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thinking of buying a hybrid


robertdlouhy
07-29-2009, 09:58 PM
Any opinions. God bad or other.

thisnametooktolong
07-30-2009, 07:59 AM
To break even on the cost of a hybrid, generally 130-150 thousand miles of driving is required. The typical driver keeps a car from 3-7 years @ 15k per year. That means that the average new car buyer will never ever save a dime on one of those E cars.

If you live in a urban traffic jam, and you are not running the A/C. those hybrids start to shine because they don run very much when you are trying to leave Philly at rush Hr. driving 8 miles in an Hr and 1/2. But generally that is a small fraction when a typical similar non-hybrid car will be using less than a Quart of fuel an hr to idle. The second you turn on the heat or the A/C that savings goes out the window.

Earlyboomer
11-25-2009, 08:30 PM
Reply number 2 has some excellent points to consider. I have years of electrical design experience so I have some idea of how much more complicated the electrical components for a hybrid are going to make any automobile. These "complications" are no doubt going to make service work a lot more costly at a dealer or any other garage. It will also make life a lot more interesting for a do it yourself mechanic, if he/she has the patience and perserverence to tackle a hybrid.

Then what about the voltages used in hybrids? I have read where the voltage can be from 200 volts to as much as 600 volts and that can be dangerous in more ways than one. Cell phone batteries and other battery powered devices have been known to start fires, with only a few volts. The cost of replacing batteries in a hybrid or purely electric cars is very expensive also.

There is an engineering discussion of the GM Volt, I ran across on the net, and it stated that you get about 40 miles on a charge and around 20,000 miles out of a set of batteries, which cost thousands of dollars. I think it was around $8,000 to $10,000 for the batteries but I am getting forgetful about things I have no real interest in. I read the discussion because I was curious to see if they could justifly even bringing a car like that to market. This is a big country and the Volt, a pure electric, sounds like a vehicle for a small city where you could actually walk instead until you needed to carry groceries.

People that think they are doing something to help the planet by buying a hybid or electric should ask why factories to build the batteries are mostly located overseas?, and the reason is because the EPA doesn't want the enviromental unfriendly and polluting process to build these batteries located in this country. You never heard that on the news, did you? Remember "Love Canal", it was caused by pollution from metals used in chemical processes, and battery production could do something similiar, so the EPA doesn't want to trust American companys to do anything today. (I believe American companys can do everything better than what was done in the past.)

The engineering to design and build hybids or electrics is very challenging and interesting but I will never own one. Chinese people don't want hybrids, they build the batteries, but they are buying SUVs like they are going out of style. The Chinese however seem to be repeating our polluting past history judging from the news showing the air pollution in some of their cities. You don't need to take my word for any of this, this is an interesting subject to research on the net, if you can wade through the information and disinformation, like a lot of other subjects. If this was a political blog, I would not have bothered to say one word.

wafrederick
12-06-2009, 07:02 PM
With hybrids,you do not use uninsulated tools using insulated tools only.Oil changes are are a lot differant too,you wear gloves and 4 cones around the vehicle which the dealer does.Firefighters have to watch out where they cut if one is in an accident,the voltages go though the whole body of the car.A firefighter told me this whom went to class done by Toyota on hybrids.

serge_saati
12-09-2009, 10:17 PM
The hybrid is an excellent choice. Very smooth to drive, and don't use a lot of gasoline, especially in city and in traffic condition.

If you drive a lot in the city (below 30mph) it's a very good choice.

What is cool, is if you are sucked in the traffic, you don't feel like you wasting all your gas. Cause engine turns off. And engine is very quiet. You really feel that you drive a modern car.

The fuel consumption in city is almost the half than the regular one. 51 mpg vs 26mpg.
So you feel more free to ride in city without emptying your reservoir.

Another good point, if you want to sell it after 10 years or so, you can ask a higher price, cause it worth more and many peoples love to buy used hybrid cars. Cause there's not a lot of used hybrid.

The only recommendation that I need to give you is: take the longer extended warranty that you can. You will save a lot, especially for the battery replacement in 6 years or so.

BTW, I don't know so many people talk about how it's hard to repair it? The goal of buying a new car is to not working on it, unless is that these people want.

STABER
02-06-2010, 09:04 AM
After vowing NEVER to buy another Ford due to my father's experiences with both a 1972 Galaxy 500 (LTD?) and a 1976 Mercury Comet (VOMIT!) and upholding that commitment for over three decades, I switched from my usual Pontiac ('83 6000STE and '98 Grand Prix GT) to a 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid in April 2009. Sweet! Ford shows that they can truly make a fine vehicle that is well engineered, fun to drive, great gas mileage, and doesn't handle like the many of the old Detroit float boats of old! Especially for a four door family sedan! (why do you think I bought the STE, my so-called primitive family friendly racer?)

Paid slightly over $30K for it (there was no negotiating room since there were only five or so of them in the 50 mile radius at the time...as I signed the papers some irate late comer potential customer wanted to test drive my newly acquired vehicle and got into a heated argument with the dealer, he lost of course.). I've got about 6k on it right now. It doesn't get used heavily. I love this car. Crisp lines (not really overbearing but makes solid statement without being too contrived). Runs great. Excellent pickup for a 4 cylinder. Gets up to 38mpg on long trips but never really lives up to the supposed over 41mpg in city. I suppose that you could nurse it to do so in the flat MW but I live in hilly areas. Trunk is a bit snug due to the battery pack behind the back seat but is tolerable. The interior is well appointed and well finished (unlike the plasticky crap on the Pontiacs I had owned and more or less tolerated). The driver's center (Sync, GPS, Sirius, etc.) is excellent. Leather seats are very firm and are heated (two settings, my wife loves this feature!). The dashboard is engaging but not overbearing and does give you four levels of choice and sub options on how you like to see your driver info.

The ride is solid and well controlled, compared to four door sedans of old. Ford has gotten this one right! I would not heistate to recommend this vehicle to anyone. Being it is a hybrid and I am nowhere near a Prius tree hugger, this car is more about appreciated solidly good new engineering, not a granola flake statement. My neighbors were a bit surprised that I actually bought a hybrid because they were thinking politics and ideology, not the fact that I am an engineer and do work with the automotive industry quite frequently. If your appreciate fine engineering in an American car company at a very reasonable price, I seriously suggest that you check the Ford Fusion Hybrid out and put it through its paces.

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