At $2.50 a gallon, it would cost me around $1700 a year for fuel. Maintenance is maybe another $1200-1500 a year (not really, but just for discussion), including tires, oil, etc.
A new hybrid would cost me five times what I presently spend, since I would have to buy it, and maintain it. Then, I would enjoy a savings of $-X?
I am not going to ever be green enough to buy one for environmental reasons. All cars built today give few emissions. Even if I were to buy a new Honda hybrid, the extra $5000 in cost can't possibly be replaced by the projected fuel savings. The regular Civic gets ridiculous mileage right now, and the hybrid is a nightmare for the service departments!
If I were to buy a new car today, it would be a turbo diesel from someone, probably a VolksWagen.
A brilliant 5.0L, V-10 twin turbo diesel is now available as an option in the awesome 2005 VW Touareg. MSRP is $57,800 (and goes north from there). The premium over the comparably equipped gasoline V-8 model is roughly $13,000. Is the V-10 diesel engine worth the extra cash? Absolutely. It may well be best high performance passenger automobile engine available anywhere. It perfectly complements the remarkably capable Touareg. All VW models carry a basic warranty of 4years/50,000 miles.
