I've been wanting a hybrid for years because of the number of miles I put on the car for work. I'm always driving to a new client every week or two. My '91 Accord died (blew the head gasket) last Friday, and I ended up going to buy a car Saturday. I always had $20K as a ceiling in my mind for a car, but my desire to go hybrid won over, and I paid the full sticker of $22K for a used '05 HCH (a little over 15K miles). I can't believe that they cost more used, but since they have the ability to drive in the carpool lanes here in CA, they're a hot commodity.

I wanted an '06 (even though I don't like the body style as much), but the one dealer that responded to an online price quote had a 150 person waiting list, and got their first two in this Monday (the earliest I've heard anywhere that they've arrived). I needed a car immediately, and if I wasn't getting a hybrid Saturday, it wasn't going to happen for many years. My wife was supportive because she's known how much I've wanted one.

It's simply amazing how much my driving style has instantly changed. I used to be personally offended if I wasn't the fasted one on the road, and now people blaze by me and I don't care, because I can't afford to waste my mileage. I've started off pretty slowly - my first 1/2 tank around 42 mpg, but I did have to drive 80 miles up over 4,000 feet in elevation as part of that. It seems like city driving is going to be much easier to get better mileage than highways, and that's quite unfortunate, as almost all my time is spent on highways. I want to do more research to see how I can improve my mileage, but for now my wife is estatic with my change in driving technique, and as she (and her mother) says, you can't put a price on that.

- Stephen

 

Glad to have you here! My first tank was even worse than that, and I didn't even have a good excuse like you. Search through the discussions here, you'll find tons of tips on how to make that mpg number shoot through the roof. Don't pay attention to the mileage in my signature - I'm still on the way up!

 

Welcome to GH!
I've always felt that a significant portion in the fuel savings of hybrid cars comes from the driving style they induce. I drove my previous 03 MINI Cooper S like I stole it and averaged about 25 mpg. I drive my 05 Prius II like a granny, and am getting closer to averaging about twice as many mpg.

 

Congrats on the purchase Mr. Parker !! Seems like you might have got a little bit shafted on the price however - $22K for a used 2005 with 15K miles? Was that a "total out the door price" with tax and everything, or was that "base price of the used car" and then the taxes and etc came after?

I just used Edmunds.com to get the "TMV" of a used 2005 CVT HCH for sale in Zip Code 92833, and it came to

Dealer retail $20,574
Certified Used Vehicle $21,520

So if you paid $22K for a non-Certified used HCH, you got hammered for about $1500 more than you should have, and if it was Honda Certified, you got hammered for about $500 more.

 

You're right that I got taken. The $22K was sticker, so out the door (with the alarm system added on after that) was $25K. I knew that it wasn't a great deal, but had just spoken with 4 dealers - all of which said they had no '05 HCH's and had a waiting list for the '06 ones. It was Honda certified, so I guess that makes it a little better. Mostly, it was just market price. I have no doubt that the car would have sold to someone else within the week if I didn't get it. If my car hadn't broken down last Friday I'm sure I would have ended up doing better research and getting a better deal.

 

Hey, no problem, good for you, I was just wondering what the market was really like "on the ground" as they say. Thanks, and good luck with the 2005 HCH !!

 

I follow prices on Hybrids pretty carefully-sorta hobby I guess.$22000 is a lot,but for CA it isn't out of line-right now.The same car in Louisiana might be worth $18000 or so.
CA is Hybrid crazy,and has always lead the country in hybid prices.I would bet that a fair amount of the premium is because it can use the HOV lane.You folks all seem to commute long distances,and the HOV lane might cut 10-15 minutes off a 1 hr trip,so it is worth a lot of $$.
In some places hybrids aren't hot,and you could buy a Prius-new with side curtains-for maybe $23200(I think one is on Ebay right now with that BIN price).$23200 isn't great-full MSRP+-but it isn't too bad considering.Of course very,very few folks will jump on a plane,and then drive 30 hrs to buy a car.2 hrs is probably most folks range-no matter what the deal is.
You did OK-not great-not bad.In several months,if gas keeps trending downward,the prices-heat-will drop.But that is then(maybe)-Today $22000 in CA wasn't bad.The car is practically new,enjoy it.Luck,Charlie

 

I thought that $22K was bad, but then lars-ss tells me that I only paid $500 over Edmunds.com's Honda Certified price. Considering my predicament of having to purchase a car over the weekend, and the lack of availability of any HCH's in Southern CA right now, I guess it was okay. Phoebeisis, your profile says you're from New Orleans. Was your house hit by Katrina, or did you escape most of the effects? Are there really tons of cars that were flooded being sold in the South without informing customers of that damage? Thats what the news stories I've heard over here are saying is happening.

 

Stephen; Welcome to GreenHybrid and it sounds like from reading your post that you really are enjoying your 2005 HCH.

Terry

 

Thank you tigerhonaker. It's actually growing on me very quickly. I just can't believe how now I'm the guy I used to hate (the one driving below the speed limit). I have this tank over 47 mpg despite doing that 4,000 ft. incline two days ago, and I can't wait to have a whole tank over 50!