Anyone own a Hybrid vehicle?
 

Just curious, was thinking of buying either a hybrid Camry or hybrid Highlander. My brother in law usually does all of my repairs but says he won't touch a hybrid because he knows nothing about them. If you have a problem do you have to take it to a dealer? Any small repair shops that service them in the KC area(Overland Park specifically)? Anyone have any experience with them?

You won't have enough trouble with a Toyota to worry about a mechanic forever anyway. Do regular maintenence and cruise past them.

My current Corolla disagrees with you, all cars break down..some more than others. I was reading horror stories about $9000 repair costs on some electrical parts. Just curious.

OK. I've had 2 Tacoma's and Camry. Seriously I never needed anything but an oil change and new tires. Had them about 2 years each. That's my experience.

edit... didn't buy any of them new.

Yes.

Feel free to elaborate, yes?

Lead Foots make cops happy.

I won't ever buy a brand new car, slightly used yes but never new. Looking for someone with experience in Hybrid vehicles...

I drive an 06 Civic Hybrid.

The bastards at Honda ****ed me over when I got it, promising 50+ HWY and 40+ IT.

There was a legal case recently in which a woman represented herself and won close to 10K IIRC. There's a class-action LS but I doubt I'll participate. I've considered filing a suit myself but don't want to have to pay my buddy to represent me and would rather do it myself if I could.

Although, he is a wonderful chap and we could probably work out a good deal.

Edit* I am the only person to have owned said vehicle.

Ok so you have a problem with the MPG claims? What does it usually get?

Why not lease?

I'm cheap and have a mechanic that does the labor for free. I know I should probably stay away from Hybrid vehicles but they do intrigue me.

I just gave up my F150 after owning it for 18 years. I was looking for a daily commuter that I could drive for similar period of time. Hybrids and electrics just didn't make sense to me, given the lack of experience with the technology over the long time periods I'm likely to drive the vehicle and the cost of the vehicle. I went with a Mazda 3 with the new skydrive technology. I get around 30 mpg on my commute (rated 38 hwy) with good performance at under $20K. Pretty happy with the choice.

At best, I avg. 35-37. I do quite a bit of driving both highway and in town. Both aren't remotely close to what I was promised.

Other than that, I love it. Pissed about the $$$ in terms of gas I could have saved getting a Prius (similar prices) but I do love teh auto-stop and design aesthetically.

Just bought a 2009 Highlander Limited Hybrid a few months back for the wife and she absolutely loves it. Anything Hybrid related has factory warranty until 100k. This is my first hybrid and I'm a fan. It's nice to have a SUV in the house that gets 27 MPG, considering mine gets me about 11 MPG. I've owned many Toyota's and have never had an issue with anything, my Porsche on the other hand...

From my research, the only other Hybrid SUV in the same price range that gets better MPG is the new Escape with around 32 MPG. I recommend the Highlander, and even though you may see a gazillion of them around town, most of them are not hybrids.

That's a good way to look at it, and it seems you made a good choice. Mazda is one of the few cars i've never owned.

Yeah I recently sold a civic and it had lots of problems although it wasn't a hybrid. I think the civic seems to be living off of it's reputation from the 90's.

Hey thanks for the input, too bad though I had my heart set on the Porsche. I heard the 2006 models had a problem where one of the electric parts gave out and killed the engine at high speeds. People were having a problem getting a recall on it, not to mention how dangerous that sounds.

I'm pretty disgusted by the MPG, other than that it is fine.

Really, I just hope I can get 10+K from Honda LMAO

That would be enough money to put towards another vehicle.

Or some decent Missouri strippers.

Honestly, it is a tough choice.

You should consult bubba the love sponge on that one, he will have the answer.

I have found the only decent Missouri strippers aren't from Missouri.

Not that I....I mean.....**** it...

I drive a ford escape hybrid at work. The MPG is better than other suv's but not great. At low speeds it cuts the engine and runs on the battery but only below 15 mph. Then it has to use to more gas to restart the engine. The hybrid vehicle needs gas just as often as the non hybrid escape. Maintenance is higher on the hybrid, the cost is higher on the hybrid, and the gas savings MIGHT let you break even on the higher costs of owning over the lifetime of the vehicle, but breaking even defeats the purpose of saving money on gas doesn't it?

look into turbo diesel

We bought one new last February. Its been an exceptional car, the hwy mileage is awesome. We made from the Missouri/Arkansas border to St. Joe and back on one tank of gas.

Personally I think the best deal going in new cars, warranty + mpg is the Hyundai cars

2010 Prius we've had 2 years.... I absolutely love it... People call it gay but I fill up every 3 weeks for about $30 bucks... How do you beat that? And having worked here at our college .. the automotive students have it in their curriculum.... Plus the college owns 5 hybrids themselves ... It's the future for sure!!!

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Does the Prius get 50mpg on average?

Get a 13 Ford Fusion hybrid, 47mpg combined.

You can get one nicely equipped for under 30k.

Buy American ;)

Fix or repair daily right? or has the motto changed?

LMAO surely you're not going to resort to outdated gearhead jokes & lore.

They've got it down pat, atleast look into it.

Grew up a Chevy guy, and My mechanic was a Chevy Mechanic...Old habits die hard, plus he may lynch me if I were to buy a Ford. :D

I have a 2010 Altima hybrid and usually get between 36 and 38 mpg combined city/highway (my calculations, not the computer's). At 35k miles so far and no problems. Not all hybrids are created equal. My electric kicks in under 40 mph and this car is pretty peppy compared to my mom's 07 Prius which is sluggish. This is my first CVT transmission and I'm liking it a lot. Overall best car I have owned so far although my past cars have been Buicks, a Pontiac, and a Ford Escort :p. I love new cars and tend to keep them close to ten years so we differ there.

Love the Buicks. My favorite was a Regal Supercharged, put 350k on it.

Pretty much this for me as well. I bought a one year old Prius with 20,000 miles on it. It's now a three year old Prius with closer to 40,000 miles on it.

I just take it to a local place rather than the dealer.

On gas mileage: when you replace your tires, you might want to stick with the tires that Toyota recommends or you'll lose a few miles per gallon. I've never gotten less than 40 mpg on a tank and I've gotten over 50 mpg. A lead foot and non-Toyota approved tires will get you in the low 40's routinely if you are driving around town.

Really, though, once you are averaging over 40 mpg there isn't much cost savings in gas by improving your gas mileage by another 5 mpg, and I'm not one to accelerate slowly.

If I did primarily city driving, I would own a hybrid in a heartbeat. However, in the rural/highway driving that I do, there isn't enough of a fuel savings to make up the price premium on the hybrid. There are a lot of new gas cars that get close to 40 mpg highway that are fairly inexpensive (my folks have a Ford Fiesta that they bought for $16k that averages 42 mpg).

As for SUVs, my '09 Forester is full time AWD and about the size of an Escape and I average 28-30 mpg.