"Hypermiling" Now this has just gotten ridiculous.

[Chriss62]

Anyone see the southpark where they had the "Pious" hybrid. It was pretty funny.

 

[fenderhutz]

Actually, the difference between a $20,000 car and a $12,000 car (60 months, 6.5%, 100% financed) is $156.23

Not going to pick apart that post too much, but I haven't seen many people do 100% financing on a vehicle, most people have a trade in or a at least 1000-2000 down. 6.5% on a new vehicle is also high, the most I would pay is 5.9% and dealers if you use the financing provided you usually get a deal 2.9%-4.9% for new vehicles. 6.5% at least is this area is what I got for a used vehicle purchase. That's where I got my figures.

I am not saying driving like an idiot is acceptable, I am saying I can see ehere these people may get their logic from.

 

[invader3k]

If I saw someone driving as erratically as the one described in the original post, I'd be calling 911 on my cell phone and reporting the location and license plate number of that idiot. That would teach her pretty darn quickly.

I've called 911 before for idiots before. That's what the highway patrol is for.

 

[guy n. cognito]

Not going to pick apart that post too much, but I haven't seen many people do 100% financing on a vehicle, most people have a trade in or a at least 1000-2000 down. 6.5% on a new vehicle is also high, the most I would pay is 5.9% and dealers if you use the financing provided you usually get a deal 2.9%-4.9% for new vehicles. 6.5% at least is this area is what I got for a used vehicle purchase. That's where I got my figures.

I am not saying driving like an idiot is acceptable, I am saying I can see ehere these people may get their logic from.

Well, if you live in a state with sales tax, $1000-2000 will do nothing more than cover the tax, plus fees. So, you're still financing 100% of the vehicle. 6.5% is an historical average, not a special financing option. You're assuming that someone poor enough to need to choose between gas and food can qualify for the best rates, which is a pretty inaccurate assumption.

But, let's work through this, assuming 100% of the vehicle price financed for 60 months at various rates:

At 5.9% the difference is $154
At 4.9%, the difference is $151
At 3.9%, the difference is $146

Do you want me to keep going lower?

To sum up, there is no logic for a poor person to buy a new car, hybrid or not. The gas savings will never be sufficient to recoup the costs of financing.

When I first started my banking career, I made car loans exclusively. The AVERAGE buyer typically requests 100% financing and the AVERAGE buyer typically won't qualify for the best rates.

 

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

i am working on getting my 60 vw bus running. it gets about 25-30 mpg with its current setup, but top speed is 45, 55 downhill. even all primer, it still looks better than most hybrids.

My neighbor makes his living buying, restoring, and selling those and other air-cooled ones.

The descriptions of "hypermiling" sound a lot like "driving while yakking on the cell phone."