Hi everyone. I'm considering my first hybrid because my trusty old Focus is just getting up there in years and miles, though it still rides and drives fairly well.

In any case, I'm considering a hybrid, a Prius or Civic, but wanted to get the experiences of people with either one, specifically those that have longer daily commutes. Mine is approximately 150 miles roundtrip each day (sometimes less depending on routes and other such stuff).

I was mainly concerned with how well these vehicles hold up, such as the batteries and whatnot and what kind of maintenance issues, if any, those of you with commutes in this range have experienced.

Does anyone do anything special to take better care of their cars that drive them for these kinds of commutes? Basic info like that is what I'm looking for.

Thanks to anyone who has any wisdom to relate.

Am doing daily commute of 140 miles, all freeway (except for about 2 miles). Have got about 70k miles on car. No maintenance issues (ever). All I've done is maintain the oil change & maintenance schedule. It's very economical to run & maintain. No special concerns.

By staying under speed limit (65) I'm averaging between 50 & 60 mpg (depending on conditions: temperature, wind, dryness/wetness of road, etc.). But if you drive aggressively your mileage will most likely go way down. On the other hand, by driving extra slow, coasting up hills (by reducing speed), etc, I've gotten many 70 mile trips between 65 & 70mpg.

Do you tend to use the cruise control for your commute. My commute is about 90% freeway with a 65mph speed limit, with the chance for some stop-and-go congestion at either end of the freeway portion of the commute. I don't tend to drive too agressively, preferring not to go above 70mph, but I find when I happen to be driving a car with cruise control for whatever reason (my Focus doesn't have it), I have no issues setting it to 60 - 70mph and leaving it there.

In fact, getting a car with CC is one of the reasons I'm looking forward to a new vehicle, however, I'm not sure if using CC is actually detrimental to getting higher FE in hybrid vehicles.

Thanks for the info!

Either a Civic Hybrid or a Prius will serve you well. However since you mentioned long commutes as the main driving condition, then perhaps the Civic Hybrid would suit you better. It does not hurt to take into account other aspects of ownership such as ergonomics, design, cargo space, etc so I would suggest you look at both anyway.

But if you choose the Civic because of your long commutes then once you set the cruise control on the Civic, the CVT simply provides you will such tall gearing that you'll be sipping the gas as you go. However, as DCF wisely mentioned, any speed above 60 MPH will cause significant drops on the fuel economy of ANY car, even on the highly efficient HCH!

Also, as with most fuel efficient hybrids, you'll want to avoid large swings on the battery state of charge. The less frequent the swings the longer the life span of the said battery. Abnormal or un-necessary accellerations and other extreme driving conditions certainly do not help here (as they do not in all cars anyway).

Hybrids have proven to be the most reliable vehicles on the road today. Really, it is no surprise since most of the mechanical wear and tear is greatly reduced (ie: Brakes, engine, etc). Just change the fluids as recommend by the manufacturer or the vehicle's built in instrumentation and you'll have a long living trouble free car you can depend on.

Cheers;

MSantos

Mine is about 75 miles round trip with mostly highway at 55-65 on CC.

Getting 53mpg+ without any maintenance issues.

Does the 2007 HCH have the ability to move on battery power now? The older HCH was quite annoying with the autostop restarting the engine when ever you removed your foot from the brake. Creeping along in stop and go traffic in the Prius is nice as the ICE will remain off for a while.

Nope. It can only move on electric-only power at any speed above 20MPH. Any speed below that and the ICE needs to be on.

The HCH is not the best heavy stop-and-go hybrid vehicle. Instead, it excels at highway style driving.

Cheers;

MSantos

How much do you want to spend? You should factor in that and see what other non-hybrids vehicles have to offer and see if the price makes sense to you. If you buy a Fit or a Yaris for example, both get good MPG numbers and cost a lot less.

If price is a big factor then you should weigh your options carefully.

Yeah, it's basically a juggling match in my head right now, trying to decide if I want to spend the money for it or not, I don't want to go over $25k pretty much, and even though that's my ceiling I get to reading reviews and stuff of a bunch of cars and then think I could just buy some $14k - $16k car and pretty much pay for it in cash instead of buying the hybrid.

The only other non-hybrid cars I was really considering were possibly a leaner (ie. less option heavy since going to an EX means I may as well get the hybrid IMO) regular Civic, the Yaris, and possibly a Nissan Versa sedan, though I know relatively little about the Versa at this point, and the Yaris, while I like it's styling has that whole annoying center console thing going on which I really can't stand on the interior. I'd actually read some really bad things about the real-world Fit gas mileage so sort of took it off my radar, and after seven years with the Focus hatchback I'm kind of in the mood for a sedan now anyway since I'm no longer moving every few months like I was when I was in school.

Since I'm putting like 38k miles per year on my car just for my job commute (with some extra for weekend driving, though far less miles then obviously, but still mainly highway), I tend to drive my cars into the ground and never really look into trading them in for any significant value, so residual doesn't really matter to me in the long run. There's also the possibility that I may end up in Washington DC for work within a year or two and then I'd have the commute from there to Richmond, VA (where I am now) to visit family. Obviously, such a move would cut into the amount of commuting miles I accumulate (commute from Richmond, VA to Hampton, VA via I-64 right now), which could be a factor. Regardless, I'm not one of those that trades in cars every other year, so I plan to just keep the car as long as it runs for the most part.

I guess I really need to sit down and do the math and figure out how the numbers would fall given my driving situation. Of course, I haven't test drove any of these either - aside from driving my brother's 2007 Civic EX, which I liked, it was a manual though - so that's another issue. I spend soooooooooo much time in my car I really hate to go to cheap and be uncomfortable or unhappy in the vehicle itself.

Yes... I agree with your last sentence. Get a car that feels comfortable. Saying that, I have to admit the HCH is rather comfortable compared to other cars that I have owned.