Tell me about your hybrid car

[maleficentmom]

I just saw your location OP. I am near you. I bought my Camry at Phil Bachman Toyota in Johnson City last year. It's defiantly a small world!

The Camry is pretty roomy to me, I had a Ford Mustang before I traded it in and it was super small.

I have never had a problem with space in the Camry. We have had luggage for 4 people in the trunk plus shopping for a 4 day 3 night trip and were fine.

The sales man did tell me that the trunk was a little smaller due to the hybrid parts being there but we haven't had an issue with it.

Please beware of Phil Bachman...I bought a Certified van from them(was like pulling teeth to get the key fob opener and they refused me a spare key), finally after nothing but problems from my sliding door(and a being told lies by their service dept about how they couldn't even call the Platinum warranty company for me and the door tear down was over $300..it was I found out later $40ish at their place and $38 at another)Got aggravated and took it to Toyota of kingsport and 2 mechanics there told me "the whole side of that van has been torn out", paint isn't even Toyota paint from front door to back on that side...they even reran a carfax for me because they thought surely i had missed something....Now all PB Toyota wants to do is "fix" the door on a van that was misrepresented to me and is devalued..oh and give me some oil changes from their service dept..like i would want to go back!...toyotas are great cars,just wouldn't buy one there

 

[travisx4]

I bought a new Prius last year. It is not the luxury car I am used to but it gets roughly 53 mpg on regular gas. The tank only holds a little over 9 gallons of gas and it lasts for 450 plus miles on a tank. It is still under warranty with a 2 year maint. plan so no issues yet. Plenty of room both in back seat and hatch. With the price of gas lately and being able to use regular instead of premium I am saving quite a few dollars.

 

[DisneyWisher]

I work for a Roadside Assistance program. Please know that if you have a dead battery you will be towed. No company will jumpstart, you could be electrocuted(sp) trying to jumpstart a hybrid. If you have one get roadside through your insurance company. A lot cheaper than AAA. Usually $1-2 a month. They will tow to a repair facility or policy limit. Not to mention lockouts, tire changes and winching. Most insurance companies also don't cap how many times per year you can use it.

 

[Bell30012]

I work for a Roadside Assistance program. Please know that if you have a dead battery you will be towed. No company will jumpstart, you could be electrocuted(sp) trying to jumpstart a hybrid.

Sorry to tell you but you are misinformed. Your statement is a blanket statement and doesn't apply to all hybrids. The 2000-06 Honda Insight is equipped with a 12 volt starter and a 12 volt battery in addition to the IMA battery pack and its 144 volt motor. In the unlikely event the vehicle were to need a jumpstart there is absolutely no more danger jumpstarting it than any other vehicle.

Let's think about this. If your unable to start the car with the 144 volt IMA battery motor then it is not going to have any voltage to begin with. Second, the 12 volt battery is under the hood just like any other car. Slap a jump box on it and crank it. It's a standard 3 cylinder gasoline engine.

Are people scared of hybrids? Sure, they are because they don't understand them and how they work.

 

[minnie1928]

Sorry to tell you but you are misinformed. Your statement is a blanket statement and doesn't apply to all hybrids. The 2000-06 Honda Insight is equipped with a 12 volt starter and a 12 volt battery in addition to the IMA battery pack and its 144 volt motor. In the unlikely event the vehicle were to need a jumpstart there is absolutely no more danger jumpstarting it than any other vehicle.

I agree, a friend of mine has repeatedly jumpstarted his brother in law's lexus hybrid without any issue.

 

[minnie1928]

Something else to think about...someone PLEASE correct me if I am wrong... My neighbor has an Escape Hybrid. He told us just recently that he has to replace his battery after 5 years and that each battery is $6000 - and there are 2 of them!! YIKES! (Again, that is what he told us, so if that is incorrect, please forgive me). Just something to think about too - other/different costs associated with those vehicles.

Not sure about the Escape, but I'm pretty sure my Camry batteries are warrantied to 150,000 miles. And Consumer Reports just ran an article about the batteries (not sure, but I think it was for the Prius). They were running at 200,000 miles (I believe...working off memory here) and the batteries were running nearly as efficiently as they did when they were new.

 

[DopeyDame]

I had a 2003 civic hybrid that I LOVED! Great mpg, no problem with servicing (except a Jiffy Lube - they wanted to charge me ~$100 for an oil change for a hybrid. Clearly, I said thanks but no and paid $20 at the dealer instead) and a joy to drive. Unfortunately, the transmission blew after just over 100,000 miles. It ws the first version of the car, and it sounds like the transmission problems have been fixed.
I got a scion xD to replace it that I'm really not happy with and I'm about to trade it in for another civic hybrid. Like a pp said, I hated the dashboard on the prius when we test drove it, but loved everything about my civicfor over 5 years.

