Hi

I dont know about Argentina , where the infrastructure may not be as convienient, but here in the United states we have similar issues.

Most of these hybrid cars are prototypes. The automakers themselves dont have much of an idea how the vehicles are going to pan out 5 -8 years from now in terms of reliability.

There are some statistics , and the pruis has been around for a few years now, so we can catch a glimpse. To protect ourselves, we purchased the 7 year 100,000 mile full bumper to bumper warranty with no deductible. Toyo would not let us get a longer one than that.

We did this so we would not be caught unawares if this new tech would break down and the costs be alarming. Most mechanics in the united states have no idea how to deal with it yet. This limits us to the dealership and automaker -and of course allows them to jack up the repair price accordingly.

We also bought this ulta warranty to make sure the car was very attractive when we went to sell it. The new owner can be assured that the vehicle would be expense free in this regard for 3 years or so still.

The big issue for us hybrid owners is of course the battery. There are several conflicting views on how much it will cost to repair. We dont want to touch it with a 10 ft poll . We are going to sell it long before the battery becomes a potential issue.

I believe these cars are not the real deal yet. Advances in battery tech is coming soon, and the batteries in these vehicles may end up looking like losers 3 to 5 years from now. I do not want to be stuck in a prototype vehicle before some major advances come down the road. Traditionally it is bad news. Many vehicles improve their model every year , and many of us have first year models.

My goal is to keep the miles down on our highlander and sell it for top dollar with the extended warranty, for when the plug in hybrid comes out.

Hola JIVS, bienvenido. When I read your question, my first thought was to search the internet for "argentina unleaded gasoline". This 1997 document

http://www.insp.mx/Portal/MSP/fundam.../Romieu-I2.pdf

Indicates that your fuel supply has been unleaded for some time. Any vehicle with a catalytic converter would be impacted negatively by lead in fuel, but I believe that hybrid vehicles would probably be among the most sensitive. So on this basis, I see no problem.

DAS

Thanks again

bwilson4web so you do need some extra equipment to replace the key? Well here the Renault cars are using this new card-keys that use RFID, and to "learn" one you just buy a blank one and insert it in the card slot inside the car.


Wow pal I think you got a bad experience here. Most cars on the street today are 20K and above, plus most hybrids look the same as their gas versions.

And in case of a carjack I'm sure the thieves may abandon the car since most people here cant deal with a CVT.

Anyways, well honestly I was going to get an hybrid for the tech appeal. As many of you here, I'm a geek too, but the fact is I'm out of reasons to finally get one of these: as I said hybrids have no official service here, and the import system is a pain in the butt and I dont know how to go around it.

But heres the killer issue: the gallon is like $1.40 here, so theres almost no good reasons left to get an hybrid beyond the fact is a pretty advanced car.

Dunno, I heard both Peugeot and Citroen will roll-out diesel hybrids next year, and since those brands are major players here maybe we'll see hybrids in Argentina pretty soon. I just hope this european hybrids are more like the prius and not like the escape...


PS: Tochatihu, unleaded fuel? we've that since before the 90s. If not we wouldnt be able to drive any of the cars we got here, at least not the ones that are less than 20 years old....