Metro's rule !!!!!!!!

[avfan]

One of the guys I work with just got a Toyota hybrid car ,I think it's a Prius? or something like that, anyway, its an electric except under acceleration or load and then it uses gas. The funny thing about it ....
it only gets about 38 mpg ,8 less than my all gas metro. Boy was he pissed when he saw my mileage

[SeanMurphy]

He'll be even more pissed when he has to buy a whole new battery pack for it in a few years for a few thousand dollars. I dont get the point of these hybrid cars, except to sell them to uneducated hippies. A civic or echo gets only slightly less mileage than an insight or prius. You spend lots more on repairs to the complicated electrical systems in the hybrids, plus about twice a decade, you're paying thousands of dollars for new batteries, and you're dumping poisonous metals into the environment when you dispose of the batteries.

When it comes down to it, the price per mile works out to be like 30-40% more in a hybrid than a small gas or diesel car. Hybrids also have the tendancy not to work right, or at least not work as well, in the deep sub zero temperatures that we get in this part of Canada.

[KaotiKCamaro5]

really does make ya wonder if they totally think through some of the automotive concepts they put through production..

[kjb516]

Originally Posted by SeanMurphy

He'll be even more pissed when he has to buy a whole new battery pack for it in a few years for a few thousand dollars. I dont get the point of these hybrid cars, except to sell them to uneducated hippies. A civic or echo gets only slightly less mileage than an insight or prius. You spend lots more on repairs to the complicated electrical systems in the hybrids, plus about twice a decade, you're paying thousands of dollars for new batteries, and you're dumping poisonous metals into the environment when you dispose of the batteries.

When it comes down to it, the price per mile works out to be like 30-40% more in a hybrid than a small gas or diesel car. Hybrids also have the tendancy not to work right, or at least not work as well, in the deep sub zero temperatures that we get in this part of Canada.

The entire hybrid system (including the battery pack) is under warrantee for 7 years / 100,000 miles (longer in California), meaning that Toyota believes that few if any will need replacement before this point. By reviewing the history of the Prius, which has been sold in Japan since 1997, very few owners have had to replace the battery pack during the lifetime of the vehicle and many have reported vehicle mileage well in excess of 200,000 miles on the original battery pack. For those unfortunate few who have had to pay to replace them, many have been able to replace them with salvaged batteries at quite a discount.

As for "dumping poisonous metals into the environment when you dispose of the batteries", Toyota already has a system in place (including a bounty for returns) to ensure that these batteries get recycled and do not wind up dumped in a landfill.

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/environme...ery/index.html

If you can document that Prius owners are spending "lots more on repairs to the complicated electrical systems in the hybrids", I'd like to see it. As per the 2004 Consumers Report New Car Guide, the Prius (available in the US since 2001) has earned an overall reliability rating of "outstanding".

Over the last 11 months and 14,000 miles, my Prius has delivered a total mileage of 50.4 mpg, which is quite a bit more than the mid-thirties that many Civic owners report. Consider also that there are quite a number of tax incentives (saving me ~$2,000 (USD) for the 2004 tax year) that can go a long way towards equalizing the hybrid premium.

[biff_sorenson]

I agree that paying 500 dollars for my geo, putting a tight motor in it for another 500 bucks and running the crap out of it for 241k miles is much more economical than paying over 20K for a new hybrid car that gets crappier gas mileage. I can buy a lot of gas for 20K.

Biff

[tyrugh5v]

Originally Posted by biff_sorenson

I agree that paying 500 dollars for my geo, putting a tight motor in it for another 500 bucks and running the crap out of it for 241k miles is much more economical than paying over 20K for a new hybrid car that gets crappier gas mileage. I can buy a lot of gas for 20K.

Biff

Biff, if they still made metros brand new, I'd trade in my 90 w 150,000 miles for one. However it still gets 40-47mpg, uses no oil, runs perfect, and passes emissions easily. This is 15 year old technology! Hybrids should get 100mpg before a person should even consider buying one. They just seem downright silly if you've ever had a metro(with manual).