Tell me about your hybrid vehicle experiences

[LuvOrlando]

When we were in Orlando to visit Universal, EPIC, IOA and some WDW spots we were unexpectedly given a Hybrid Pacifica. At first it stressed me out because I'm unfamiliar and it was empty with e teeny bit of charge but we filled it with gas and overall some of the experience was pretty good.

As our Compass slides towards the end of its life with us wanting it, we are now considering it might be a good thing to have a hybrid second car for unexpected energy issues, which seem to be a theme since my early childhood in the 70s. It seems like the industry has added a decent amount of charging stations to the infrastructure so that is a good thing. We didn't use the charging stations at EPIC because I didn't feel like learning was the way to go on our vacay and I wasn't sure if chargers are proprietary or universal fit plus I read about fees for leaving them too long at some places, who wants the headache of running back like it is a meter. Anyhoo, still, the extended milage seemed to be useful so now I am wondering about the pragmatic side of it like price of upkeep though because more components seems like more things that can break. Is the electric side of the vehicle expensive to fix? Do they break easily? Is it tough to find mechanics? Whole new world, feeling a bit "Your mission, should you choose to accept it" TBH, but the rental was an overall good experience so now it is in the running.

I was in a Tesla once recently too, UBER I think, and liked it more than expected. But an entirely electric vehicle seems like a bigger undertaking, however, the buffer for assisted driving does seem to be an intelligent feature as I get older, feels pragmatic.

 

[soccerdad72]

I don't have any experience with hybrid vehicles, but I'm confused - a hybrid shouldn't require charging, unless you're talking about a plug-in hybrid.

I'd like our next second vehicle to be a PHEV, but inventory in our area is limited. Hopefully they'll become more widely available in the next couple years.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I don't have any experience with hybrid vehicles, but I'm confused - a hybrid shouldn't require charging, unless you're talking about a plug-in hybrid.

I'd like our next second vehicle to be a PHEV, but inventory in our area is limited. Hopefully they'll become more widely available in the next couple years.

It had a regular fuel tank opening where they normally go which we used. It also had what looked like another one in the front towards the hood we figured was for electric. The gas didn't contribute to charging the electric storage while we had it, at least I didn't see it in the gauge so I THINK it is intended to be plugged in

 

[sam_gordon]

Oldest DD's first car was a Prius (Hybrid). Youngest DD's first car is a Hybrid Camry. I've driven and ridden in both. I would be satisfied with either. Oldest's gave up on her, but it wasn't the Hybrid system, and she put a LOT of miles on it. Youngest's is still going (knock on wood) and it's a 2007.

When we replace DW's minivan, I will definitely look at a Hybrid, would probably prefer it, but don't know that it will be the plug-in variety.

I don't think there's anything wrong with hybrid systems at all. You need to look at the manufacturer's reputation and experience with the vehicle (which you could say about any).

 

[soccerdad72]

It had a regular fuel tank opening where they normally go which we used. It also had what looked like another one in the front towards the hood we figured was for electric. The gas didn't contribute to charging the electric storage while we had it, at least I didn't see it in the gauge so I THINK it is intended to be plugged in

It must have been a plug in hybrid.

 

[craedaisy12]

I have a 2016 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. This August will make 10 years with it. My husband and I traded in both our cars and got this one because he has a work vehicle. We haven't had any issues with the hybrid part. We have only had normal car issues.

It charges when we drive. We had to get a new car battery end of last year... definitely used the life of it and the hybrid works better now with our new battery. We have over 192,000 miles on it! I know hybrid cars are different now a days but we enjoy it. We get an average of 30 MPG.

 

[DeeBee3]

I'm looking into the hybrid forester. I have a gas one now and have only ever owned Subarus. I drive a lot of miles so the idea of saving on gas is very attractive. What I like about the Forester is that it is not a plug-in. I don't have to worry about an at-home charger or if my older home has the right infrastructure for the electricity. The gas engine itself regenerates the battery which is MUCH smaller than all-electric.

 

[DeeBee3]

I have a 2016 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid. This August will make 10 years with it. My husband and I traded in both our cars and got this one because he has a work vehicle. We haven't had any issues with the hybrid part. We have only had normal car issues.

It charges when we drive. We had to get a new car battery end of last year... definitely used the life of it and the hybrid works better now with our new battery. We have over 192,000 miles on it! I know hybrid cars are different now a days but we enjoy it. We get an average of 30 MPG.

