(

Is the boat for sale?

[pinniped]

20. Me. I will get the Civic hybrid if I save another 1-2k, probably by the end of the year.

Maybe Honda will have better deals on the 07 when the 08 models are in stock.

[pink-o]

23. I would love a Prius

...and there is a way to trick out the engine so that the electrical is far more dominant than the gasoline half of it. supposedly, people have gotten 100 miles to the gallon.

but yes, it is all about the price. Till I can afford it, I'll be driving my Tercel as little as possible and biking everywhere else. It seems like the best copromise for us po' folks!

[The Cleaner]

25. You can trick out the engine?

Do you have any more info on that, perhaps a link or 2? I'd love to read about it!!

[pink-o]

33. Here's the link to the SFGate Article

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/04/ING44OD4AS1.DTL&hw=toyota+prius+100+miles&sn=002&sc=839

[Tyler Durden]

26. I'll wait for the GM Electric vehicle.

Won't THAT be a hoot? After scuttling EV-1 (with Toyota abandoning the electric RAV-4 and Ford dumping the TH!NK), to get a GM electric vehicle!

[The Cleaner]

28. Yeah, GM is a bit schizo on the EV, isn't it?

:crazy:

[shenmue]

27. Me

:(

I'm one of those evil people who has to drive back and forth to work.

[taterguy]

30. You're not evil, just misguided

Unaware of how joyous it is to feel the breeze in your face as you ride a bicycle past gas stations and laugh at the rising prices :), along with the health benefits and how it's generally less stressful to not be stuck in a steel cage

[magellan]

31. Yep

It's beyond reason that these corporations never consider cutting the ticket price. Especially American auto makers, who seem desperate to get back into the game. For every car sold at $20K+, they'd sell multiple of the same vehicle at $10K because more people could afford it. They'd be making more money and have more jobs to offer people in the long run.

We did something similar with our start-up business. It was sluggish taking off so we made no price increases over three years while our competitors did. Yeah, it was hard for a while, but customers figured out we were cheaper and just as good, and now we've got so much work we have to hire new employees. And we finally had to put our prices up a little just to keep the phones from ringing so much!

But then, it isn't our desire to be filthy rich and own a yacht and several homes, and we have no stockholders demanding that either.

[Dervill Crow]

32. I can't afford car payments on anything. n/t

[distantearlywarning]

34. We wanted to buy one.

A few years ago when we were in the market for a new car, we looked at them.

But the prices were about twice our budget. We ended up with a Scion XB. We love it, but I still would have preferred a hybrid if we could have afforded it.