IMO, it makes no financial sense to purchase a hybrid car at this time unless a) you NEED a car or b) you can find one used.
Firstly, anyone who buys a brand new car off the lot is throwing away thousands of dollars right off the bat. That is money that you'll never get back. And hybrids are typically much more expensive than regular cars of the same size. Second, buying a car when you don't need one is a waste of money, too. For example, my daily driver is a '92 Ford Bronco with 4x4 and 5.0 engine in it. The thing is an absolute pig and with a 30 gallon tank, it costs almost $70 to fill it up. Thankfully, I work from home. When gas prices went through the roof this past summer, it took me more than $130 to fill it up. Even still, the fact of the matter is that I bought the truck used and paid cash for it. By doing so, I'm saving nearly $800 a MONTH over what I was paying for the loan and insurance on the brand new Mustang GT that it replaced. When you buy a new car, you're paying a loan, higher insurance costs, and absorbing very rapid depreciation. Gas prices may very well spike back up to $3 a gallon this summer, and I'll still be ahead of the game driving my gas-guzzling V-8 SUV. Karl Groves Master Certified CIW http://www.karlgroves.com Will Work For Parts: http://chevelle.karlcore.com/detail.php?id=3 > -----Original Message----- > From: Larry Williams [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Friday, February 03, 2006 7:59 AM > To: The Chevelle Mailing List > Subject: Re: [Chevelle-list] OT: hybrids > > What scares me is the repair cost for that technology. You > might check out what the long term maintenance costs are > (rebuild, batteries, electric motor). > > Larry > > > John Nasta wrote: > > >Anybody driving a hybrid? Any thoughts on the best or worst ones? I > >hear the hybrid drive makes the most difference in local, > stop-and-go > >type driving, which is what I do a lot of. > > > >What's up with that Ford Fusion? I heard that Ford had terrible > >problems with their new mid-engine GT and had to buy a whole > bunch of > >them back because they were so screwed up. Of course mentioning a > >Fusion and a GT as a segue is bizarre, but so be it. We try > not to use the F word around here. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >
