Buying into the save money hype. v.hybrids

NYSpeed Automotive
41

[quote=“JayS,post:35,topic:39653"”]

Why should I bother. He obviously only wants to give his opinion while not listening to anyone elses.

I was doing a little searching on kbb.com and found this interesting.

2001 Prius vs 2001 Camry. Figuring 85k for both.

20000 prius MSRP in 2001
10400 prius private party value today.

18500 camry MSRP in 2001
7500 camry private party value today.

So the Camry actually lost a higher percentage of it’s original value.

Of course, which one would YOU buy used?

[/quote]

First of all, a comment about it depreciating faster, has to do with buying it new, not used.

I went to KBB, and did the same comparo using a Prius and a Camry, both from '01 and '03. Here are the results:

MSRP	Sug. Retail		Depreciation	% Loss

2003 Prius $19,995.00 $17,620.00 $2,375.00 12%
2003 Camry LE V6 $23,265.00 $13,630.00 $9,635.00 41%

2001 Prius $19,995.00 $12,530.00 $7,465.00 37%
2001 Camry LE V6 $22,385.00 $9,775.00 $12,610.00 56%

Numbers don’t really match yours, but are hopelessly in the Prius’ favor. Both assume the same mileage, and suggested retail pricing. I’ve attached screen shots for reference.

42

^ Which is the same thing I posted. In my example the Prius did better than the Camry too.

[quote=“walter,post:39,topic:39653"”]

So, you are saying that your GTO is going to blow up after 36,000 miles? Man, better sell it quick. That is worse than a hybrid!

[/quote]

Why do you think Hyundai was the first to offer such a comprehensive warranty? It was because people thought their cars wouldn’t hold up long term based on how shitty their first cars were. Hyundai was confident their new vehicles would hold up for a 100k warranty so to boost consumer confidence they upped their warranty.

If Toyota is confident in the Prius and wants people to stop worrying about the long term reliability of it’s complicated systems they would do the same thing.

My GTO is old school technology and I’m confident it will last past 36k. And the stuff that will go wrong is stuff I can fix. The same can’t be said for the owner of Prius who is approaching their warranty expiration.

43

if the people that buy hybrids, buy them to save money, your buying it for the wrong reason…but due to how they are marketing/advertising them, people think they would be cheaper/save them money

but what do i know, i drive a less than 20mpg 4-cyl lol

44

[quote=“walter,post:39,topic:39653"”]

So, you are saying that your GTO is going to blow up after 36,000 miles? Man, better sell it quick. That is worse than a hybrid! :cjerk:

[/quote]

lol

45

[quote=“JayS,post:28,topic:39653"”]

Well, they warranty it for 8 year/100k, so that should tell you something. Lots of people talking about the cost of replacing the battery as a downside so if Toyota was so confident it was going to last 15 years / 200k they’d warranty it that long just to boost the consumer confidence.

[/quote]

yea but when they do need to be replaced they cost lots of $$ from what i have read

46

[quote=“Skurge,post:43,topic:39653"”]

if the people that buy hybrids, buy them to save money, your buying it for the wrong reason…but due to how they are marketing/advertising them, people think they would be cheaper/save them money

but what do i know, i drive a less than 20mpg 4-cyl lol

[/quote]

Have you noticed the evolution of hybrid commercials? When they first came out it was all about the MPG’s. Now it’s more about the “feel good” help the earth side of the arguement because their bogus mileage claims got blown out of the water by the new EPA testing routine.

You know, the “buy a hybrid so you can drop your daughter off in the artsy section of town without her being turned into an outcast” commercial.

47

I have always felt that it is a MUCH smarter move to buy a fuel efficent 4 cyclinder car if you are concerned about MPG then a Hypebrid. A buddy of mine was buying a car for his fiancee and he was considering the Prius as an option. The car cosr $35K, NO haggling, take it or leave it. I don’t know if this is correct or not, but he said that you got a tax credit for 4 or 5 years, something goofy like $1200 or $1500 a year. Big deal, so that brings the car down to $30K for a Prius that is going to “save” you money. I’d just get a Focus if I wanted a cheap fuel efficient car without paying the $29832490683490168 for a hybrid. Thats just me though.

48

You guys are all arguing against them under the assumption that vehicle selection has anything to do with logic. How many of us actually pick our cars based purely on logic? I didn’t, but I found a bunch of ways to justify what I wanted with logic. :shrug:

Some people just want a hybrid, and the fuel savings is one way to justify it.

