Scott Burns, the excellent Business columnist for the Dallas Morning News, owns a classic and a 2004 Prius. He has written several favorable columns about the car. This one deals with the economics of good gas mileage. Dallas Morning News online requires a free subscription. investment vehicle could burn less money Better gas mileage adds up to fewer dollars lost at the pump 08:00 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 By SCOTT BURNS / The Dallas Morning News Allow me to introduce a new investment vehicle: your car. No, I'm not talking about investing in cars that rise in value. We all know that virtually never happens. Cars are a wasting asset. They lose value faster than money. Drive a new car off the lot and it's lost value before you get it into the garage. So your car isn't a true investment vehicle. But its fuel efficiency can be. Exchange your fuel-inefficient vehicle for one that gets better gas mileage and you'll consume less gasoline. Every gallon not consumed is money not spent. . . . more at http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...urns.166eb.html
His point is that the money saved on gas by buying a more economical car (he's careful not to specify a Prius) can be equivalent to a rather large amount of invested capital, given today's small rates of return. He provides a simple spreadsheet model of the savings. Oh ho! Here's the same article on an open (no registration required) website: http://www.uexpress.com/scottburns/
