Comments on: Used Hybrid Values Rise with Gas Prices

By: BrendanRowcliffe

BrendanRowcliffe — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:12:54 +0000

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By: Prius N-V

Prius N-V — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 14:07:36 +0000

Pruis 08 best car I bought in 40 years-bar none;including a 327′ 67 Vette when I was 24 and the world and I were different. Prius sets me free. Can jump in and ride without biting my nails like others who worry about gas price/availability on a daily basis. GROW UP, FACE REALITY the world has changed-are you listening Detroit?? The Prius looks the way it does to be aero-dynamic (Cd 0.26) for those who know what that means. Form + function=beauty. OK-lets get the petro/politics out of the way. To ask a Federal Government to be run by someone who wants it to fail (read- Republicants) is like putting ,say-Putin; in the White House, or the Arabs in charge of port security? Did we all forget that one? To deliberately set-up America for failure and to blame government employees. Example: FEMA headed by W’s unqualified buddy. Underfund agencies and to put morons at the helm and to blame an agency for not meeting its responsabilities is like pharoah saying make more bricks but you get no straw-even fundamentalists SHOULD remember that one from Sunday school-bless them (ugh). In the end, lets hope that we get better than we deserve. Only regret is that I had to buy Japanese, but still better than giving towel-heads twice as much for gas. Oh yeah and 9/11 will be forgotten just like Pearl Harbor

By: Fshagan

Fshagan — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:42:33 +0000

The prices have always been for a new battery from the parts department, but there’s an active market in used batteries from wrecked hybrids that see prices at about 60% of the new price. Besides that, the failure rate (except for Honda Insight and GM’s “mild hybrid” batteries) has been very low.

“Honda, for example, will be lowering the cost for its hybrid batteries on June 1 from $3,400 to $1,968 for the Insight. The Accord hybrid could still be as much as $2,440. Similarly, Toyota’s Prius battery is down to $3,000 from $5,500.”

From http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/06/02/honda-and-toyota-to-lower-hybrid-battery-replacement-costs/

The article also states that Toyota’s “post warranty” battery replacement rate is 0.003% …. a very low percentage. The key is that, unlike home built electric vehicles, the hybrid manufacturers limit discharge of the batteries to a maximum of 50% of charge, rather than the 80% you see EV people use.

By: Fshagan

Fshagan — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:33:51 +0000

A Civic to a Prius is an unfair comparison; the cars are entirely different in terms of "creature comforts" on the inside. If there was a hybrid Corolla, that would be a fair comparison.

If we choose solely on the economic scale, we'd choose either a Kia or Hyundai for a new car, or a 10 year old sedan for a used car (even if it only got 14 mpg).

The Prius is really between the compact sizes of the Civic and Corolla and the "mid size" of an Accord or Camry. I chose the Prius over the Camry because of the feeling of spaciousness in the cockpit (it seemed larger than the Camry, but isn't). The Prius also holds more, has a longer wheelbase, and weighs more than a Civic.

The EPA estimates used to overstate the mileage; now they understate it. Lifetime mileage on my Prius, at highway speeds of 70 mph when I'm not stopped, is 49.6 mpg. When I'm driving carefully, and not exceeding 65 mph, I get 58 mpg (using the car's computer).

Anyone trading up from a 17 mpg car would do well with either choice.

By: Gandalf

Gandalf — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:06:51 +0000

Right on

By: Jack M.

Jack M. — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 23:23:09 +0000

No matter how much attention is put on the price of gas it will still be high, at least higher by $1.50 over last year. Hybrids and other bio fuels will take a while to get into the main stream and are not replacing the millions of cars we have on the road tomorrow that run on gas and diesel. In my ideal world gas would be the same price as it is in Argentina, 12 cents a gallon, but it’s not. So I decided to cruise the web looking how to stop the bleeding and beating my walet takes everytime I pull up to the pump. Check out this site I found, http://www.gasbankusa.com. The site talks about locking in a fixed price for gas. An interesting idea and good concept as long as gas doesn’t go down in price but I am not holding my breath for that to happen. GasBankUSA acctually looks like a pretty good solution to save on gas.

By: Mr. Insight

Mr. Insight — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:36:35 +0000

You are forgetting to include resale prices. Anyone who bought a new Insight could now sell it for what they paid a few years ago. If they had bought a regular small car they would have lost thousands of dollars.

By: stephen

stephen — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:07:44 +0000

With 12,345 on the odometer, my Hybrid Civic (2007) is doing my finances quite well. Averaging 43.6mpg over this period was an exemplary increase from my 18mpg average 1993 Chrysler Town&Country. It is small, but it fits three kids ok and handles very well. I’d like to see a hybrid or PHEV mini-van or mid-size sedan. I’m wondering if one can upgrade either the new Toyata Camry Hydrid or Nissan Altima Hydrid? I drive a 2007 Hybrid Civic which is perfect for me (but can’t go PHEV—or can it?) and my wife doesn’t want another small car such as the Prius. The Toyota and Nissan Sedans would fit her better (Three kids + friends, etc.) and I have been passed by one each of these vehicles in the last week and they were silent (running on electric motor I’m assuming) and thus should benefit from the equipment upgrade you have for the Prius model. These vehicle at their price with the Prius upgrade battery pack would yield good numbers, but that is just an assumption. I don’t have any numbers to run like JPM.. Good insight though…Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks…

By: Ugga

Ugga — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:04:30 +0000

Gandalf
Some people did see this coming. The executives at Toyota for example. Or people like me who in 2005 traded in their guzzler for a Prius. My car is still worth $17k and I only pay $38 to get 450 miles of driving. The writing on the wall has been obvious for a long time.

By: Jason Murphy

Jason Murphy — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 05:26:37 +0000

I think the point is saving money. I bought my first hybrid because it was expensive. I sold my gas guzzler SUV and purchased a civic hybrid.

My car is basically paid for and my costs are recovered instantly!!!!

By upgrading to a higher MPG I am saving $200 a month on gas… my car payment is $200 which means my gas savings are paying for the car. (My expense would have been $200 more if I didn’t by the hybrid)

I went to http://www.MPGDude.com and used their gas savings calculator to calculate my savings if I were to upgrade.

I was convinced after running the number at http://www.MPGDude.com. If you do not have a fuel efficient car, I recommend you do the calc.