How much does replacing a battery cost?

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I have not owned one, but I drove one on a recent work trip, and it was fine, just like any other car, except it only used like 1/3 tank of gas for at least 8 hours of driving time. It was the non plug-in hybrid.

We are looking to get a new car in the next couple of years, maybe Rav4. I was looking at prices recently, and right now I'd choose the non-plug-in hybrid model. The plug-in hybrid lists at about 10K more than the non-plug-in, and the fully electric is another 10K over that. While I'd like the plug-in variety, it's not worth the cost adder to me, plus the non-plug-in hybrid technology has been around quite a long time at this point, so I feel really good about it.

 

[_19disnA]

Have to compare features/prices to see what works for you. Some car companies want to jump on the 'hybrid' bandwagon by adding some type of lithium battery and use it as more of a marketing thing. Check to see how much it adds to the price and what actual benefit you get from it. The main purpose is to supplement the gas engine to provide extra power.

Some car companies don't make it easy to figure out what this feature actually costs either by burying it in with a number of other features or by only offering the hybrid in one line of their cars.

 

[longboard55]

I have a Lexus, amazing car, gets average 34 mpg for a mid size SUV and 40 if you just go 65 on a flat surface. Long range- over 400 miles, 12 gallon fill up instead of 20. It was only a couple thousand more than the gas version. The actual plug in hybrid was a lot more.

 

[bluezy]

We had a 2015 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid (bought it used in 2016). It got ok gas mileage, but not significantly better than the non-hybrid version of that car got. The engine started to go shortly after it was out of warranty. The check engine light didn't come on at all, but we could feel the engine "surge" occasionally. We took it to the dealer who drove the car and ran diagnostics and told us there was nothing wrong. We continued driving it and a few weeks later the same thing happened. Took it back to the dealer and they told us the same thing. So we took it to our trusted engine/transmission mechanic and he told us that while the diagnostics were showing "normal" his experience told him it was the start of the engine failing and that it could last a year or two, or it could fail in a few days. He recommended getting rid of the car now (before the engine actually went) as it would cost about $8500 to replace the engine (as compared to half that cost for a non-hybrid engine...plus with a non-hybrid we would have had the option for a rebuilt engine at an even lower cost). About $2,000 of that cost was the dealer fee for reprogramming the hybrid system after the new engine would be installed. We decided to sell the car to Carvana. This was during the pandemic and they paid us about $2,000 less than what we paid for the car when we bought it 4+ years earlier because used cars were in such demand at that time so we were happy about that. We knew at worst they would piece out the car and make a profit just selling all the batteries and other things in the car. We replaced that car with a non-hybrid because used car inventory was very low during the pandemic.

Fast forward to about a year ago and our daughter needed a new car so we gave her our non-hybrid car and bought a 2025 Hyundai Tucson plug-in hybrid. I have mixed feelings about the car but DH loves it (and it's his car -- I rarely drive it). If he doesn't need to use the a/c or heat during the drive, he can get to work and back every day just using electricity (about 25 miles round trip. The car is supposed to be able to get about 35 miles out of a full charge but that's under ideal conditions. We usually get about 28-30.). If he uses a/c or heat, he can only do about 75% of the trip using electricity. The car has a 10 gallon (I think...maybe 11) gas tank and does get decent gas mileage when we're only using gas, but not significantly better than what we'd get with a non-hybrid. We did see a noticeable increase in our electric usage at the house (from charging the car) since we've bought it which we expected, but that's something to keep in mind when considering buying a plug-in hybrid. While we are constantly shopping around for electric prices and usually have about the lowest price available for this area, it's still an increased cost for us because of the car. Even though we purchase less gas for that car, the savings are somewhat offset by the charging costs. Overall, we're still saving money, but not as much as advertising leads you to believe (because they always just focus on how much money you save by not having to buy gas as often. They never include the extra cost of charging the car. And the extra yearly fee that some states charge hybrid owners since they're not paying as much in gas taxes. I think our fee was $150 this year.). Our son lives in San Diego and also has a plug-in hybrid. While everyone knows that gas is expensive in San Diego, many people don't realize that electricity is also very expensive. He's done the math and he's breaking even on the cost of driving a hybrid vs. a non-hybrid.

