Civic Hybrid Question.

[Vega$ NSX]

I hope I'm not too off topic, but I looked very hard at hybrid cars as well. The idea of paying $50 at the pump every week really "motivated" me to finding another way. However, when I really got into it, I couldn't find a reasonable payback. I looked into every deal, combination and pricing, but as of up to right now, I couldn't find a produced hybrid vehicle that offered a financial benefit. The additional premium cost of a hybrid car, along with the cost of replacing batteries never paid for itself. It always came out net behind than the non-hybrid version. And this was even including the dwindling tax break/rebate. And it still held true even if gas went to $6/gallon in my calcs! What I found was going with a more fuel effecient car, going with a car that ran on regular, or (the best solution so far) going diesel were far better options than hybrids. This sucked too, because I really like hybrids and want to get one. I just can justify it just yet (maybe in about 2 years). Though, you can't put a price on the pride of saving the environment. But just wondering if anybody else came to this conclusion as well? Comparing apples to apples of course. Replacing a Suburban with a Civic Hybrid will payback easily but so would a standard Civic as well.

 

[KooLaid]

I'm thinking Vdub turdbo diesel. No batteries. GREAT mileage, currently cheaper than premium. But that's just me though...

 

[dnicho05]

I hope I'm not too off topic, but I looked very hard at hybrid cars as well...I couldn't find a produced hybrid vehicle that offered a financial benefit...

Yup you do pay a premium for the Hybrids right now, and there are lots of alternatives that will save at the pump.

Honda looks at their civic hybrid as a premium equipped civic model. The hybrid does have all the bells and whistles of the Civic EX (minus the heavy weight of the leather ), and it prices out around here at $1600 more than the EX model. Here in Melbourne, FL they are able to sell them at below MSRP, but I have heard that they are selling for way over MSRP in other areas of the country. To me that makes them more of a novelty than an economical choice.

I was lucky enough to pick up my civic hybrid used. We have a lot of medical rep types and other people who get company cars every year for running all over the state. I got my 2004 in 2005 with 25K miles on it. It was a good bunch of miles for a year old car, but all the servicing had been done at the dealership where I bought it, and it came with all the servicing receipts. They had it listed for $16K. I talked them down to $15K, and they gave me $5K for my trade (suckers :tongue: ). Its honda certified used and I got the 6 year, 100K mile extended bumper to bumper warranty, so it wasn't a bad deal for me.

There are plenty of alternatives out there though. You don't have to go hybrid to survive the pumps. The new FITs are out, as weel as Toyota's Yaris which both get 40mpg highway for around $14K. And as others have said VW has some diesels that are getting over 46mpg highway. I have heard that the TDI diesels are harder to find than the hybrids, and aren't cheap either. The Golf TDI is just over $20k with manual transmission and without any bells and whistles.

 

[White92]

I hope I'm not too off topic, but I looked very hard at hybrid cars as well. The idea of paying $50 at the pump every week really "motivated" me to finding another way. However, when I really got into it, I couldn't find a reasonable payback. I looked into every deal, combination and pricing, but as of up to right now, I couldn't find a produced hybrid vehicle that offered a financial benefit. The additional premium cost of a hybrid car, along with the cost of replacing batteries never paid for itself. It always came out net behind than the non-hybrid version. And this was even including the dwindling tax break/rebate. And it still held true even if gas went to $6/gallon in my calcs! What I found was going with a more fuel effecient car, going with a car that ran on regular, or (the best solution so far) going diesel were far better options than hybrids. This sucked too, because I really like hybrids and want to get one. I just can justify it just yet (maybe in about 2 years). Though, you can't put a price on the pride of saving the environment. But just wondering if anybody else came to this conclusion as well? Comparing apples to apples of course. Replacing a Suburban with a Civic Hybrid will payback easily but so would a standard Civic as well.

I've felt the same way. But I'd like to expand a little on the saving the environment issue. Is anybody else concerned that we are going to have landfills full of these batteries once they are starting to all need replacing? What do they do with them? Is there a recycle program set up through the dealerships when they are replaced?

 

[dnicho05]

I've felt the same way. But I'd like to expand a little on the saving the environment issue. Is anybody else concerned that we are going to have landfills full of these batteries once they are starting to all need replacing? What do they do with them? Is there a recycle program set up through the dealerships when they are replaced?

A quick paragraph copied from: http://www.hybridcars.com/faq.html#battery


Hybrids use NiMH batteries, not the environmentally problematic rechargeable nickel cadmium. "Nickel metal hydride batteries are benign. They can be fully recycled," says Ron Cogan, editor of the Green Car Journal. Toyota and Honda say that they will recycle dead batteries and that disposal will pose no toxic hazards. Toyota puts a phone number on each battery, and they pay a $200 "bounty" for each battery to help ensure that it will be properly recycled.

There's no definitive word on replacement costs because they are almost never replaced. According to Toyota, since the Prius first went on sale in 2000, they have not replaced a single battery for wear and tear.

 

[CKS Papa]

btw, to the poster in early may that said they bought premium for $1.86ish - a month later here in silicon valley and it's >$3.50 gal.

early May 2 years ago ! :smile:

hybrids are getting pretty attractive with these current gas prices.
they should be cheaper by the time my kids start driving.

 

[queenlives]

early May 2 years ago ! :smile:

<snip>

DOH!

rtfd