I’m in the process of shopping now and have about 3 questions. I just can't trust the salesmen; they are consistently trying to talk me out of a Hybrid for something on the lot. My daily drive (to and from work) is about 64 miles and 85% highway.

1) Years ago, I heard Hybrids did not get any better MPG on the highway than a 4 cylinder. Is this still true?

2) What is the current story on Battery longevity? Can I expect years?

and
3) Is the purchase an extended service plan/warranty to cover the battery a smart thing or waste of money?

Thx in advance
Bill

bmachia,

1) Yes, hybrids will get better mileage on the highway than a non-hybrid. How much better will depend on your driving.

2) The normal battery is covering for years (6 years I think) or 100,000 miles. If you live in the California style states (includes most of the NE) the battery is covered for 8 years and 150,000 miles

3) Given number 2, no it would not be worth the effort or the money

Go to:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

Find a vehicle that matches the highway mileage of the hybrid you are interested.


Yes.


It depends upon how 'risk adverse' you are. Personally, I was happy when my warranties expired but I like working on my hybrid. You may have a different point of view.

Bob Wilson

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It REALLY depends on how you drive. If you drive 85mph in the left lane with a heavy foot, you will not do much better in a hybrid than in a regular car. If you drive at 60mph and you make an effort to maximize your economy, you will see a huge impact. The faster you go, the more resistance you face, and the more gas you need to overcome that resistance. Since hybrids generally have small engines, pushing them hard (like 85mph) is really taxing so the economy goes way down.

I drove my Civic to Denver last night and averaged 61.3mpg for the trip driving 60mph. I would guess that a similar driving style would have gotten me about 45mpg in a gas Civic so that would be a 36% improvement. The Civic Hybrid is considered the best highway cruiser (other than the discontinued Honda Insight), but the Prius can do respectable numbers on the highway too.

Regarding the warranty, your stock warranty for the hybrid components is going to be at least 80k, and higher if you live in California. I don't believe in insuring against losses you can afford to absorb, but my wife is a big fan of extended warranties so we bought one for 100k--only a 20k difference vs. the stock on the hybrid stuff. Personally, I'm more worried about the stereo breaking than the hybrid stuff....

Commuter car, grocery getter, and summer road tripper--average 10k miles per year.


Winter road trips and ski trips, bad weather commuter and my wife's "daily" driver--expected average 4k miles per year.

I think the battery is covered 8 years / 100k miles normally and 10 years / 150k miles in the "California style" states.

The Civic Hybrid gets 13 mpg MORE than the standard Civic. When gasoline was $3/gal., that was just okay. But with gas at $4, it's a bigger factor.

The battery life debate has raged for years, but that fact, itself, has cancelled the debate. The batteries in hybrids have lasted since 2001, so voila! They run fine year after year.

I didn't buy the extended warranty on my HCH. 80K miles is plenty for me.

As far as prices go, unfortunately the hybrid tax credit is mostly gone (used to be $2,100 on the HCH, then this year dropped to $1,050 .... it might be $525 now). That was a big boost in the "break even" period -- it almost cancelled out the hybrid's price premium of $3,000.

Also, hybrids today are commanding a premium on top of the premium, plus you have to wait 1-2 months for delivery. So under current circumstances, I would NOT buy a hybrid.
I would keep driving whatever I'm driving, and wait until the next model year, when several manufacturers will have new hybrid models for sale.

Thanks folks. This is very helpful info.

BigTuna,

Nice catch. The older you get, the years don't seem to matter as much, just the mileage. That goes for this thread about batteries too....

I just hope hope my wife doesn't see this thread....

I'm don't agree with that. There will be two new Hondas, both of them priced below the current HCH (which BTW, is not projected to change mechanically), and both of the new models will be based on the same IMA system as the HCH. The new Prius will be out sometime in 2010 which is not the next model year.

bmachia: if you are willing to wait 2 years for the Prius, or if they want a smaller (and slightly more efficient Honda), then waiting is good. Otherwise, gas isn't going to get any cheaper and depending on what you are driving now, you might save a lot of $$ between now and when the new models come out.

Commuter car, grocery getter, and summer road tripper--average 10k miles per year.


Winter road trips and ski trips, bad weather commuter and my wife's "daily" driver--expected average 4k miles per year.

I just checked the IRS web site (surprisingly useful!) and the Hondas are now in the 25% credit phase, which goes from 7/1/2008 to 12/31/2008. So the credit for the HCH is $525 if you qualify (and are not hit by the AMT).

Note that this does not apply to other manufacturers, just the Hondas. Toyotas are already in the "no tax credit" mode. For other manufacturers you are considering, check the IRS web site.

Here is a link that has all the 2008 models and the credit they get, based on purchase date
http://www.irs.gov/irs/article/0,,id=176409,00.html