There's a lot to think about when buying a hybrid. Don't let a car salesman convince you that even though you'll pay more to buy a hybrid, you'll save more than that by not having to buy as much gas. If it's a plug-in hybrid, that savings might not be as big as they are implying...especially if you live in an area with high electricity costs and/or an extremely hot or cold area of the country where you'll need to use heat or a/c a lot.

ETA: We drive *everywhere*. We have made the drive to Disney (2100 miles round trip) ten times and have another trip coming up in May. I would not want to make the trip with an all electric vehicle or even our plug-in hybrid. We have 2 other vehicles that are non-hybrids that we use for longer trips. We've taken the plug-in hybrid on trips that are about 200 miles one way but we don't charge the car while we're traveling, so we're running on mostly gas anyway.

 

[firefly_ris]

My husband drives a Ford Maverick hybrid. It does not plug in, just uses regenerative braking to charge the battery. This is a plus for me especially since our electric rates have skyrocketed and I am not interested in plugging another thing into my house.

It has a CVT transmission and gets an average of 40mpg and makes for a good commuter vehicle and easy to park when we go downtown due to its smaller size. It only has 37k on the clock right now, but haven't had any issues yet. It by nature of its design is not as home mechanic friendly as our other 2 vehicles, but we can still at least do oil changes ourselves. It can only tow 2000 pounds so my F150 does the big boy work, but it can tow a utility trailer with a 4 wheeler or lawn mower on it no problem. Together they are a good combo for our particular household, and the Maverick only cost us 23k when we bought it in 2023 - I believe the price has jumped a bit since then unfortunately. I wouldn't pay more than 26k for one. The "fit and finish" is fine but it definitely scuffs more easily on the interior than my truck and its lower price point reflects that. But we were interested in mileage and utility and my husband ordered the lowest trim package since he is not interested in bells and whistles. The Lariat trim definitely is more lux but we were not willing to pay up for that.

I believe the hybrid battery has a 10 year, 100k mile warranty on it, and I am also pretty sure their hybrid system is purchased from Toyota and is basically what's used in the Prius.

 

[Skippy918]

My husband had a 2004 Prius and now has a 2016 Prius. Great cars, great gas mileage. He did have to replace the hybrid battery on the old Prius. It was cheaper with a refurb battery. Got a few years on that.

 

[robinb]

I have a 2018 Honda Clarity plug-in hybrid. I can drive between 25 and 40 miles on a full charge alone, depending on the weather. That gets me around town so I only gas up twice a month. My car will charge the battery passively or I can tell it to specifically charge if I've forgotten to change it from EV to hybrid in time to have some kind of a charge. The car isn't happy without having at least a bit of a charge. My tank is a whopping 7 gallons so it's not a shock when I do fill up. I can go 300 miles on a full tank and a full charge.

Unfortunately, Honda no longer makes my car. I am bummed because I would get a new Clarity in a heartbeat.

 

[disneyseniors]

I'm looking into the hybrid forester. I have a gas one now and have only ever owned Subarus. I drive a lot of miles so the idea of saving on gas is very attractive. What I like about the Forester is that it is not a plug-in. I don't have to worry about an at-home charger or if my older home has the right infrastructure for the electricity. The gas engine itself regenerates the battery which is MUCH smaller than all-electric.

My daughter has a Rav-4 toyota hybrid and loves it. It also charges while via the gas engine. When we get another Subaru I would love to get a hybrid. My daughter has no complaints about her car at all.

 

[craedaisy12]

How much does replacing a battery cost?

it was just the car battery and not the hybrid battery. but they have a certain type that we had to get at the dealership. it ran us about $350. but the first lasted us 9 years so pretty good.

 

[AussieFan8]

I'm looking into the hybrid forester. I have a gas one now and have only ever owned Subarus. I drive a lot of miles so the idea of saving on gas is very attractive. What I like about the Forester is that it is not a plug-in. I don't have to worry about an at-home charger or if my older home has the right infrastructure for the electricity. The gas engine itself regenerates the battery which is MUCH smaller than all-electric.

I would love to hear what you think of it if you get it! I have a Forester now and am considering getting a hybrid Forester in 2-3 years.

 

[clappyclaps]

Fully electric Audi driver here if you ever want any views on going full electric. Albeit l live in the UK, where the infrastructure is probably different!

 

[leahgoogle]

DS has a 2023 Rav4 Hybrid (not plug-in) and it is a great vehicle. We are contemplating getting one when we get another vehicle. I know I am not ready for full electric with all the driving that we do, so this is a good compromise.