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jdawson1960
November 14th, 2008, 12:17 PM
I am getting ready to buy another car now. When gas prices were $4 plus, I was really thinking about buying a hybrid. Now with gas prices back down to $2 or less, should I.

I understand the environment situation, however with the cost of a hybrid being $5k plus more, I will never make the money back over the life of the 4-5 years I am going to keep the car.

So any feedback of your experience owning a hybrid, or why I should or shoulnt would be appreciated.

chucky chuckaluck
November 14th, 2008, 12:46 PM
we would've gotten hybrids but they're too expensive. there's no reason not to get a very fuel efficient non hybrid, though.

Moustacha
November 14th, 2008, 01:03 PM
hybrids, specifically the prius, suck at performance. If you're doing HEAPS of city driving (60kmh or less, <30mph) then they do better than standard cars, but diesel is pretty damn efficient too and still has the grunt. Get a smaller engined car, like 1.8L and less, and get a manual too. You don't have to flog the car as much to get performance like you do in an auto. Plus manuals are more fuel efficient than auto if you drive economically.

gn2
November 14th, 2008, 02:20 PM
Toyota are struggling to shift the Prius model, fact is in normal everyday use outside a heavily developed city environment it's simply not as economical as a similar size diesel car.

These diesel models aren't available everywhere so my advice would be to get a normal Japanese car, it will be less harmful to the environment overall, because it won't have large toxic batteries to dispose of in a few years time.

mihai.ile
November 14th, 2008, 03:19 PM
Well it depends on what do you want to use the car for. I am a student, started working and most of the time I go alone in the car to: work, school, shopping. So for me I got a diesel Smart. You only get 2 seats but you can't get much more fuel efficient than this Smart.
Well of course I'm in Europe, don't know the availability and price for this car out there...

saulgoode
November 14th, 2008, 03:37 PM
When I bought my Ford hybrid, I qualified for a $3000 Federal tax credit and a $500 state credit. I figure that with these credits taken into account, the additional initial outlay for the hybrid is compensated over a period of two years @ $4.00/gal, or four years at $2.00/gal. Were those tax credits not available, I would not have purchased the hybrid.

My personal performance assessment is that for city driving, the hybrid has a snappier response power-wise than the corresponding gas-only engine. Highway performance seems the opposite. There is also less of an improvement in mileage for highway driving than for city.

Overall, I am very satisfied with my hybrid, but if your driving habits consist mostly of highway driving then you are probably better off with a conventional vehicle.

Slug71
November 14th, 2008, 04:06 PM
Gas prices are more than likely to go up again within the next 4/5 years too.

eternalnewbee
November 14th, 2008, 04:50 PM
Technology for clean, alternative energy has been around for more than 100 years, but somehow was never applied due to greed. (Please research before replying)

igknighted
November 14th, 2008, 04:50 PM
Where do you live? Look closely at what government programs give you a tax rebate for buying a hybrid, as there are many programs. I believe (at least in NYS) if I were to buy a Nissan Altima hybrid I would save $2000 on my taxes, which would cut about half the difference between the hybrid and the standard version.

I think the decision should be based mainly on your driving habits. If you do a lot of city driving, then by all means look into a hybrid. If you do highway/freeway driving a lot, then I doubt a hybrid would benefit you.

PS: as a cyclist, I hate hybrids. You can't hear those damn things coming, and all of a sudden a car is going by less than a foot to your left. Can't we at least make them noisier?

eternalnewbee
November 14th, 2008, 05:23 PM
Where do you live? Look closely at what government programs give you a tax rebate for buying a hybrid, as there are many programs. I believe (at least in NYS) if I were to buy a Nissan Altima hybrid I would save $2000 on my taxes, which would cut about half the difference between the hybrid and the standard version.No offense meant, but I live in the rest of the world.
EDIT: Sorry if that sounded sarcastic (it wasn't meant that way)

igknighted
November 14th, 2008, 05:26 PM
No offense meant, but I live in the rest of the world.
EDIT: Sorry if that sounded sarcastic (it wasn't)

Thats why I asked where you live. I am only familiar with laws here. Not meant as an "us vs. them" thing.

EDIT: Regardless of where you live, investigating any programs from the government or otherwise is still advice I would stand by

eternalnewbee
November 15th, 2008, 02:51 AM
EDIT: Regardless of where you live, investigating any programs from the government or otherwise is still advice I would stand by
Agreed. Btw. I was born in The Netherlands. Dutch mother, Iraqi father, and have lived in Thailand for almost 7 years.

dizzy1kenobi
November 15th, 2008, 03:00 AM
What are you driving now? Is it that bad you need to go out and get a car payment and more insurance?

jdong
November 15th, 2008, 03:15 AM
"performance" wise I wouldn't be surprised if for city type speeds (under 40mph) you're gonna get a snappier practical response from a hybrid because of that near-instantaneous torque response.

But if you're looking at it economically, I don't even think at $4/gal a hybrid is going to save you money , or at least the amount of money that you are expecting to save.

You're probably better off just shopping for a fuel-efficient combustion-engine car if economics are your priority. With that said, as an electrical engineer, personally I think hybrids are a really neat change to the automobile and I'd be willing to fork over extra for one even if it doesn't save me much money at all -- there's PLENTY of things we buy, and plenty of stuff we put on our car for that matter, which serve no practical purpose but they're cool and we like gadgets.

Papi-KB7VGW
November 15th, 2008, 05:43 AM
I own an 05 Prius and I feel that it has been a very good investment. We have taken 3 trips across the US from Portland Or. to eastern Ohio and easily get 56-60 mpg. Around town we get 49-52 mpg. When we are in commuter traffic with all that stop and go, we are driving in battery with no engine running getting max mileage. One time traffic was so bad that the engine had to run to charge the battery back up. I was happy with it when gas was 2.50, estatic when it was at 4.00. In my humble opinion a Toyota Prius is well worth the $.:KS