Gas Pains (2 news stories)

Here's another good quote from the comments section:

"I was looking at a hybrid. When the battery has to be replaced it's very expensive. Around $5000 from what I was told. From what I understand the battery has a life expectancy of approx 5 years so if you have the vehicle for 10 years that's $10,000, ouch. Right now I can run to Walmart and get a battery. If I had the hybrid I'd need to take out a loan! Kind of speaks for itself."

How many of you have replaced the battery on your 2003 Prius?

 

Four cars ago I actually bought a Blazer (and cancelled before taking delivery).

One of the main selling points that was presented was that in any kind of a crash you and your passenger are far better off in the vehicle. Once I looked up actual statistics, I found that passenger risk of serious injury or death in a 35mph crash was far higher than in most cars. The sales person didn't even argue when I expressed frustration with their misinformation, just cancelled the paperwork.

 

You know, years ago that statement would have held some truth, smaller cars weren't very safe, and larger ones were. Technology in the past ten years, and extensive tests by auto manufacturers have made even the smallest cars safe on the road. Good example is the smart car, that bugger can hit a brick wall, and you can walk away from it. OTOH the perception of bigger is safer is much harder to get around, especially when you feel cramped in a car, if you are sitting with your shoulder less than an inch from the door, you do not feel safe. When the tire of the SUV is the same height as your door, you don't feel safe. Feeling safe and being safe are two totally different matters, one that is hard to merge together. I know when I am behind the wheel of my F350 behind a car I feel like I can drive over the top of it and keep going, and I am sure the person driving that car feels the same way, when in reality I know my truck would smash into the car and take serious damage, and I may get hurt pretty badly because I have only one airbag, in my steering wheel, but that doesn't protect my legs, and a lot of damage occurs in that area in a frontal or offset crash(reason I didnt like the prius). Another myth is body on frame is safer than unibody, which is false. If you look at cars of the 70's and 80's and early 90's it was true to some degree, but todays cars are designed to collapsed around the passenger compartment, where as BOF cars no matter how well designed cannot do that. All SUV's are body on frame, those that are not are not true SUV's, but CUV's. Examples of CUV would be Lexus CX, BMW, Hyundai, and a few others built on car chassis. To me a RAV 4 isn't an SUV, its too small, the smallest SUV is a Ford Explorer, its built on a truck frame. It may look bigger than my Camry, but it sure isn't on the inside.

 

@ 56 mpg in my Prius, all I can say is, "I pity the fools."

Harry

 

They have been spreading the false information about hybrid battery cost and safety since well before I bought my first Prius. Others still thing we have to plug in our hybrids. They thought that was a bad thing to have to do. Now wouldn't that be nice.

 

"We want to get rid of it, but the dealers won't give you anything for it."

For those that do not trade in their SUVs soon, but instead plan to wait another several years before trading in their SUVs ... no dealer is going to accept your paper weight in five years from now. Dealer lots are already flooded with used SUVs ... for every additional one SUV that they add, the amount they will offer for the next SUV decreases according to a differential equation. When the lot is full, they won't be accepting any more.

 

Now wait just one cotton pickin' minute! SUVs are very safe with an empty gas tank.:drum:

Bob Wilson

 

It's kind of funny how some people bad mouth the reliability and misinformed maintanence cost of hybrids. I think all hybrids come with a standard 10 year warranty on the hybrid system. And a large percentage of these bad mouthers still refer to 4 cylinder engines as a "V4". To all of these people, "Shut up and save some money!"
:rant:

 

Let's play connect the dots. Identify the stage for each SUV owner in the articles:

Denial
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance

RIP SUV

 

Right, how much is a new transmission that they would pay and consider that as part of owning a car? And isn't it closer to $3000?

 

You would not have to replace the battery twice. The battery that comes in the car would give you the first 5K miles, and the replacement would give you the second 5K. (FYI: batteries do not become completely useless. My three-year-old cell phone battery lasted a full week when brand new. Today, I charge it once every 24 hours, BUT IT STILL WORKS!)

Looking at fuel alone:
Expedition/Tahoe: (15000mi/14mpg)($4/gal)= $4286 per year
Prius: (15000mi/45mpg)($4/gal)= $1333 per year
Difference is $4286-$1333= $2953 per year, so for ten years, the difference is $29,530 :frusty::rip:

Keep on Truckin'! :smokin:

 

Exactly. Very good point, it would pay for itself in the first year.

 

Yeah--the SUV has to go. Very inefficient. Just a reincarnation of the big cars we used to have that became dinosaurs in the 70s during the last gas crunch. That one, by the way, was a lot worse. It wasn't the price, it was the availability of gas. You had to wait in line at the gas station to buy a few gallons. And cars got 10 mpg in those days. That experience made Jimmy Carter a one-term president.
This time it is not as bad--just the price. Plenty of gas. Some people will pay because they can't afford to change cars. Others will take a hit. The sensible thing maybe is to buy a small used car as a backup for cheap transport around town.

 

I do not understand everyone's problem with plugging in a car.(not you, the sheeple) Every house I have lived in has had at least 2 outlets in the garage, what is the big deal? No garage? Then run an extension cord out to your driveway. I think people are just lazy.

 

Actually, I think it was the Iranian hostage screw-ups, and the really high interest rates that cost Jimmy Carter his re-election bid. Plus Ronald Reagan was extremely popular.

 

My favorite part is down in the comments...

Perfectly sensible.

Then...

Talk about missing the point... Someone should explain to him how having no hills is actually an advantage.

Tim

 

whatever happened to those 55 mph highway speed limits from the 70s? I mean the enforced ones. Now a lot of the highways are 65-70.

 

Home Heating Oil Lockin Rates Hit $5.00 For Winter 08 Here in NY today!

 

Last night coming home around midnight, i figure i'd try the 55 MPH thing, but went only to 60 to follow a truck...all i have to say is even living on a hill in San Diego and everywhere i go being a hill up or down, 300 miles with 4 pips left isnt that bad, my record is a mere 345 miles with 2 pips left