I am trying to talk my husband into getting a hybrid. Right now, we have a Jeep Liberty which we love. However, it has 112,000 miles on it. My husband drives a minimum of 70 miles a day, and we are getting something like 20 miles per gallon. Needless to say, I want something that gets better gas milage.
Here’s where you all come in. My husband needs some help to see why we need to get on a hybrid waiting list now. Right now, the Honda hybrids are a 2-3 month waiting list and the prius’s are a 4-6 month wait.
Anybody want to give me a hand? List your reasons down below.
7 Days Left 
Actually, it would depend on what type of driving he does. If those 70 miles are highway miles a hybrid isn't really going to help. Hybrids shine more in stop and go city driving. Also, some hybrids don't get better gas mileage than a normal Honda Civic. A regular Civic is probably going to increase your MPG to 30 (50%) and you will not have to worry about unscheduled maintenance as much as you probably do with the Jeep.
If you are getting 20 MPG now, you'll literally pay 1/2 as much in gas money and fill the tank about half as often.
I've heard from Prius Drivers that you can expect about 40 MPG from a Prius overall – which doubles your mileage. at 70 miles per day, you may save enough to make quite a bit of the payment!
Namaste,
A. Caleb
@Tom – We live in Chicago, so even though it is highway miles — there is a lot of stop and go. I looked at a report that cars.com did (which is based here in Chicago) and they averaged 60 mpg!
@Caleb That was my thought exactly. We are spending around $500 a month in gas for his car alone, and $250 is a good chunk for another car payment.
@Dana Thanks!
Just read an article today that the 2009 Prius is going to average 60 mpg and have solar panels on the roof to run the air conditioning!
Ohhhhh, do you have a link? Or where did you see that?
Here is the deal. A hybrid costs between $25-30k, so unless you are paying cash for the car, you are paying probably as much as you do for gas as you do now and then some. Also, since people are panicking about gas prices, car dealers are not going to be willing to make a deal on hybrids.
That being said, I think a gently used, cheaper alternative would work. I mention this because a friend of mine is looking to get rid of her car for something around $15k that gets good gas mileage, (she has shoulder issues and cannot drive a stick anymore).
Does he need to be able to haul the kids around or anything? If not, look at the Honda Fit or Toyota, um, Mommy-brain, Toyota something or another, a Ford Focus and the like. Otherwise I echo the first statement about getting a Civic. We had one for years and got great use out of it until we decided to go to a van for hauling the kids.
Civic are smaller than the Prius. I still say the Prius–but you know that. We are getting 50 mpg and love the car. I heard about the solar panels yesterday–I thought that was cool. I'll tell Andy to talk to Bill while they are golfing on Sat.
Really, the question is what don't I like about it?
We got our first one in '02 and upgraded in '07… would've kept the '02 if we needed 2 cars but we're really just a one car family.
Don't be too hasty to dump your car for another.
Read these articles on trading your car and eco-driving.
http://livingfrugally.blogspot.com/2008/06/gallon…
http://livingfrugally.blogspot.com/2008/02/frugal…
John.
http://livingfrugally.blogspot.com
@Lisa I would love to buy used — however, my hubby puts too many miles on a year — we average around 20,000 a year! If we buy used (and we've tried this in the past), it costs us more in the long run because we have to get another car sooner.
I would love to buy a smaller vehicle like a Focus. However, my hubby is 6'2" and well over 200 lbs. He doesn't fit in a Focus. My mom has one and he has driven it. It is just not comfortable for him. Since in Chicago his commute home can range anywhere from 1-2 hrs to get home at night, he needs to be comfortable.
Why did you like the '02 better?
@ John, okay but most of our traffic here is stop and go. What to advise for that?
If you can hold off a little the Toyota Prius 3rd generation is due to be out in 2009. it should get, amongst other things, even better gas mileage.
The mech here where I works is working on HHO, hydrogen to help put the MPG up. with out doing anything except putting an HHO generator in the cab of the truck. he has increase the MPG by 8.
I would look into this for a little while. He has invested $200 so far. he said for every 1 MPG increase he saves about $150 a year. I'm not say it will help you that much.
I would recommend doing a lot of reading if you travel down this path. Talk with people in your area that have done something with hydro-power as well.
I will be installing a system in my car soon that will gen HHO gas with out using any of the battery or alternator current. It will pull power from thin air to provide the juice needed to make the HHO gas.
I know you've mentioned the Civic and Prius Hybrid. I would also look into the Smart car. It's no where near as big as either of the two hybrid options. If you are only looking into a car to travel too work and back it might be a great option. They are half the price but also half the size. It's worth mentioning but if you are use too a Jeep might not be best option if solely your only car.
Forget the hybrids….gas is dead…..either buy a turbo diesel (golf) they are cheap and get as good as gasmileage as any hybrid….or if your really cool get the civic CNG (compressed natural gas) car! Thats cutting edge technology!