Thing is, now that we know that (at least Prius) last a long time–the batteries are still good at 200k,
it may make sense to buy a used Prius. Also, now there are some “nicer” cars out as hybrids, which you could never get with good gas mileage. I have my eyes on a Toyota Avalon hybrid, if they come out this winter as rumored.
@melott - you might look at a well-optioned Camry hybrid, or the Lexus ES hybrid, too. I got the Lincoln MKZ hybrid, 37-38 mpg all the time, very happy with it.
@Whitey
I was telling the OP it was hard for ME to say whether it made economic sense for her, not knowing her driving habits, not that she couldn’t figure it out. I think good hybrids make a lot more sense than many others here do, as they typically get improved gas mileage in all kinds of driving, not just on city streets. At high speeds the electric motor isn’t doing anything to help, but the engines are still specially engineered for efficiency. I’ve seen an honest 55 mpg from a Prius, usually get 50, and have never seen anything like that from a car of similar size. Or even a lot smaller. We’re Zipcar members so get to try various small cars.
@GeorgeSanJose -
I’d say if you really, truly feel $10 is a reasonable possibility, you might actually be better off investing in gas options than investing in a hybrid.
You could buy 2015 RBOB options today with a strike price of $2.80 per gallon for about $0.28 per gallon right now. The current price for RBOB is $2.70 per gallon. So if gas prices increase at least $0.38 per gallon by then, you’d make a profit. The options futures chain out 10 years isn’t much more expensive, either. So if you thought $10 per gallon was reasonable, then you could, via options, effectively purchase that gas now for about $3.93 per gallon (current national average price plus that $.38 premium). That would effectively be a 60% savings, as opposed to the 40% at best you’re generally looking at with a hybrid.
Now if you think prices will be higher than they are today, but not out of line with what the market is betting on, then your rate of return is likely better with a hybrid than with futures.
@the same mountainbike -
I’m inclined to disagree on the tax issue, at least slightly.
First off, we’re currently spending more on our highways than we’re collecting in gas taxes, so that revenue is just coming from somewhere else. Second, our roads are in horrid condition, and better funding/repairs could be offset largely by lower vehicle repair costs. Most estimates put vehicle damage from poor roads near $60 billion annually, but we only collect about $70 billion annually from all gas taxes combined. Could we raise taxes 40% and cut unnecessary repairs 50% by doing so? That would be a win-win, and the better infrastructure might help spur growth.
Finally, there is the option of alternative offsets. I believe we should simply raise gas taxes $2-3 per gallon over the course of a few years, and use the revenues to provide tax credits similar to the making work pay credit (flat amount for each person in the household working, with perhaps a smaller credit for retirees). The result could easily be a serious push towards efficiency and conservation without actually raising the tax bill on the average american, since your tax credit would be equal to what the average person paid in extra gas taxes. However, the pain of paying $7 per gallon would get people to think about buying more and more efficient cars, driving less, reduce urban sprawl, etc. That’s effectively what you get in Europe, where high gas taxes spur conservation, while the revenue is used to offset other costs that you would have paid otherwise, such as government-funded healthcare.
Until my adventures with the inattentive teens putting in the wrong transmission fluid at a quick-change place, my Civic hybrid was still running fine at 240k+ miles with the original battery pack in the mountains in Vermont. The warning light for the battery pack came on at about 100k miles. Clearly, the goal of the light is to make people replace the battery before its time. Living off-grid using solar, we’re pretty good at understanding batteries. There’s usually a LOT of life left in them after the charge capacity starts to drop. You just have to pay attention to the level of charge as you go about your driving. It’s not hard. Even better, I bought when it was a couple of years old, and got an excellent deal. It paid for itself in gas savings in just over 2 years. It’s now heading toward its 10th birthday, assuming I can get the transmission replaced. Even if I had bought it new, at this age, it still would have paid itself off in gas savings alone. At the same time, the emissions savings have been significant. Plus, it is remarkably good at driving in Vermont’s “mud season.” I’ve never gotten stuck on our mud bog of a road - unlike several neighbors with 4-wheel drive trucks.
The economics and payback of a hybrid depend on gas price per gallon. Gas prices are manipulated, not by the government as much as OPEC, oil companies, and market traders looking for profits. Stock market goes up - fuel prices go up. Stock market down - fuel prices down. Demand doesn’t swing as fast as the market prices, so “futures” are playing a big role in prices at the pump.
$10.00 a gallon will be reached, question is will it take 3, 5, 10, or 20 years? While daily prices bounce up and down, the march of increasing fuel prices goes onward and upward.
Hybrids have proven to be reliable, fuel efficient, low cost for repair, and long lived. Simply the hybrid system works fine. A hybrid owner can be assured of getting good return on their investment in fuel via higher miles driven per tankful. If a hybrid owner keeps his car for 2, 4, 6 years whatever the higher costs to buy it has been returned in gas savings, from then on the savings on fuel is gravy.
So far, I haven’t owned a hybrid. I do know about 10 people who do own them and not a one of them is unhappy with their decision to buy a hybrid.
Why are we resurrecting a thread from 2007?
i believe that a couple small “american” cars next yeear will have a diesel option
Hybrids have their place…but probably worth it for less then 5% of the driving population. You need to drive a lot of miles (over 25k miles) per year and you need the right kind of commute (mostly off highway) then the payback will be less then 5 years. I know 2 people who fit into that and own a hybrid, One is my neighbor. He has a Civic Hybrid. Averages over 30k miles a year…90% of his driving is off the highway. He has close to 200k miles now and it’s been flawless. Mileage is around 45mpg.
“lousy 30 mpg or less.”
It’s all relative
While less than 30mpg may be lousy for you, it may be fine for someone driving a truck or a large car
Not everybody is obsessed with their car’s fuel economy
Fuel economy is not my priority, as a matter of fact
" . . . provide less funding for terrorists"
Perhaps we could talk about cars
Please leave terrorists out of this