I suppose a Podcast is Media ... if not, move this post to where it belongs.

I don't know how many of you enjoy the occasional Podcast, but a few at the Car Buyer's Notebook might be of interest to you guys. I found the one commenting on the financial sense of purchasing a hybrid interesting; you can just download the mp3 file here, or visit the link above to become a regular reader / listener. IMHO he is an enjoyable journalist to listen too and I know he has been mentioned here at one point before?

 

Yeah, I think a lot of us know this. As long as you're in it for the long run, and you do more than weekend driving, you're going to come out ahead.

Comparing my friends Escape to my own FEH, averaging 11,600 miles a year, with gas at $2.60, after 10 years, he'll have spent close to $3300 more than I will. ($9300 more actually, but less the $6000 initial price difference between the Escape and the FEH) And that's not including the tax rebate(s), time saved, or any of those differences. I overcome that price difference 6 and a half years in, and then start reaping the savings.

At least, going by the numbers. As gas and milage goes up, I come out farther ahead. (And laughably $14,000 ahead on fuel comparing a decade of use between the FEH and my old '95 Explorer)

 

And lest we forget... gas prices are going UP, so in the long run as our cars near the end of their trouble-free life we'll really be saving compared to the other folks who decided that the price of gas wouldn't dare get any higher.

 

I still think that comparing an FEH to an FE is not valid in most cases. I would never have purchased a non-hybrid Escape. I would compare it to the ride it replaced and possibly the ride I may have considered buying.

When comparing it to the ride I was considering (a BMW x3) which gets 17/25 compared to 33/31 and is (roughly) the same price.

When you take this into consideration, I made out well buying the FEH instead. And you all here now have me to kick around.

 

My wife did replace her V6 FE with the FEH and I replaced my Chevy Colorado with a FEH also. I have a running spreadsheet that I used for the both the Colorado and now the FEH. I had a lifetime average MPG of 20.0 with the Colorado and she had a lifetime average of 19. I drive over 30,000 miles/year and she does over 20,000. We will make up the difference in about 5 years. If the gas prices keep going up, we'll get there even quicker (as we all do).

 

Well, considering that I was going to buy an Escape, I'd say it's a very good comparison. I was going to replace my aging '95 Ford Explorer with an Escape, and after being ignored at the first dealership I went to, I went online, and found the FEH there. Hence those two vehicles in my prior post.

Being Ford A plan means that anyone else is going to have to be **** cheap to compare favorably to any Ford equivalent or near equal.

 

IMHO hybrids do make financial sense in one particular way, even in the short run:
the particular way is when all costs of driving are considered - which they obviously are not by standard calculations. By all costs I mean costs related to global warming, climate change, direct and local pollution effects. If those effects were converetd to a dollar cost lets say per mile driven, or per gram of carbon dioxide emitted, then hybrids would very much make financial sense right away.

 

I think if a hybrid is owned at least five years it will probably make sense, depending on the miles driven.

There are a lots of luxury vehicles on the road - those drivers are not thinking of being frugal.

 

I just did some rough figures on my car and I paid about 1500 over what I could have gotten a Civic EX. My avg. mileage is 53.8 for about 615 gal. of gas. If I had bought a car that I received a avg. of 40 mpg I would have used about 828 gal.If I had a car that got 35 mpg, more like I probably would have gotten, I would have used about 946 gal. of gas. using those figures at 2.00 for the avg. it will take me about 3 years to pay for the 1500.00. as the price of gas goes up it going to be less of course.Kevin