49

Our company cars are Hybrids all of them Honda’s. We’ve had no trouble with any of them. One exception was my 07 that blew out a rotor position phase sensor (in the tranny) at 3,500 miles. But that could be a fluke. We have some 03’s with 80,000- 100,000 miles on them and no trouble. My 07 is a great highway car i average 45mpg doing 75-85mph. I am not crazy about the acceleration from a dead stop. There is a delay that is sometimes scary if your pulling into busy traffic. All of the cars came loaded with all the options. My guess is to get them to sell. I still have the swindow sticker somewhere i think my 07 listed at 21,000ish
I also dont think we bought them to save on fuel cost. more of a combination EPA fleet requirement and to look like we’re green

50

The only thing i would consider getting a hybrid version of is a lexus, or a hybrid accord. But they dont make the accord hybrid anymore :confused: It has like 50 more hp, and yet still gets better MPG…

51

This is getting complicated

52

All batteries have a finite life. Some types live longer than others. It also varies with use and care. But they have a limited life. And they are costly to replace. Not easy to dispose of these days either. What do the bunny huggers want to do with all the discarded batteries from hybrids in a few years? Find some alchemist who can turn them into green energy?

Just look on ebay or the equipment trader and see what an electric lift truck with a bad battery is worth. Nothing. Not much more than scrap value. BJ’s in Syracuse let us have one just for taking it away. All that was really wrong was it needed tires and a battery. A hybrid with a bad battery won’t be worth shit either. Want to make money? Develop a kit to put a regular auto trans in a tahoe hybrid and convert it back to normal.

And remember hybrids only have a big advantage in lots of stop and go or city driving. Not much advantage if you do a lot of highway driving.

53

Also keep in mind that even though the prius may cost $8000 more than its platform-mate corrola, it comes with alot of standard features such as climate control, traction control, power windows mirrors and locks and 99% of them come with push button ignition.

Most of these options arent even available on the corrola and none of them come standard.

54

Push button start is totally worth $8k.

55

i rode in one once…thought it was kind of weird and never really got used to it.

If you look at the cars I’ve owned (or should i say trucks) i obviously dont really care about gas mileage. I may be going out on quite a limb here, but I think I speak for a large number of people when I say that I pick and choose cars that I drive because of their functionality and comfort to me, not because of how good they are on gas or how environmentally friendly they are. granted, I personally know quite a few people who drive economic cars for their DDs and then have a fun car, but I personally find most cars uncomfortable and find it easier to get in and out of a truck, so I sacrifice a decent amount of gas money to be able to be comfortable.

As far as hybrids go, I doubt i would ever consider one, unless they became much more financially efficient and gas prices go through the roof (more than they already have). I believe that Chevy made a hybrid Silverado for a couple years, if they make something like that again down the road, then MAYBE i would consider it. But for now, I think most hybrid vehicles are more or less “feel good about yourself” kind of cars rather than money saving cars.

just my .02

56

[quote=“MikeRi24,post:55,topic:39653"”]

If you look at the cars I’ve owned (or should i say trucks) i obviously dont really care about gas mileage. I may be going out on quite a limb here, but I think I speak for a large number of people when I say that I pick and choose cars that I drive because of their functionality and comfort to me, not because of how good they are on gas or how environmentally friendly they are. granted, I personally know quite a few people who drive economic cars for their DDs and then have a fun car, but I personally find most cars uncomfortable and find it easier to get in and out of a truck, so I sacrifice a decent amount of gas money to be able to be comfortable.
just my .02

[/quote]

Sure. But look at the stats on “performance” cars. They represent, what? Maybe 5% of the market place if the manuf. is lucky?

You may, and many of the people on here may, value performance over mileage. But the average Joe Dumb “I Vote for Bush” American? Doubt it.

57

[quote=“JayS,post:42,topic:39653"”]

Thread Failure.

[/quote]

Admit it. My smmary above is correct.

58

[quote=“walter,post:57,topic:39653"”]

Admit it. My smmary above is correct.

[/quote]

Um, there was a good discussion about a car related topic on a car forum. I don’t think so. Go jerk off Tom Brady in your other thread.

I never said I hated hybrids. I hate the idiots who talk about all the gas they’re saving with them. While I was filling up the other day one was right next to me and I overheard the driver talking to another customer. It went something like this.

Other guy: “So how’s the mileage on that thing”.
Prius guy: “Oh I get about 60 mpg. I’m thinking about converting it to plug in then I’ll get way more”.

Bullshit. I’ve seen tons of real world IMPARTIAL reviews and they’re getting no where near that.

But really, I’d love to see 50% of the cars on the road be hybrids. That would save enough gas to allow me to continue driving my GTO and Expedition on cheap gas, while everyone else pays the big upfront cost for a hybrid. :slight_smile:

59

TDI dieslel gets 40-50mpg. good looking, quiet, clean burning. I can’t wait for the new A4 diesel to become cheap enough for me to buy.

if car makers wanted to make their hybrids look REALLY good they would replace that gas engine with a diesel engine so the base milage is 40+ then they can still pick up 10-15 points with the hybrid system.

60

I saved myself $7990 by purchasing a T shirt that reads; I LOVE AL GORE!!!

Same message, much cheaper.