 

[princessbride6205]

I looked at the Civic Hybrid, the Insight and the Prius last year. I decided on the Prius since it had the best gas mileage of the bunch and I've always wanted one since they first came out. I've been driving it for a year and really like it. In the MN winters my gas mileage average falls to about 46mpg. During the summer I average 59 mpg. In our short spring and fall, I average 50-55mpg.
Good luck with your search!

 

[Bell30012]

To be honest since mileage was the most important thing to me at this time, I have a killer commute, I sought out a 2000-06 Honda Insight MT. The car has phenomenal mileage that remained unsurpassed until the Chevrolet Volt came out. I average 55+ mpg but on trips I exceed 60 mpg. My record is 64.8 mpg on a 55 mile trip.

I went from spending about $250 a week in fuel to $60!!! I still drive my gas guzzling Lincoln Navigator or my not so much better Ford Thunderbird on weekends and locally.

We are making our first run to WDW a week from Saturday night. I'm excited to see what it winds up costing us for fuel on this trip.

 

[crisi]

I looked at the Civic Hybrid, the Insight and the Prius last year. I decided on the Prius since it had the best gas mileage of the bunch and I've always wanted one since they first came out. I've been driving it for a year and really like it. In the MN winters my gas mileage average falls to about 46mpg. During the summer I average 59 mpg. In our short spring and fall, I average 50-55mpg.
Good luck with your search!

This is something its important to know. Your mileage drops like a rock in the Winter. All cars do, but you really notice it with a hybrid. (I get about 44 in the MN winter, 56 right now, and will have a few 58-60 weeks in the summer).

Also, short trips are not good on mileage. Hybrids do warm up their gas engine and during that time they don't get great mileage. Someone with a five mile commute will not benefit more from a hybrid than just a high gas mileage traditional car.

Best mileage tends for me to involve some city driving. A lot of freeway driving and I'll use more gas - still get good mileage, but not as good.

And you have to be willing to drive for mileage. If you jackrabbit start from a stop, stomp on the break at a light, and think every car in front of you is a candidate for passing - don't drive a hybrid - you'll be disappointed in the mileage. Great mileage takes driving in a zen state of "I don't care if that guy is passing me" and "I'm happy over here in the right lane."

 

[mnrose]

This is something its important to know. Your mileage drops like a rock in the Winter. All cars do, but you really notice it with a hybrid. (I get about 44 in the MN winter, 56 right now, and will have a few 58-60 weeks in the summer).

Also, short trips are not good on mileage. Hybrids do warm up their gas engine and during that time they don't get great mileage. Someone with a five mile commute will not benefit more from a hybrid than just a high gas mileage traditional car.

Best mileage tends for me to involve some city driving. A lot of freeway driving and I'll use more gas - still get good mileage, but not as good.

And you have to be willing to drive for mileage. If you jackrabbit start from a stop, stomp on the break at a light, and think every car in front of you is a candidate for passing - don't drive a hybrid - you'll be disappointed in the mileage. Great mileage takes driving in a zen state of "I don't care if that guy is passing me" and "I'm happy over here in the right lane."

Another MN Prius family here. I think the mileage drop in the winter is about the same, percentage wise, as a conventional vehicle. You just notice it more. For example, my mini van (Toyota) struggles to get 19 mpg in the coldest weeks, but will easily do 24 in the summer. So a drop of around 20%. In the Prius (2nd gen) we go from around 52-53, to 44. So, a similar percentage drop. Just seems bigger in the Prius because it's so high to begin with. When I was grousing about the mileage drop last night to my passenger, he said "you're complaining about 44? I'm lucky to get 10 with my Avalanche."

Love the Prius, even in the winter.

 

[disneymomoftwins]

I work in the service department of a new car dealership. Please research the costs of repairs on hybrid vehicles before you buy. Check the price of batteries. We had a customer with a hybrid with 60,000 miles on it and part of the hybrid system went bad. The part alone was $6000. Customer chose to junk the car. Also check to see if the dealer that sells the car has a hybrid trained technician on staff. Good luck in your search!

 

[ceecee]

Dh has had his Camry Hybrid for almost 3 years and LOVES it! The only thing we've had done on it are oil changes. He gets over 40 mi per gallon and since he drives 30 miles to work it's great. It has a really nice ride and the interior is very roomy.

