Hello everybody,

New to the hybrid forum & currently don't own a hybrid car.
Would like to ask a few of the other members as to what hybrid would you recommend for my first.

Don't want to buy new as not got the cash so second hand advice needed.

Thanks in advance

Dave

 

Hi Dave,
I too started out with a used hybrid in Oct. 2005 when I bought a 2003 Prius with 49,394 miles for $17,300. An engineer, I knew that I would be doing my own maintenance and even before I took delivery, I ordered $300 in maintenance manuals from Toyota. Since then, I've covered 50,000 miles at 52.3 MPG. A lot of that came from the good advice learned here after buying the car and at PriusChat and in a Prius YahooGroup. My purchase web page:First some general rules of thumb:

1. avoid first model year - Consumer Reports and the collected postings indicate the first model year of any hybrid tend to have early problems. Most by now have been addressed but some latent defects can remain and they won't be covered under a warranty.
2. requirements - understand what you plan to do with the car and get one that meets your needs. Are you looking to solve an urban commuting problem? High-speed commuting? Long distance travel? Secondary and unpaved roads?
3. hybrids have an easy life - I would ignore any used car with the original 3/36,000 warranty because I don't think it has any merit after the first year or so. When you start to narrow in on a hybrid architecture, you need to search the forum archives to see what sort of problems folks have reported.
4. architecture - I used a figure of merit which is the ratio of electric power over the combined electric and engine power to determine the degree of hybridization. Cars with high electric ratios are capable of limited distances without using the gas engine. Cars with lower ratios have more gas engine characteristics that need to be dealt with.
5. small market ... Ebay - hybrids have only reached annual sales of about 2% of the total vehicles. They may last longer but they still are a small part of the total motor inventory. This means you need to 'shop wide' and be willing to 'take a trip' to pickup the hybrid. My recommendation is to looks seriously at the dealer vehicles since they have a shop that can 'certify' the vehicle. Individual sales are more difficult especially if you are financing.
6. talk to your banker first - talk with the car loan officer and make sure they are prepared for a long distance purchase and understand what they need. Be patient and persistent, a couple of trips, until you know what they will handle and ALWAYS be ready to negotiate. Get their FAX number so you can send them a vehicle description.

But the first step is to understand your requirements. If you can describe what your typical driving profile will be, folks can give some informed suggestions on which cars or SUVs might meet your needs.

BTW, there are some folks who claim 'hypermiler' driving is all it takes and you can do just fine with a gas-only car. I'm not in that camp but you should visit them to decide if they might provide an answer:Hope to hear back from you.

Bob Wilson

 

Hello Bob,
Thanks very much for the quick response.
The type of cars I have seen are the Honda Civic 1.3 SE (2003) & the Toyota Prius 1.5 (2000/1) roughly about the same price here in the uk.

The type of driving I do is approx. 7-9,000 miles per year which is mainly local 15-20 min trips.Very rarely go on the motorway, but would love some feedback on these type of cars is possible?

Thanks again
Dave

 

I have no data for Honda but I would recommend looking under the Compare tab for the "Honda Civic Hybrid" and the "Prius Gen 1." You can cut and paste the full table, all of the entries, into a spreadsheet. Then sort them by temperature and trip duration to match your expected driving. Finally, do whatever statistical analysis you feel comfortable with and you'll have pretty much what folks have been achieving.

This will give you a basis of estimate.

Now for more Prius details, in the Prius forum I maintain a FAQ on Prius techniques. I have seen papers and postings about techniques that work with the Honda Civic Hybrid. If you don't find them easily, just ask in the appropriate Honda forum and you should get an answer quickly.

Folks here are pretty friendly and if something doesn't make sense, ask and you'll likely get a pretty good answer shortly. If we don't know the answer, we'll often point you to where it is likely to be found.

Both hybrids have been proven to provide excellent service and been pretty well exercised by the community. One of the best things about GreenHybrid is most of us know there is a best answer for each of us but it might not be the best answer for everyone else.

Bob Wilson

 

Thanks again Bob,

I'll have a good look around this massive forum & then make my mind up which one best suits my needs.

Thanks again.


Dave