FrugalProf Bought a Prius

I decided to buy a used 2013 Toyota Prius for a good price, as part of my experiment to try and drive as frugally as possible. I can’t make any promises that the Prius is truly a frugal car, but I certainly hope so, and here are my reasons why I went for it:

1. I now have to drive to work.
My previous job was about 10 miles from my work and I had an amazing bike commute along the pacific coast, which got me in tremendous shape in doing so, and was a joy to do. However, the job I had wasn’t a long-term position, and I had stretched it out as much as I could. My new position gives me tremendous freedom and a considerably larger paycheck, but sadly the bike commute has gone. Thus, I wanted a reliable car that I could get me to work and back safely and as frugally as possible.

2. I still save a bunch of money on gas, even at low prices.
I have only started driving the Prius, and I am still learning how the style of driving that will save me the most gas, while at the same time not being a pain to other drivers. I am currently at 53.6 mpg on average without much that much effort, and so I think I can get this higher. For example, my tires look a little under inflated and I have heard that this alone can affect gas mileage by a fair amount. Even at the lower gas prices in SoCal right now, which admittedly are higher than most other parts of the US, I can save a bunch of money driving the Prius. I also save money by buying my gas at Costco, as it’s normally 20-25 cents a gallon cheaper than the other gas stations around me. Still, driving the Prius at my current 53.6 mpg verses my previous car means that I am now saving $122 a month in gas money!!

3. I am hoping for reliability and cheap maintenance.
I can’t make any promises here, only just hope, but I went for a lightly used Toyota with low miles, with the goal of driving this car 200,000 miles plus. Yes, I fully admit that is just a wish, but Toyota, Honda and the suchlike have a good reputation for reliability, and cheap maintenance, so please wish me luck in this regard. The one thing particular to the Prius is that you’ll have to replace the battery pack at some point, but it does have a 150,000-mile warranty, and you don’t have to replace it via the dealer, keeping the costs down. Also, gas savings with today’s prices and driving 150,000 will still save you a bit over $7,000, more than enough to replace the battery, etc. Anyway, we shall see how it goes in terms of savings and reliability.

One cool thing about the Prius is that you can put in the gas price into the dash display as well as the mpg of your old car. The display will then show you how much you are saving in gas money when driving the Prius, whenever you decide to go to that screen selection.

4. Driving Green
I am research scientist by trade, and so I get to read the studies on the environmental impacts of our current lifestyle. It is downright scary, and to be clear, this is not a belief, this is scientific fact. We should be doing everything we can to protect our beloved planet, and sadly we are doing the opposite. If I can do anything to help in this regard, then great, and so halving my CO2 footprint to get to work is much appreciated. Walking, biking, or public transport is even better, but I’m currently not in the position to take these right now. Just to be clear, I am not getting on my high horse, I just want to try and make a positive difference in my life in anyway I can, and hence the reason for the Frugal Prof blog! In this regard, battery powered cars are looking really interesting, especially when combined with solar panels on the roof. I hope this future comes to us soon, and as economical as possible.