hybrid stupidity

[jeffgtx]

i can't believe this.i was at the honda dealership today to see what a honda civic hybrid is all about (not to replace the vibe) and they only had one on the lot and the people buying it paid $5k over sticker...its a 23k car, and they paid 28....um, won't $5k in your pocket and paying sticker for a fully loaded 4 banger civic buy a lot of gas over the years?what is this world coming to?"yes iw ould like to save money on gas""right this way sir, we have an option where you give US the gas money you save"""great!"

[GMJAP]

It's the same thing driving people to pay $1000 for one of the first XBOX 360's. That'll buy an awful lot of games.....They aren't buying the hybrid cause it saves on gas. Their buying it cause it's a cool new gadget.

[joatmon]

I agree that it's not economically practical to pay that much more for a car that won't make up the difference in saved fuel costs. There are reasons to use the minimal amount of petroleum products other than just the effect on the individual wallet (which would push the thread into the political asylum ), but I don't know anybody who is that dedicated to the cause.

[jeffgtx]

well sure, thats obvious... but it just seems to me borderline unethical to mark up a hybrid.and i dont want to throw this thread into the "definition of capitalism" realm either, cause i can get that at teh vette z06 forums...i just couldnt believe it to the point that i had to post it to get it off my mind.

[northvibe]

Yea there was a test by CR with a hybrid and non hybrid car and you would only save on gas after like 5 or 6 years of driving from paying the premium of getting a hybrid over the non. to me its not worth it yet. the new diesel engines in 2007 (like the ones from europe) should be the way to go for better mileage and maybe throw some Mc d's grease in them

[jeffgtx]

i was actually reading about natural gas cars... anybody have experience with that?

[Jahntassa]

CNG? I've only seen them on some large coporate campuses, mostly local government and some metro busses.. Don't know if there's anything commercially available yet, nor are there many pumping stations for them, none public, i'm sure..

[jeffgtx]

there seems to be a garage mounted gas filling station you can get called phill. costs a couple grand to have installed, but seems you have to let it fill your tank overnight.

[northvibe]

the MN state fair uses Natural gas for their train/trolly system to drop ppl off from parking lot to the fair. neat i guess

[orbix]

You don't even need the new '07 evgines to get mileage that kicks the crap out of most hybrids... My wife's got an '03 VW Golf TDI that gets about 50mpg on average. The TDI engine has a hell of a lot of torque (let off the clutch on a small hill in third gear (no gas, dead stop) and the damned thing will just pull itself up the hill...)Only 90hp, but with that kid of torque, who needs hp?

[Sputnik]

Last night on the Oscar pre-show, they interviewed, I believe it was Naiomi Watts and she was bragging about how she came in a hybrid car and said "it gets 20 mpg!" I'm thinkin' wow, where can I get me one of those! 20mpg what a great deal! ha!

[tnpartsguy]

Our used car buyer bought some Ford Pickups a few weeks ago at the auction CHEAP. Got them back here, and we found out why....they are dual fuel; gas/CNG, they have 2 fuel doors on them, one for gasoline, one for the CNG hookup....problem is....all the trucks have the check engine lights on, and they are only 3 Ford dealers in TN that can work on them.....all 3+ hours from us.

[kostby]

Hmmm. let's see now. CEL on a dual-fuel vehicle=Twice as many filler caps to leave off???Back on topic...I've thought for years that one of the reasons many foreign makes had a perceived higher resale value is because most dealers are/were selling them with various mark-ups and add-ons that move them out the door at or above sticker price versus the domestic carmakers who can't seem to sell much of anything without discounting it below sticker price.

[jeffgtx]

just read that TDI is not offered in CA cause of our emissions standards.

[northvibe]

isnt the tdi diesel? I know they have them in canada and they get great mileage, just like the UK cars...exactly what the US needs.

[ColonelPanic]

I thought it would be really groovy to have one of those things, but couldn't afford one anyway. That was good, 'cause after how the *bleep* hit the fan with my old school ride, I'd hate to imagine what could happen otherwise with one of them there fancy schmancy new fangled thangs. When I was checking the Prius out a couple years ago, it was quite odd - the owners loved them yet man, did they ever put up with a lot of crap! Some of those things make Sir Knocksalot look like the poster child for the whole "weld the hood shut" Toyota reliability schtuff, at least I can still drive mine most of the time. I find it odd to read about the various glitches, failures, and inconveniences those poor Prius guys have to endure on an almost regular basis, yet for the most part they don't seem too pissed about it. So what if the car died out in the middle of nowhere and had to be towed in again, or if it's going to take a couple more weeks to fix the thing. Doesn't bother those guys at the least. If I had to wait a significant amount of time for the car to arrive, then probably had to pay more than I should have in the first place thanks to the demand of those things, I'd be pretty ticked if it sat in the shop all the time and I couldn't drive the stupid thing. It's a neat car, but I couldn't do it.Don't get me wrong, I think the technology is a good thing to have around, however at this point it may not be for everybody. I thought it could be cool to have, but it just wouldn't work. People really need to ask themselves if they absolutely need the hybrid. Especially when you're talking about the Civic for instance, which isn't that much better than what you'll get in its conventional form. I don't see it being worth taking the plunge and spending more money while adding unnecessary complexity which can mean decreased reliability. I do a lot of driving, and while increased fuel economy is always welcome, I think I've come to the conclusion that one of these would really be a financially irresponsible decision. There's no way that the increased entry fee plus the inevitable hybrid system upkeep once the components are no longer under warranty and the batteries have to be replaced will be less expensive than buying and operating a conventional car for If I need something to get 50 MPG, I'll go try to find myself a Metro XFi to bring back to life.

[kostby]

I just heard on the news that my favorite hardcore car magazine and yours, Consumers Retort just re-jiggered their numbers with regard to the payback period for hybrids vs conventional cars. Now it's ONLY 6 years...Wonder how much Toyo-duh and Hon-duh paid them to do THAT???