No Wonder Many People Are Disappointed With Hybrids
I purchased a Prius earlier in the year, and I went in with my eyes wide open. I knew it would cost more than say, a Corolla (which I already had), get probably 15 mpg more than the 30 mpg I was getting, and get me in the car pool lane. I also knew about the tax rebate I would get at the end of the year (even though when I checked the Feds still hadn’t figured out how they were going to do it). Personally, I’m very satisfied.
Apparently, according to J.D. Power and Associates, many buyers or potential buyers go in knowing nothing about hybrids… which could lead to a lot of dissatisfaction.
The company surveyed prospective buyers who said that hybrids will cost more than $5,200 above comparable vehicles (about 50% above reality) while they expect hybrids to get 28 more miles per gallon than conventional vehicles. Come on people, where do you get your information, or are you too busy voting repeatedly for your American Idol? J.D. Power should have asked the question a second time after explaining reality. [Source: Autopia]
We Say: The good thing is buyers expect the hybrids to cost more than they do (although I’m not sure $2,600 is right based on my experience. That’s not taking into account that you can, for example, bargain for a good, below MSRP price for a Corolla, but you pay MSRP or more for a Prius). But 28 mpg more than conventional vehicles? Some only get a few mpg over the same model in conventional form (Honda Accord Hybrid, for example). Come on!
One Comment
Wayne Anthony
April 15th, 2008
at 9:47am
Regarding people’s dissatisfaction with Hybrid car purchases: Unlike many people, I did a fair amount of investigation before I bought my Toyota Prius. I chose the Prius over the Honda (in spite of having been a loyal Honda owner for more than twenty years) for three primary reasons. 1. The hybrid synergy system on the Prius is superior to the Honda system; 2. The superior system produces greater MPG; 3. The Prius has more back seat room, and with fold down back seats, more cargo space.
Yes I paid more than I would have for a Honda. but I did not pay over the sticker price. By checking prices on the internet and working with the internet sales manager at the dealership, I got a great price.
One of the reasons people may be dissatisfied with their Hybrid car is that they don’t take the time to learn how to drive it. If you drive a Hybrid car just like your previous car, your MPG will not be as high as you expected. Heavy acceleration, heavy breaking and the like will destroy the advantages of the Hybrid system.
Join one of the user groups, learn how to drive your Hybrid and you too can acheive 50 MPG as I am doing with mone. In the first 3600 miles of driving my Prius I have saved over $175. No this will not pay for the difference in the price I paid for my car, but I’m saving money and helping to reduce our country’s reliance on fossil fuels.
One of the things that I did not discover until after I began to really learn about my Prius was the savings on maintenance. One example – because of the regenerative braking system, many Prius owners have gone 75,000 to 100.000 miles without requiring new brakes. Yes, there are several sophisticated systems that are expensive to replace if they fail, but buy an extended warranty just before your standard 3yr/36,000 mile warranty runs out and you will be just fine.