I want to buy a car. Well, I don't want to buy one, I want to own one (even that is a stretch, I just want the freedom to drive) but buying is a necessary step to that end. The factors influencing my decision include one criteria, one corollary, and one necessity: the car should have a low total cost of ownership (criteria), a high MPG rating (corollary), and a way to connect my iPhone (necessity, though aftermarket methods are A-OK).
My recent obsession with the low-end is due in large part to the weekend rental of a Toyota Yaris which, as far as I'm concerned, is perfect (12k base, no frills, great milage). The Yaris, with its Toyota-designed, insect-like lines, made me take a closer look at everyone's favorite hybrid, the Prius (22k base, some frills, excellent milage).
Keeping in mind my criteria, how do the two stack up?
First up, ownership cost. The ten-grand-more-expensive Prius is already off to a rough start. Wait wait, shouts the savvy reader, the Prius smokes the Yaris in milage! In the long run, the Prius is a much better deal!
Ok, so how long must I wait for this long run?
A simple model of total cost as a function of distance travelled is the following: base + (distance/mpg)*(price per gallon of gas)
The distance at which these two are equal is the minimum at which the Prius becomes the better buy. If we assume an average gas cost of $3/gallon, this works out to be about 180,000 miles.
Yikes.
I guess my corollary is no longer necessarily true.
To be fair, I've stacked the odds against the Prius. The base model has a number of standard features that the Yaris counts as premium (power locks, for example). My required iPhone connection (auxiliary input) is not standard in the base Yaris. In fact, no audio package is standard. Maintenance costs are also skipped, but I'm guessing this would come out against the Prius.
For my lifestyle, having a car at all is already cutting into the territory of diminishing marginal utility. It's a bit strange that, given the obvious financial reason to buy a hybrid, there isn't a bare-bones option. Perhaps when this mythical low-fi hybrid blinks into existence, I'll be back on the road.