Rising Gas Prices - Smart To Drive A Hybrid?

[NorCalN00b]

With more insane gas prices coming, do you think it's wise to drive a hybrid? Or are hybrids just another marketing hype?

[makakona]

regardless of the gas prices, i think they're beneficial to our environment. if someone gave me a nice, big one in exchange for my car payment-free vehicle, i'd take it, but i won't be running out to buy one any time soon. when my car finally kicks, i would be open to looking into them for a replacement vehicle.

[TheForceCHP]

My opinion is that i won't buy a hybrid, or at the very least not for a long time.

From an environmental stand-point i think they are good, but do we really know how bad these batteries are going to be to recycle?

Over all my problem is that they cost so much and will take way too long to pay for themselves. By the time that you do pay the diff. off with the gas you saved then what about if the battery goes out? I can only imagine how much these batteries are going to cost too replace. Just my opinion, but that is why i wouldn't touch one.

The military has tested a Humvee with a hybrid and it turned out good. Better fuel mileage, but also better power. I still worry about the reliability

[SB 405]

I'm to much of a car guy to find myself behind the wheel of some hybrid. Guess I just need a little more rumble under my butt.

[Your Mentor]

I'll switch to a hybrid as soon as they make one that sports 310 HP!

[WinnieI05]

I owned a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid and was dissapointed. I sold it prior to going to the academy. I can't remember who did it, but after I bought my hybrid I read in a post on a website that it would take 10 years on average to BREAK EVEN on a hybrid investment on the "gas" you save. They had all the prices and extrapalated the calculations out. I'm not much of a car guy, so perhaps I should have investigated my purchase further, but I was hoping for better with Honda. I can't speak for the other makes of vehicles. Maybe they are better.

My 04 hybrid got no better then 43 mpg on a 50 minute, freeway speed commute. My first car was a 1994 Honda Civic and all gas of course. I got 42 mpg consistently with that baby. So where do they get the 50 mpg sticker stats for the windows? If your in stop and go traffic, every time you come to a stop the car completly shuts off, just as if you stalled the vehicle (a very strange sensation until you get use to it) and then when you take your foot off the brake, it comes back on. You get 50 mpg in stop and go traffic, not driving 65 mph on a freeway. As you can tell from my comments, I was dissapointed to say the least.

My two cents...and then some,

WinnieI05

[Mac]

...You get 50 mpg in stop and go traffic, not driving 65 mph on a freeway.
So it's the perfect car for commuting on stinking LA/Orange county freeways, then! :evil: :smile:

I've never worked the math all the way out, but it didn't take much to figure out that it would take a loooong time and a lot of miles to amortize the purchase of a hybrid for commuting. IMO it's a "not yet ready for prime time" technology - they're still far too expensive compared to a conventional gas-only car, and the fuel economy isn't that much better. They're also too limited in usage - fine for commuting, but you can't tow with them, haul anything in them (like a pickup truck), etc. - so if you have a pickup or SUV for those needs and buy a hybrid for commuting, you're not saving any money whatsoever when you factor the purchase price combined with registration and insurance fees - it would probably take 30 or 40 years to amortize the difference, even with fairly heavy driving.

[dw]

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Savinganddebt/Saveonacar/P37272.asp

"Apples-to-apples comparisons are less kind. A garden-variety Civic LX sedan sells for about $16,500 and returns 31 mpg in the city, 38 on the highway. Using the city mileage figure (which most people would achieve in day-in, day-out driving), you?d spend $725 a year to drive 15,000 miles on $1.50 gasoline. The Civic Hybrid would consume $469 worth, a savings of just $256 a year. (At $2 a gallon, the savings is about $342 a year.)

Without the tax deduction (and recognizing the time value of money), a hybrid owner would never earn back the $4,000-plus premium for his car. Lop $700 off the cost of the hybrid and the picture improves, but it?s still no deal. But every dime increase in the price of gasoline pulls the break-even point closer. "

The good news is that higher gas prices will help the hybrid break even.

[TheForceCHP]

I'm to much of a car guy to find myself behind the wheel of some hybrid. Guess I just need a little more rumble under my butt.

I can easily agree on that point also :badgrin:

[Radar]

OK, instead of hybrids, what about the flex-fuel vehicles. First time I heard about 'em, I figured it'd be tough to find an E85 fuel station, but my understanding is that they will run solely on unleaded gasoline, if necessary.

Now to be honest, my research into flex-fuel has been next to nil. I've seen the commercials and pulled up a couple of quick websites... Any one out there given it much thought? :confused::

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/flextech.shtml

http://www.gm.com/company/onlygm/

[Radar]

"...on $1.50 gasoline..."


$1.50??? :shock: Is that by the teaspoon?!?!?

[TheForceCHP]

OK, instead of hybrids, what about the flex-fuel vehicles. First time I heard about 'em, I figured it'd be tough to find an E85 fuel station, but my understanding is that they will run solely on unleaded gasoline, if necessary.

Now to be honest, my research into flex-fuel has been next to nil. I've seen the commercials and pulled up a couple of quick websites... Any one out there given it much thought? :confused::

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/flextech.shtml

http://www.gm.com/company/onlygm/

Ford, along with other companies, has had this around for a long time. The motor that i have in my truck is usually a Flex-Fuel one but i got lucky and didn't get one. I do see a plus side too it, but lately I have noticed the downside. My dad works with somebody who has been using the ethanol for a long time and is thinking of switching back to regular fuel. The ethanol is more corrosive from what i understand and thus requires stronger hoses and such. When it comes time too replace them they cost a lot more.
I am not completely against the flex-fuel, but lately i seem to be finding hearing info. that makes me not want it.

I have to say that the one alternative fuel choice that is being used, by some, that sounds interesting is the bio-diesel.

[SB 405]

I found this some may want to check out. Just enter your zip code for gas prices in your area.

http://autos.msn.com/everyday/gasstations.aspx?zip=&src=Netx

[Cameron]

I don't know if any of you watch the show South Park. I don't, but I found this video randomly.

http://thatvideosite.com/view/2052.html

I'm not too hot on the idea of owning a hybrid, but I am just sick and tired of the oil companies abusing us. There is no conceivable reason for the price of gas to be hovering around $3.15 in Northern California.

[redhead]

.... hovering around $3.15 in Northern California.
I hate having to put 91 in my Audi.
Its closer to $3.45 in SJ for 91.

[pupdog]

My enviornmental mutual fund is earning 17% right now...LET'S KEEP THOSE HYBRIDS ROLLIN!

[SB 405]

.... hovering around $3.15 in Northern California.
I hate having to put 91 in my Audi.
Its closer to $3.45 in SJ for 91.I hear that because I also use 91 in my S2000. Close to $40 to fill up the other day.

[uoplax13]

Yea... I filled up 1/2 of the tank on my Jeep the other day...up near Tahoe.....it ended up costing me 40-50 bucks....for regular 87! At the same gas station I saw a trailer pulling a bunch of tiny (possibly hybrid) cars that are made by mercedes w/ a .7 liter engine....how would they make it up the hill if they weren't on a trailer? Our snowblower has a bigger engine! Anyway a CHP unit had just left as I got there, and it turned out that one of the cars had fallen off on 80 a few miles back and the driver didn't even notice because they're so light. Either way, I don't think I could survive a winter up here without a 4WD......well I probably could get by, but I hate putting chains on.

[nobody33]

I don't know if any of you watch the show South Park. I don't, but I found this video randomly.



The first thing I thought of when I saw this thread was the potential for high levels of smug. :smile: