Study: Hybrids pay for themselves
I don't currently have a car payment, and I like it that way. But next time I do need to get a new car, I'll probably get a hybrid of some sort. I have a car that's fairly fast, and I really dig it, but I'm mostly over the car thing. I think. Anyway, whenever people talk about hybrids (especially people who want to FUD anything that isn't made of 5,000 lbs of steel and guzzles gas), they always mention that the extra cost probably won't pay for itself in gas savings. The link above refutes that, but this line of reasoning has always irritated me.
Why? Because there isn't a single other attribute of a car that people evaluate this way. Does a bigger engine somehow pay for itself? Leather seats? A 10-speaker stereo? A big-ass 'No Fear' sticker? 22-inch-spinners? Each of those things has an intrinsic value to people that isn't measured in ROI.
So here's a thought, maybe it's okay for people to have a car that just plain uses less gas, and that makes them happy, even if it doesn't completely pay for itself. Gasoline is toxic to pretty much everything it touches (physically and metophorically), so even if it was 50 cents a gallon, using less of it is still a good thing. Right?