That's true- people here are happy about the high resale value of hybrids, but in the end it may slow adoption of the new technology for the resale value of gas guzzlers to be (relatively) so low. Not that I'm advocating that we go around buying up used gas guzzlers just to drive up the resale values... but it does strike me as unfair that people who are probably in the lowest economic strata who are looking for cars to buy may mostly be stuck with a selection of old clunkers with horrible gas mileage, so that they get the double whammy of having to pay for all that gas, too. It's a vicious cycle.

 

I think overall cost of ownership and use (thanks to government rebates) are similar for hybrids and non-hybrids. You pay more upfront for a hybrid but it saves you in gas costs over the life of the car.

At todays gas prices (its $1.077 a litre here in Canada today) I expect to save about $1000 every year in gas. So its not going to keep me in the red for long. In the used car market the buyers need to see the same thing ... if you pay a bit more for a hybrid ... it will repay that extra investment pretty soon.

People are ok with paying big bucks for fancy options that don't hold their values at resale time. [Just last week there was an article abt factory installed GPS nav systems costing between $2000 and $3000 but being only worth about $400 in 3 years.] But when it comes to investing that extra something for a hybrid ... its a no-no.

 

Guess I was lucky with my trade in...they gave me more than $1000 over trade in value on my 07 Vibe and also discounted more than $2000 off my 2007 Civic. I feel like I got a pretty good deal and was treated excellent by the dealer. Of course he not only got to convert a 4 time Pontiac owner but he also stole a possible Toyota customer from the dealer across the road.

 

A Vibe is still a good re-sell?

 

Well it was for me fortunately! Of course they get any where from 25-28 mpg easily. Better than many American cars.

 

The vibe is a Toyota Matrix with a Pontiac badge. That's why it gets decent mpg and it's worth something in trade.

Don't try trading in a Pontiac Aztek.