Same here. I bought mine for $250 over invoice, but had to put a few high markup items on it for the dealer (all weather mats, clear coat, etc.), most of which I wanted anyway here in rainy Seattle. The Tax credit more than offset the additional stuff.

I have actually had calls from two dealers offering me a higher price for it than what I paid for it -- with 24,000 miles on it. I am actually hesitating about continuing my five year depreciation schedule for it on taxes -- afraid of being way ahead of it.

 

Lets start by saying I'm not 'green' by any stretch of the imagination. Check. NO stretch....I bought my 2007 hybrid Camry used because I thought/determined it would be the most economical choice.

The time had come to trade-in my 2006 GTO and I made the decision that if I were to trade it in I'd get the most economical midsize/fullsize car or suv I could find. I asked myself if the 'hybrid' premim was worth it and the answer was an easy 'yes'. A year ago the answer would have been 'no' but buying habits have changed considerably and gas will not go below $3...ever..

Toyotas hybrid Camry jumped to the top of my list. At a quick glance 5 year ownership my appear to be better with the regular Camry but I'm gambling that my hybrid will hold it value considerably better. Simply offering rebates on a new car destroys used car values. Without looking at Autotrader prices I'd guess that the hybrid version has stellar resale whereas the standard versions resale is falling and falling and falling......

I was looking through a 1 year old copy of Road & Track that featured a hybrid comparison. They determined the premium 'payback' for the camry hybrid was 100,000 miles. If they were to do that same comparison today I'd say the payback is 0 miles.

 

Indeed. The $1300 tax credit dropped the price even more.

 

When I saw the TCH on the lot I said "**** that looks sexy." I took it for a test drive and (being a geek) loved it! I was going to be a Tacoma. Well, after a day of thinking about it, I decided to get the TCH. I have always been a supporter of hybrids because it upsets me that the government and others (big oil) have consistently killed green cars. I support it because we should do our best to clean up the environment but also because it saves money (at least I believe it does). In addition, even if the car cost me thousands more in the end (than a conventional car), I would still purchase the TCH to support the technology. After all, the more who buy it the more incentive Toyota has to improve the technology -- and the more money they ave to do just that.

Over, it is a great car...

Now if they could just improve the paint durability, headlights, drop those nav locks, and stop the squeaks!

I still love my Midnight. (That's the car's name.)

 

I dont think that the lowering of gas prices will lower demand for hybrids because even if gas goes back to $3.00, peple know that under the right circumstances gas could spike and for this generation of drivers, gas efficiency will forever be a concern. Many people who were old enough to drive during the gas spike of the 70s remained very fuel concious even after gas fell again.

I think the SUV craze has been replaced by a hybrid craze regardless of where the price of gas goes from here, and the hybrid camry will be tough to get even at MSRP until every car comes with a hybrid option.

 

I disagree.
Prices dictate behavour.
Yes, a drop in the short term (the next year) will not cause people to return to their SUV's
But a protracted drop will.
If gas goes to $1.75/gal and stays there for a few years...watch how many people will gas guzzlers. By the way, SUV prices are down...a lot!
Everyone who was around during the 1970's eventually got seduced by the relatively cheap price of gas. There are a ton of SUV (and other gas guzzlers) who are being driven by people old enough to remember the gas spike.

 

OK but there is zero chance of gas going to $1.75 /gal and staying there for several years. Even $2.50 would be a stretch. We would be lucky if gas goes down to $3.00 a gallon, and even then it would likely slowly climb up as global demand increases and the already slowing Arabian oil wells produce less and less oil. The main problem is that during the cheap gas days of the 1990s, the oil producing countries did not invest money in drilling new wells. The output of old wells slows every year and it can take 5 to 10 years to get new wells up and running so the fact that the investment was not made in the 90s means that even if those countries begin drilling new wells now, prices will most likely continue to rise for the next 5 to 10 years until those wells are ready for action.

The Chinese economy is growing fast, and world energy demands are growing quickly. At the same time the output of oil is declining. It is very reasonable to believe that we will see $5 /gallon gas again before we see $2.50 /gallon gas again.

That being said, the most recent runup doesn't seem to have been justified and it is likely that in the short term gas prices will continue to fall a bit.

 

I didn't see the CR article. I wonder if it missed a key point of hybrids that most people miss: hybrids have lower emmisions than their ICE only counterparts. It's not only about how much gas my TCH is burning (yes, that is important) but also how it burns the gas.

 

$34,300.00 Sticker Price (Remote Start, XM Radio installed, lock lugs)
-$5,600.00 Discount (March 31, 2007)
-$1,300.00 Tax Credit (Thank you Uncle Sam)
__________________

$27,400.00 Final Price

41.7 MPG with gas at $4.00 per gallon and cost differenced recouped after only 1 1/2 years............ (PRICELESS)

We will be SO FAR ahead of the difference because we keep our vehicles for 10 years plus. The car gets lots of looks, lots of questions and we bought BEFORE the Camry Hybrid became popular. We also got a car they only made 3,000 of. This is our favorite vehicle, by far, and is a pleasure to drive. We will only own hybrids from now on and are extremely proud that we have reduced our carbon footprint.

 

Nearly the same here.