OK, so I’ve made some cosmetic changes to make the blog look less like the generic WordPress template. Nothing major but it feels more like home with the new skin.
OK, now revisiting the Highlander Hybrid stuff. Based on the post a couple posts down, it should be obvious that we (meaning my wife and I) have been thinking about it. Well, I re-did the math given a better estimate of what our annual mileage ought to be on this, given that if we got it all the “family” miles would be in this car (rather than mine) as well as Vicky’s commute. That puts us at 18,000 miles per year. Now, the hybrid is rated at 29 combined mpg, whereas the V6 is rated at 21 mpg combined, an improvement of 8 mpg. Based on 18,000 miles, that’s a savings of 236 gallons per year (857 vs. 621). If the average price of gas over, say, a seven-year period is $2.75, that’s an annual savings of $649, which over the seven-year period is $4543.
That’s not enough to cover the real cost of the hybrid, which is a markup of about that much, but of course right now it’s MSRP for the hybrid and some more reasonable price between invoice and MSRP for the non-hybrid. So it’s a couple grand for V8 performance, superlow emissions, and fewer stops at the pump (and time is, after all, money)–oh, and maybe a tax break, too. Is it a great deal? Maybe not. But it’s not an awful deal, as long as one is realistic that the mileage will not result in a net savings.
We decided that was worth it, and ordered one. Not entirely clear when it will get in–maybe August, but we’ll see.