Comparing the 2015 Toyota Prius to the Brand New Redesigned 2016 Toyota Prius →

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It's been a while (almost a month to be exact) since my last post, but I've been around.  Lately, it's that my 1999 BMW 5.28 iT (wagon) is on it's last leg.  And with that, I'm out with the necessity of yet another car payment.  So with that, here's to 2016! 

Over a gentle drive of 22.5 mostly highway miles, we got a dashboard display of 67.3 mpg. But when you add in a similar stretch of more stop and go driving and some winding roads, our total for 48.8 miles was 57.3 mpg. That's a great number, even if the overall average amount of fuel you'll save over the course of a year with the fourth-gen Prius instead of a third-gen model is negligible. Given 50 mpg combined in the third-gen and an estimated 52 in the new Prius, you'll save around 12 gallons if you drive 15,000 miles a year

Toyota dealerships are giving around $4,000 - $6,000 off the outgoing 2015 model. That's around $65 - $100 a month in savings at 0% APR which they don't offer on the 2016 model.

Essentially, 12 gallons a year which equates to $36 a year at current rates, it's probably best to take advantage of the 2015 deals.  Don't get me wrong, I've always believed in getting the latest and the greatest, and with the new tech in the 2016 Prius, it makes it even more tempting but let's face it; the deals they have going right now are just down right ludicrous.  

The Search for the Commuter Car (cont.)

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A few months ago, I wrote about VW's awesome performing TDI Sportswagen Wagon along with my aspirations to buy one. With the 2016s around the corner, I called up a few dealerships last Friday about deals on the 2015s. Not surprisingly, I got a response to start with that they'd be discounting them around $2k.

That was last week. Of course, we have all come to find out that VW has been duping the EPA by programming their TDI vehicles to hide the truth; that they were emmiting up to 40% of the standard requirements. All this while still producing an amazing 50+ mpg! The NYTimes and other various news outlets have created an infographic on exactly how they were able to hide the pullutants which is quite ingenious as we've come to find out that other car manufacurers have been trying to game the system for quite a while .

So what now? Looks like Honda's new 2016 Civic, their Fit (which was in the running for Motortrend's Car of the Year, losing to VW's Golf) or Toyota's new Prius might have to be the key to "saving" me money on my weekly commute to Long Beach. Although, driving up to 28,000 a mile measured at 3x a week (most unlikely), maybe a more comfortable car with autopilot would fit the bill much better. =)

I'll be updating my "search" for a while. Right now, with my current 1999 BMW Wagon, I'm at ~ $0.14 a mile where the VW would have been $0.05. The Honda Fit and Toyota Prius would respectively cost $0.08 and $0.06. These calculations do NOT include the monthly payments or maintenance fees or tax, title and insurance. But that's where I'm at right now. All the new calculations show that over time, the Fit would be the way to go. If you want to peep my Google Sheet, check it out here.