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boxerboy
07-21-2006, 01:15 PM
This is from Toyota's Connections. How long does it take to recover the cost of the hybrid premium? The Prius starts to recover at the fouth year of driving. The H/Camry is about the 3rd year. Now here is something on battery life that was said by Paul Williamsen product education manager at University of Toyota, "The batteries will last for the designed life of the vehicle".:thumbdown: What does that mean?:iono: Would that be 100K miles 6, 7, or 10 years?

why?
07-21-2006, 03:02 PM
It depends completely on what you are comparing it too.

If compare a Prius to a yaris, you need to drive the prius 17 years to recover the cost of the vehicle. And that doesn't count battery replacements.

The designed life of a automobile is usually only 5 or 6 years, depending on the vehicle. The automakers want you to buy this vehicle, then when the next generatuion comes out, buy it again.

Hyde
07-21-2006, 03:32 PM
for Prius, Camry, you probably wont be able to save enough gas for the extra price you pay.

but for the GS450h, last i check its the same price as a GS300!! lol

Toddhata
07-21-2006, 04:00 PM
My gf's prius costs $0.0741 per mile (45mpg avg), my Yaris is $0.0976 per mile (33mpg avg). Not much of a difference for a car that cost almost twice as much. But here in California you can drive solo in the carpool lane, so that totally makes up for paying more for the car for her 100 mile round trip commute 5 days a week.

weeze-dog
07-21-2006, 05:06 PM
actually I am very interested in seeing Honda's replacement for the Insight. It is supposed to be a smaller hybrid than the civic and considerably cheaper. They said it would be available around the 2009 model year, maybe a little sooner.
Supposed to be more like the civic than the insight, as in have a useable interior and storage space.
I'm guessing it will run ~$18K base price.
I would really like to own a diesel yaris, it would run ~$14.5K for a fully loaded 5-speed diesel yaris (figuring a $1K premium for the diesel engine). But I dont think there will be any small diesel cars in the US for years, all the diesels will be SUVs. Forget that E85 B.S. pipe dream.

bulldogs2k
07-21-2006, 06:07 PM
^^ i agree with small diesel cars! i would love to have a toyota/honda diesel car. I want a diesel truck, due to the fact that i move every two years, but all of them are heavy duty vehicles. I would like to see automakers producing smaller compact/midsize trucks with diesels. maybe in a few years?

Dawn Eshelman
07-21-2006, 06:10 PM
I did a little research before buying the Yaris, as I really thought my next car would be a hybrid. I looked at a used Insight, and found out that I would be paying almost as much for a 2000 model, as a new Yaris. In addition, the battery pack would cost $4,000 if it needed replaced. I believe they now have 8 yr. warranties on them? The clincher for me, was the cost of insurance. It was quite a bit higher too...

When you figure the extra cost of the car, repairs & insurance, you stand very little chance of actually saving money. You have to do it for "environmental" reasons, rather than "monetary" ones. But then again...what happens to all those batteries?

swng
07-21-2006, 06:14 PM
I think I have to thank the hybrid car buyers for paying so much money to subsidize the research and development of a more economical car:wink:.
I always hope that car makers can consider a cheaper and lower tech alternative, which is to link up the drive train with a flywheel in such a way that braking/downhill coasting can help spin the flywheel fast, which should store enough energy to make restarting after a stop faster and easier. In essence, this would mean a mechanical hybrid.

fnkngrv
07-21-2006, 06:15 PM
When you figure the extra cost of the car, repairs & insurance, you stand very little chance of actually saving money. You have to do it for "environmental" reasons, rather than "monetary" ones. But then again...what happens to all those batteries?


You have a very valid point...it is a real pain in the ass to dispose of them...and what if you have to dispose of 100 or more at once....ouch:thumbdown: