Gas prices are rising fast with new unrest in the Mideast. Now “they” are saying gas prices as high as $5 a gallon by summer. I sit here and think “Woo-hoo, aren’t I lucky? I bought a hybrid just at the right time.”
But was it really luck? I have been fascinated by hybrids probably since I bought my last vehicle in 2001. The last couple of years, knowing that I would be due to replace my car in 2011 or 2012, I have been thinking/saying “I will see where the alternate fuel cars are when it comes time for my turn to buy a car.”
- On line searches for a car for the teen that met my criteria showed I could get an 8-10 year old car with 100,000 miles on it for the money I wanted to pay.
- Financing such a used car would be at 7.5%
Hum, maybe time to rethink that plan.
Then the end of the year car ads started coming. Last year’s model year Prius being sold for 0.9% financing. So I started researching hybrids. At the same time news reports were coming every day warning of rising gas prices this year. Further more, my research said that the Prius is rarely on sale, it usually sells at sticker plus a premium. These were selling at invoice + 3%.
It wasn’t luck. I had done my homework. I knew this was a bargain, a rare occurrence that I was in the position to take advantage of.
