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Hybrid Vehicles Honda Civic GX (natural gas) NGV or Hybrid?
13 messages, Last post on Sep 12, 2007 at 8:55 PM
You are in the Honda Civic GX (natural gas) Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
| I'm planning on buying a Honda Civic GX this weekend. What are the pros and cons of getting a NGV vs a Hybrid? | |
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My advice is to SHOP. Find the dealers who have the GX, and shop them all. I hear the one in Antelope Valley is one of the most dedicated to having the GX's out there. I bought in Thousand Oaks and was not too happy in the long run with them. Kinda long story... Notes, If you have to pay the Alternative Minimum tax, you will not get the $4000 credit... The dealers that know the most about the benefits are a good place to start... If you are married, buy 2 used cars instead of 1 new one. The phill (or Fuel Maker 4) and everything else makes more sense if you go that way. CNGmotors.com usually has a good supply in stock. you can probably get 2 2003 or 2004 for the same price as 1 2007... |
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Well, you do not have to replace the $6000 battery every 7 or 8 years as you will with the Hybrid. You do not have to pay $3.00+ for a fill up. The car is cleaner (the famous quote is that one pint of spilled gasoline makes as much air pollution as 100,000 miles driven in the CNG civic). You can get the HOV diamond lane stickers for the CNG, you can't for the Hybrid. The HOV sticker for the GX is good for another 7 years or so, the sticker for the Hybrid is only good for another 16 months (as I understand it). You can park for free at metered spaces in some cities with the HOV stickers. The "Cool Quotent" is going down with the Hybrids, the Cool Quotent Is going up with the CNG (I am asked about it at least once a week by people who are looking at the car in wonder as I come out of the store). If Hydrogen ever becomes available, these cars will be able to use it without any modifications (I hear). Since these cars do not use Gasoline, the fuel has fewer impurities and build-up is not a problem inside the engine. If you take care of it, an Engine will last 500,000 miles or more because the engine wears a lot less than engines that use Gasoline (Hybrids only use gasoline now. They have no other form of fuel... They convert some of that Gasoline energy into Electricity stored in batteries. In the near future, there may be Hybrids with Power Cords, but not now). You are using an energy source that is mostly domestic and could become renewable. The Bad? Those darn filters. Fewer filling stations. Almost no options for maintainance outside of going to the dealer (and paying the dealers price). somewhat poorer mileage. the GX is a small car, I would like to have an option for a slightly bigger cheap car. Poorer acceleration. |
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Replying to: dejapooh (Aug 16, 2007 10:19 pm) |
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| We've looked at the Crown Vic and the other CNG cars. We didn't like them very much. Plus, you can't beat the Civic when it comes to reliability and price (well not so much on price any more). | |
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Replying to: dejapooh (Aug 16, 2007 10:19 pm) Do you have a Phill unit? I am still deciding if I need one. There are several stations in San Francisco near my office. But I hear the incentives and rebates are worth it.
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From what I've gleened from the conversations here, the phill is a 0 sum gain. It ends up costing a bit more per gallon than using a station once you work in the cost of gas, electricity, and the unit itself (especially considering the expense of rebuilding as needed). The quality of the fill and the convenience of waking up every morning with a full tank is something... In the end, for me, I have decided against it for now. If you use a lot of gas (for a pool or something), If you do not have stations near your home and work, or if your time is really worth $120 an hour (Figure 15 minutes for me to go out of my way to get the fill at a station), If you are thinking of getting a second or third GX (wife and kids), then I would go for the phill or a FM4. For me, It is not worth it yet. If the price difference between station filling and home filling continues to grow, then I may go for one in the future.
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Replying to: ikir (Aug 18, 2007 8:41 pm) On the other side of the equation, your local AQMD or Honda dealer may offer purchase incentives for the Phill, and the federal government offers a tax credit on both purchasing the unit and on installation costs. (though if you pay the Alternative Minimum Tax, or come anywhere *near* paying the AMT, you won't be able to collect on those credits.) Also, you may be eligible for a reduction in the cost of your household natural gas, both for the car *and* for household use. Bottom line when we worked the numbers was that home fuelling was going to be cheaper for us, especially with the steep price for CNG at the stations near us and two teen girls who use entirely too much hot water. But you'll need to figure out if it works for you. There's a yahoo cng group that can help you crunch the numbers. For us, the most important thing was the convenience factor. We do not have a CNG station nearby either work or home, and in the weeks before we got our Phill installed, having to spend an extra half hour every 2 or 3 days getting the car fuelled up got old really fast. Why not see how easy it is for you to fuel up from local stations? You might find that's just fine for you. |
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Replying to: dejapooh (Aug 18, 2007 10:06 pm) Murphy |
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Replying to: dejapooh (Aug 16, 2007 10:19 pm)
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