Well, count me in your 75% that would buy it again..even if gas stays at or near $2/gallon. I bought mine, knowing it is very likely I won't be able to get the $2600 tax credit. And I would buy it again today, even tho gas has dropped from my first fill-up at $2.80 a gallon (7/30) to $2.05 today (11/2). I love this car, and I wasn't all about the money savings.

 

What is the basis for your claims? Any consumer who is inclined to purchase a hybrid isnt going to do a complete about-face once gas prices drop and buy a guzzler instead. Also, the recent volatility in the petroleum markets is going to have at least some permanent impact on car buying habits. In the short-term hybrid sales may fall, but there will almost certainly be a percentage of buyers who don't believe they will stay down permanently. These are your new hybrid owners and I am willing to bet there are more of them than you think.

 

My money is on the gas prices raising once the elections are over.

 

You got that right!

 

Buying a car is not an everyday decision. I didn't run out and buy my TCH because gas went above $3.00 a gallon. I had been talking about replacing my pick-up with a Prius before gas even hit $2.00/gallon and before I knew about any kind of tax deduction.

 

Sounds just like me. I was considering replacing my truck with a Prius last year, but heard about the TCH coming out and decided to wait and drive one before deciding. I would have bought regradless of the tax savings.

 

It would be naive to think gas prices won't go up again. This is a time of year where not much heating nor cooling is needed across most of the country. Also commodity speculators who jacked up the price of gas in summer contributed now to lower the prices. And BTW I just came back from California and some places still had gas prices as high as $2.79. To be honest I can't wait for the prices of gas to go up again, right now the traffic is worst I've ever seen and I think part of it is lower gas prices, when gas was expensive less people drove on the roads for sure.

 

If you look at some of the posting on this site, a couple of people who have bought hybrids have stated that they would have bought the bigger Acura if the fuel prices had been low at the time they bough the TCH. Look at the record sales of SUV’s in October and surely some of them would have bought a hybrid if the gas had been $3 rather than $2 a gallon. And finally many people who were interested in my hybrid about the great mileage (when gas prices were higher) are now looking at bigger hp cars and SUV that use more gas. And the negativity of the hybrid system (perceived battery life, long term value, complexity of system) seems to come out more often.


Don’t get me wrong. I love a hybrid and its savings and what it does to the environment. I just lament the fickle mind of the American car buying public.

 

Another take on the October sales, not so positive for Toyota:

http://hybridreview.blogspot.com:80/...ober-2006.html

 

Be glad you aren't one of the fudgers. That's tax fraud. I'm surprised the dealer would take that risk. A single customer may face a short jail sentence or a large fine. The managers/owners of the dealer could go away for a long time becasue of the number of counts they could get nailed with.