Posted on 07/12/2007 11:13:17 AM PDT by USFRIENDINVICTORIA
There’s an old adage in the car business: “There’s an ass for every seat”. Which has never been truer than when it comes to hybrids. If people are stupid enough to fall for buying them, by all means they should buy them.
Added!
We’re just old farts, that’s all...
:)
I’ve actually got both - a Camry and a Taurus.
In real world conditions, mine get the same mpg (within about 0.5 mpg, but neither is consistently on top)....
I’m just amazed at how people rail against the mpg figures as inaccurate, but use them to decide one model is more fuel efficient than the other.... they aren’t all biased by the same amount, and some actually do meet their mpg figures. Hybrids are notorious for failing to meet their numbers, but they still get good mpg.
Actually, here are some interesting numbers:
So except for the 2008 4WD version (sample size=1), they all exceed the EPA estimates.
I have access to two different company pickups that I take home for commuting to work. ONe is a 96 F250 2wd with the old fashioned 5.8 liter pushrod 2valve per cylinder, V8 motor, throttle body injection, 4 speed auto overdrive trans, twin 18gallon fuel tanks and about 150,000 miles on odometer.
The other is a 99 F250 2wd with the modern 5.4 liter V8 with sequential injection, overhead cams, 3 valves per cylinder, 4 speed auto overdrive trans, one 35 gallon gas tank, and about 75,000 miles on odometer.
The company buys the gas, so I don’t figure fuel economy or even worry about it. But I’ve noticed that the 99 ford goes through about one tank of fuel in a weeks time of commuting plus errands. The older 96 ford will almost get through one week without using the second gas tank at all...call it 4 days.
The newer ford is noticeably more powerful and accelerates like a hotrod, while the older ford is very sluggish. I have no idea what the EPA mileage ratings are on these two. But there is a HUGE difference in fuel consumption. One would think the newer smaller more advanced motor would be the better in terms of fuel economy. But this is most definitely NOT THE CASE.
There appears to be very little progress being made in fuel economy...if any.
Yes.
My 25 year old diesel VW Rabbit pickup gets better mileage than a hybrid. The pickup cost me roughly the price of a new battery pack for a hybrid.
You missed the point. On the commute I mentioned, half the time you are sitting still or moving 4 mph. IN a Prius, the engine is never running at that point, even to creep along, until it uses up the battery, and then the engine runs for just a bit with all the power recharging the battery.
The Geo gets LOUSY gas mileage when the engine is running and it’s not moving. 0 mpg, to be exact.
I haven’t had to spend money to fix mine yet, but I can’t say it hasn’t had a problem. I’ve got about 41,000 miles on it, and I just burned out the Inverter on a trip two weeks ago.
On the other hand, I called my Toyota dealer, he found a toyota dealer within 10 miles of where I was, I called them up, they towed the car, rented me a car for free, and I was back on the road in less than 2 hours. And I had my car back the next day, no charge.
I was looking at new cars last year, and I could not make the math work on a Prius (or any other hybrid.) Gas would have to be over $4 a gallon for it to work out cheaper than a smaller traditional car.
At the time, there was not a lot of information (reliable at least) that I could base the higher price / higher mileage cost of ownership.
Based on your story (and others) and I might re-visit it in a year or two when I start the process again. I put about 40,000 miles year on a car so I tend to go through them pretty quickly—and get very little for trade in’s (based on their age—the mileage kills me every time.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.