My TCH is pulling up on three years of age. As it appears that fuel costs have been reasonably stable and absent of a tremendous shock in the market look like they'll stay this way for the foreseeable future. I haven't counted every penny, but it appears that my fuel savings might take at least ten years, if not longer, to recoup the premium the car cost in the first place.
Then again, who knows what the long term cost will be, since once the 100,000/8 year warranty has been reached, we'll be on the hook for battery related costs.
I love the Camry, but a gas Camry would be very similar, so the things I love would be found in the gas version.
The major difference between the gas and hybrid is, of course, the source of power.
I don't think that comparing one's achieved mileage to the baseline advertised gas mileage is fair, as the techniques used to enhance fuel efficiency on the hybrid can be similarly applied to the gas car and result in improved results there (to an extent).
So, considering that these cars, in effect, cost more than the nearly identical gas cousin and that one might never achieve any net savings, would you go out and pay $3000, or more, over the gas cousin buy a new one?

 

If you look purely at fuel savings it is hard to justify the cost difference.

However, there is the emissions savings to consider also. Additionally there is the "Hi-Tech" factor which can be appealing to some.

Personally I like the idea of a hybrid vehicle as a stepping stone to other commercially viable automotive power plants.

So for $3K, I would probably still go with the hybrid camry over the gas only camry.

 

Guessing that the rare earth issue (Chinese control 97% of world's supplies and are becoming very 'protective' over it's distribution) can only serve to increase the cost of hybrids

 

If one compares a XLE V6 with the TCH with the same equipment the price is very close.

 

Just reducing gas station stops has been worth it for me. And it seems that gas prices are on the way back up again (imagine that!)
IMO, good car and good value for the long run.

 

$3000.00 difference...... I don't think so.....I have the 50th anniversary edition. The 6cy camry with same equipment are very close in cost. Comparing the hybrid to the 4cy is not logical, and there is a "considerably less problems " with the hybrid compared to all the other camry models. It's a no brainer.....would do it again without hesitation.

 

When we were shopping for our 09 in early 2008 we compared a 4cyl LE with sunroof package (in Canada we only get packages) and something else to make it as we would want the car. The TCH added a few more items which were nice but we wouldn't have paid extra for them as we didn't see the value for us.

The price difference between the 2 models was ~$2K. With our province giving a $2K rebate on hybrids, the decision was very easy. We ended up getting the car 2 weeks before gas prices started going up in '08 and were very happy we made the choice to go with the TCH.

As for fuel savings, when driving the TCH I try to get the best mileage I can. I don't hypermile, but will try to coax the car into EV mode as much as I can, coast a lot and so on. In our other car a 5spd runabout, I don't do any of those things. If we had bought the LE, I would not be trying for mileage as I do in the TCH, so the hybrid fuel savings (for me) are way more than just looking at the difference in EPA ratings between cars.

 

Well, I not only would, I did. I traded my TCH for a FFH. I didn't do it to save money, because you don't. But I do like saving gas. I also like the way hybrids drive. Lastly, I want to support the technology and its further development. It's important to understand that hybrids are not the final solution to our energy problems, but are a stop-gap measure until the technology is developed (who knows what?) which will get us off of oil. In the meantime, auto manufacturers are getting some good real-world experience with electric drive, X-by-wire, and other new systems which will be needed once the solution arrives. I like the idea of supporting these efforts, when I can afford to.

BTW: Sorry, this is worded very poorly, but it's 7 after midnight and my brain is all fuzzy.

 

Yeah, as I have posted here previously, the similarly equipped XLE V-6 is the only fair comparison.

I originally was shopping a well-equipped XLE V6 when I decided to try the TCH. The 4-cyl seems underpowered, and I would have wanted the traction and stability control options on the XLE. A precisely comparably equipped XLE was window stickered about $300 more than the TCH I got.

So, I paid a few hundred LESS for the hybrid to begin with, and since then I have used less fuel. The way the conventional calculation is done, I think this means that I "broke even" BEFORE I got the car !

 

I went through exactly the same comparison when I bought my 2007 TCH (in 2007). In my case it was an even better deal, with the TCH coming in approximately $2000 less than the XLE! On top of that, I collected $3500 in tax rebates (provincial plus federal). So I consider that I started well ahead of the game by going hybrid!