 

[JB2K]

I get 55 miles per gallon in my Prius. It is expensive enough to fix that mine has an extended warrenty on it - the hybrid system is about $7k if it goes out.

I now have a Chevy Cruze -- it's bigger than a Prius (or any of the other small cars, for that matter) and gets up to 42 miles per gallon.

And it's not a hybrid...

 

[crisi]

I now have a Chevy Cruze -- it's bigger than a Prius (or any of the other small cars, for that matter) and gets up to 42 miles per gallon.

And it's not a hybrid...

Cool. A Jetta diesel gets pretty good gas mileage as well and isn't badly sized. My old regular gas Jetta did 35-38 in the summer. Both the Cruze and the Jetta are also a LOT cheaper upfront.

I didn't buy mine only for the gas mileage. I bought mine because I wanted to send a message to the industry that alternative fuel cars were worth continuing to invest in.

A Prius and the Chevy Cruze have similar interior passenger volumes - 93.2 for a Prius and 95 for the Cruze.

 

[blairbear]

Please beware of Phil Bachman...I bought a Certified van from them(was like pulling teeth to get the key fob opener and they refused me a spare key), finally after nothing but problems from my sliding door(and a being told lies by their service dept about how they couldn't even call the Platinum warranty company for me and the door tear down was over $300..it was I found out later $40ish at their place and $38 at another)Got aggravated and took it to Toyota of kingsport and 2 mechanics there told me "the whole side of that van has been torn out", paint isn't even Toyota paint from front door to back on that side...they even reran a carfax for me because they thought surely i had missed something....Now all PB Toyota wants to do is "fix" the door on a van that was misrepresented to me and is devalued..oh and give me some oil changes from their service dept..like i would want to go back!...toyotas are great cars,just wouldn't buy one there

Wow we had totally different experiences. I am sorry to hear that yours was bad

I guess it goes to show how the same place can give two people completely different customer experiences. I needed an extra key they only had one for my car, I told they guy that it was a must because it is one of the really expensive ones where it has the computer chip and that I couldn't afford not to have two. He got me one no problem. I have had my car for over a year, with no problems. I got 4 free oil changes with mine. We had an issue with the postal service sending my tags back to the DMV, and PBT gave us 3 months worth of temp tags with no problem either and they were the ones that fixed the issue with the DMV for me.

I would go back based on my experince with them but I can totally see why you wouldn't.

 

[Bell30012]

The manufacturers all have different policies on battery warranty. 2000-06 Honda Insights have a 10 year, 150,000 mile warranty on the battery. And that warranty timeframe runs from the date the vehicle is put into service not manufactured. One quick phone call to Honda of America will get you your inservice date for your car.

The Honda's use an IMA system where the Toyotas use a Synergy Drive system. That's why when I see blanket statements about the mileage, maintenance etc, I encourage people to do some research on their own before purchasing. Insight Central will give you all the information that you ever wanted to know about the Insights.

I saw an earlier post that said that people with short commutes would not benefit because of the warm up time. Again, something that will vary with each vehicle. Toyota Prius has an EV button just for this type of commute. The car goes full electric for short commutes at 25 mph.

 

[crisi]

I saw an earlier post that said that people with short commutes would not benefit because of the warm up time. Again, something that will vary with each vehicle. Toyota Prius has an EV button just for this type of commute. The car goes full electric for short commutes at 25 mph.

But the battery will drain pretty fast - faster than a six mile commute, and you'll be back to the gas engine - I can get about two miles on battery only (I live in a hilly area - which is really difficult for the car). And 25 mph annoys anyone driving behind you when its a 30 or 35 mph road. Also, in winter I can only get to about 11 mph before the gas engine kicks in.

 

[abmitch01]

I've had my Prius for 2 yrs and absolutely love it. I'm a hospice home care nurse so I make lots of short jaunts in the city. I get about 45-48 mpgs. My only complaint is it's not great in the snow.

I thought it would be a tight fit for my two teens and two dogs and all our stuff but it's roomier than it looks.

 

[Bell30012]

One big disadvantage is that my Insight only has seating for two. On the positive side I get great mileage out of it. Before the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt the 2000-06 Honda Insight had the highest mpg of any cars ever sold in the USA. I am very happy with mine.

My mileage is a bit lower than many others with the same car but that stems from me running the air conditioner. I like to be comfortable. I am happy with nearly 50 mpg. The fact is I save so much on gas that I feel like I've had a pay raise.