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Longer Road To Breaking Even

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By ERIN AILWORTH The Boston Globe

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 5, 2009

Prius drivers are not suffering any buyer's remorse, despite a plunge in gasoline prices that has for the moment made the cars less economical, said some owners of the popular hybrid.

The cost of gas has dwindled since summer - when there were waiting lists for gas-electric cars such as Toyota's Prius - from more than $4 a gallon to an average of $1.66. That means the payback on a fuel-efficient hybrid, which cost about $4,000 more than a comparable gas-only car, is taking longer.

"I don't regret it at all. Nobody thinks I'm a sucker," said Diana Fisher Gomberg, 39, who ordered a basic Prius in June for about $21,000 and took delivery in July. "Gas prices are going to go back up."

But until that happens, some hybrid owners are comforting themselves with their vehicles' other street cred: The cars get about 50 miles per gallon, helping to reduce their drivers' carbon footprints.

"Driving is still bad for the environment," Gomberg said. "That hasn't changed."

But it is a lot cheaper now. In Florida, the average gas price has plummeted almost 60 percent since July. Based on summer prices, it would have taken nearly four years for an average Prius owner, driving 15,000 miles a year, to save enough money on gas to see a return on their investment, according to a calculation used by the Environmental Protection Agency. At today's gas prices, however, it would take more than nine years to recoup the extra expense.

While the vehicle's ecofriendly reputation is helping owners justify the car's price tag, prospective Prius buyers are hesitating to commit.

"The newer ones aren't selling as quickly as they were over the summer time," said Kevin Chicoine, sales manager at Tufankjian Toyota of Braintree, Mass.

Year-to-date, Prius sales are down almost 10 percent. Last month, according to a Toyota spokeswoman, the company sold 8,660 of the cars, about half the number that sold in November 2007. In July, more than 14,700 Priuses were sold, down about 8 percent from the same month the previous year.

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