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Hybrid Vehicles Honda Civic Hybrid Honda Civic Hybrid
1765 messages, Last post on May 28, 2009 at 1:36 PM
You are in the Honda Civic Hybrid Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
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Replying to: gsspike (Jun 17, 2008 4:23 am)
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Replying to: gsspike (Jun 17, 2008 4:23 am)
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A reporter would like to talk to consumers who are in the market for a compact, subcompact or hybrid vehicle but have had trouble finding one. Please respond to jwahl edmunds.com with your daytime contact information along with the vehicle you are shopping for no later than Thursday, June 19th.
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Replying to: johnparker (Jun 17, 2008 6:20 am) Now, to get that kind of efficiency, I do have to drive differently than I used to. My maximum highway cruise is 65 mph. Around town, I take it easy on the acceleration, and I use the cruise control, because it delivers fuel more efficiently than my foot can. I work with a guy who bought a Prius last year. He drives it like the average American -- 75 mph cruise, jackrabbit starts -- and he gets 40 mpg in it. So, any way you operate a hybrid, you'll still be better off than in a regular car. As for the cost vs. keeping your Accord, that's simply a personal choice. When you bought your Accord new, nobody told you that it would never "pay back" its purchase price. That wasn't a factor, because you were simply choosing to buy a particular car. And that's just what you're doing now -- choosing to buy another kind of car. Also, consider the resale value of hybrids today. It's extremely high. I paid $22,000 for mine a year ago, and according to KBB.com, I could get $18,000 for it right now. And that $4,000 depreciation is almost cancelled out by the $2,100 tax refund I received from the IRS for buying a hybrid, plus the $600 in gas savings vs. the regular Civic. Anyone who tells you not to buy a hybrid because it costs too much, or that your old car is just fine, needs to prove a couple of things to maintain credibility: First, he has to be driving the same car that he bought 10 years (or more) ago. Second, he has to clip coupons and buy generic foods when he goes grocery shopping, and buy his clothes at Wal Mart, and use bargain dial-up internet service, because saving money and buying the least expensive item is what life is all about. Buy whatever car you want. If you buy a gas guzzler, you'll get a great deal on it because nobody wants one right now. If you buy a Civic hybrid, you'll get at least 40 mpg, and you'll be able to sell it any time for a decent price. Your choice. .
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We bought our Civic Hybrid in January '08 and have 5,604 miles on it. We left one trip meter untouched since we purchased it and are averaging 40.2 mpg for combined city & hwy miles. I just ret'd from a 365 mile highway trip and averaged 48.9. I have found the optimum speed for best mpg is 67 or 68 on the highway. The big question I'm hearing right now is whether the "payback" is worth the purchase price. That is the same mentality as the US auto manufacturers have had over the past 20 years and is why they haven't had an incentive to build more fuel efficient cars. Ask yourself this, where do you want to spend your money? On gas or on a car that uses less gas? Consumers need to force US auto manufacturers to build more fuel efficient cars so we can get off our addiction to gasoline/oil. The only way to do that is to buy hybrids (made by foreigners) until someone can come up with a better way to fuel a car. Gasoline is NOT the answer.
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Replying to: 1stpik (Jun 18, 2008 5:02 am) |
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Replying to: 74apollo (Jun 18, 2008 7:24 am)
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Replying to: mickeyrom (Jun 17, 2008 4:29 am) I was a Toyota service manager for 16 years and the Prius was just the opposite. You always did worse than the computer said. Actually on the Prius with it's Bladder style gas tank it was almost impossible to take a true MPG reading and that came down from Toyota. |
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Replying to: johnparker (Jun 18, 2008 7:43 am) It has nothing to do with "Macho". The SUVs and trucks have a higher profit margin. That is why the manufacturers like to sell them. Cheaper and smaller cars have a lower profit margin. |
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Replying to: johnparker (Jun 17, 2008 6:20 am) I also enjoy cars, but I am pathologically frugal, and in addition I have a terrible time deciding what car to buy out of the wide range of choices available. I usually keep a car until I cannot stand to do the next set of repairs, and then sell it for very little to a buyer whom I inform about what's wrong with it. A year ago, after over 16 years of ownership, I sold my 1991 Dodge Spirit 4-dr sedan 4-cyl 5-spd for nothing. I wanted to "give it a good home." I had been looking at new cars for 6 years, but could never decide on anything. I looked at the Prius, VW Jetta TDI wagon (wish I had got that in 2002 or so), Kia Sedona, Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter van, Subaru Outback, . . . but could never commit to anything. I took my wife's car as a hand-me-down--a 2004 Volvo V70 wagon, a base model 2.4L 5-cyl with auto tranny (28,000 mi on the odo when I got it)--because she strongly wanted a vehicle with dynamic stability control. I really wanted a manual tranny, but it made economic sense for me to take her car, which was well cared for mechanically, but the interior was worn and grimy due to our using it for camping, hauling gardening supplies, and trips with three dogs. Right now I plan to keep this vehicle for the forseeable future. I put a trailer hitch on it and have used it to tow a 1500 lb gross wt trailer and have slept in the back in state park campgrounds on a couple of long distance trips. I get ~20 mpg around town on short trips, and well over 30mpg on the highway. Even driving 70 mph (or sometimes over where the speed limits are higher in west Texas, New Mexico or Arizona) I get over 30 mpg. Does the 2nd row seatback in a Civic Hybrid fold down? If not, this would limit its utility for bulky cargo. This also means you can't sleep in the back, which you could do in an Accord or even a regular Civic. But if you don't need to carry bulky cargo and sleep in the back, then not having that capability is not a concern. For me a three-year-old Accord 4-cyl would be a like new car which I would not be thinking of parting with, but I celebrate your enthusiasm for getting something new. |
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