Should You Swap Your SUV for a Hybrid?

Wall Street Journal ^ | 04 June 2008 | Brett Arends

[luckystarmom]

With my husband’s first Prius, he used to travel 30 miles to work mostly on a highway. He sometimes got 60 mpg. I think he went over 700 miles on 1 tank of gas. However, he was not using the heater or the A/C. I think he typically got around 50mpg when he would run the A/C or heater. He then changed jobs to about 20 minutes away in stop and go traffic. I think his mpg went down to about 45 then.

Even on the hot days here (over 100), I think he still gets around 45mpg. We never have cold days, so I don’t know about that.

[Myrddin]

I look forward to cold days. No lawn to mow. A warm fire. A good movie.

[Hoosier Catholic Momma]

Let’s see, trade in my reliable, paid for minivan that works just fine for our family of six for something that is going to put me in debt for a few more years just to save a little money at the pump?

I don’t think so!

[luckystarmom]

I grew up in Dallas, and the thing I miss the most is snow days. I wish my kids could experience the pure joy of waking up and seeing snow and then having school cancelled. Dallas was nice because it was never that cold, but you definitely had a winter.

In California, it’s either the annoying rainy season or the sunny season. Of course, I don’t miss the humidity and bugs of Texas.

[Tenacious 1]

I’d probably spend a little extra for the back-up sensors and a rear camera on the new one. It will probably pay for itself many times over. Your wife is probably saying, “Ha, ha, real funny.”

She has gotten a kick out of it. Of course she reminds me about how many times I have locked my keys in my truck and once while it was running.

She has a home based business and makes deliveries so she visits quite a few unfamiliar places. The last mailbox she backed into was while doing a 3-point turn around in our subdivision about 2 blocks away. She brought the top of the mailbox home with her so that I could go fix the guys box. It was the home of our HOA president who is persistent about everyone in the neighborhood keeping their mailboxes looking nice.

I told her she had committed a felony. She said, "By hitting a mailbox?" "No! By driving away with it. Hitting it was only a reckless driving misdemeanor. Either way, you could be looking at jail time."

[thackney]

how many times I have locked my keys in my truck and once while it was running.

Was it at least standing still?

I had a bad habit of locking my keys in my car. I once locked them in while on the Staten Island Ferry and didn't discovery it until we docked at Manhattan. I was in the middle of the row and they were not prepared to handle it.

It was a turning point in learning to remember prior to the world of keyless entry.

[Kevenmac]

WOW there is a lot of hybrid hating going on here...

I used to be a hybrid hater..but the fact is in the right financial situation they can make sense.

I picked up a used 2008 Ford Escape hybrid...traded in my Explorer that was averaging 17 mpg and had required $2400 in repairs since the warranty expired and was acting funny again.

Now I have a car payment that is $120 less and I am saving $200 a month on gas. Two weeks ago I took a trip from Florida to Nashville with 4 people and their luggage and averaged 37 mpg (calculated at the pump)...even when I back out all the “hidden” expenses including losing $900 on the trade I am still ahead $199 every month and have a much nicer vehicle. As far as I am concerned I have everything I love about an SUV and great gas mileage. The only thing I gave up was towing and I can borrow a truck or rent one for those few occasions.

BOTTOM LINE..if the situation is right AND you are willing to give up your lead foot and practice a few simple driving techniques...you can have an SUV and get better gas mileage than most micro cars.