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Hybrids Don’t Cost More to Repair

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by zenMachine, Feb 11, 2009.

  1. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    These days, your new Toyota Prius or any other hybrid shouldn’t cost more to repair, on average, than your Corolla or Camry. Despite vague worries about “hidden costs,†not to mention outright misinformation, hybrid repair costs have normalized over time.

    The data comes from a new study by Audatex, a company that automates processing for insurance claims. Its survey looked at the costs of auto repairs for cars from model years 2001 through 2008.

    It found that in the first few years (2001-2006), hybrid cars did cost slightly more to repair. In fact, the Toyota Prius—the only dedicated hybrid on the US market for many years, aside from a tiny handful of first-generation Honda Insights—cost 8.4 percent more to repair than other cars of a similar size.

    Study: Hybrids Don?t Cost More to Repair | Hybrid Cars
     
    #1 zenMachine, Feb 11, 2009
  2. RobH

    RobH Senior Member

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    Amazing what you can do with statistics. One gets the impression from this study that my 2006 is more expensive to repair that a 2007 or 2008. Even though they are exactly the same car. What isn't clear from the study is that now that there are more non-dealer options for repair, both the 2006 and the 2007/2008 are cheaper to repair.

    What does come through is that the popularity of a car impacts the cost of repair. It's not the complexity of the car, but the number of options available in sources of repair.
     
    #2 RobH, Feb 11, 2009
  3. walter592

    walter592 Junior Member

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    Frankly i find this very hard to believe when it's nearly 10k for a replacement transmission in a prius, or how about the MFD nav unit costing 5k? needless to say if something goes wrong in the hybrid side out of warranty....
    I think this comes from collision repair costs where I can see a fender replacement would cost the same whether it's a hybrid or not.
     
    #3 walter592, Feb 11, 2009
  4. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    It might not cost much more to repair a hybrid after an accident vs. similarly priced conventional cars. However as Walter pointed out, hybrid post-warranty support can cost much more if a Prius has a transaxle failure or an MFD failure. Most parts of the country do not have Prius service available from independents with access to salvage, or non-Toyota parts. If you have to rely on your Toyota dealer for post-warranty service and pay list for new parts, forget it.
     
    #4 Patrick Wong, Feb 11, 2009
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