Hybrid, Electric, or Diesel?

[Bill Foster]

Paper or plastic
Sweet or unsweet
Regular or decaf
Hybrid or Light Diesel?

Fuel prices are creeping up again. Today, in my city, gas costs $3.29/gallon and diesel is over $4.00/gallon. Whenever gas approaches $3.75, many people, including me, think of purchasing a high fuel economy vehicle for our daily commute. I live in the city with the longest commute time in the country; average 1-hour. There

[creman]

*Most VW need a timing change every 100K (they suggest sooner) and it is not cheap. Add that to your cost
*Pruis and other hybrid/eletric are very expensive outside of their warranty and longterm reliability is still in question. Not to mention how often or expensive is the battery pack to replace.
*use $4 and the price difference between buying one of the mentioned cars and the gas you would save. When you see it would take 6+ years (this is used) to make up the cost difference, it starts not to matter so much

I'm still in the camp of small gas engines. For example, the honda CX, Honda civic, and if you want to die a geo....I think soon hybrids or diesels will be worth it, but if you already have a decent MPG car I don't see a logical choice other than buying a cheap beater.

Now find a good deal on a TDI Jetta that just had the chain replaced, it may be worth looking at. Just be careful and do the math is all I'm saying.

[EX121]

Another thing to think about is the overall 'environmental' cost of the Prius, the batteries are expensive to produce in this sense and to dispose of. so overall it may not be as 'green' as some folks think.
I would probably vote for the Jetta.

[protus]

Another thing to think about is the overall 'environmental' cost of the Prius, the batteries are expensive to produce in this sense and to dispose of. so overall it may not be as 'green' as some folks think.
I would probably vote for the Jetta.

which is the joke on hybrids..i laugh honestly when i see one.


i opted for gas. im stubborn lol. but my lil plain jane 6 speed manual kia rio hatch is avg 38-40mpg. ill stay at 40+ if... big if. i do my part. that means low rev shifts,,not dumping the gas...slow accelerations..and keeping hwy speeds between 55-65 mph.

i commute 80 miles a day (40 in,,and 40 home). gas prices here are 3.40.3.80$ per gallon. put some 93 in it yesterday full tank cost 27$ iirc. i run 87, but from time to time run the other stuff on pay days lol .


so 15k for my car or 30k++ for a hybrid to save 60$ in gas.......(20 extra mpg at avg 3$ a gallon)

[tech]

Staying with gasoline also...but then gas prices are dropping here, not rising. Down to $2.70 gallon today...

[rockriver]

I had a vw rabbit diesel... got 45 mpg easily... ran good until I put 4 grown men in the car and turned on the a/c...
embarrassing!
I wish I could find a used one now!
we have a Toyota camry hybrid... getting 41 overall.. runs strong. heavier car than the prius.. feels more secure.
several associates with the prius report getting low 50 mpg.
we were in los angeles for several days this summer. it appeared the preferred car for taxis was the prius...
this speaks good for mpg and reliability. traffic there was horrible.

one friend has 2 older model prius... they both have 140,000 + miles. he reports that the battery is not as effective as it was.
he doesn't plan on replacing the battery.. we'll see what happens.

i'm looking for something that runs on diesel... older model truck... maybe one that's got a beat up body?
or a vw with high miles. some associates have large farm fuel tanks.. we might could do some trading in an emergency.

[Tackleberry]

Staying with gasoline also...but then gas prices are dropping here, not rising. Down to $2.70 gallon today...

Last January I opted to stay with gasoline and had the in-line 6 engine rebuilt in my '92 Cherokee. I get about 18 mpg and here in AZ gas is about $2.90/gallon. I had played around with the idea of replacing it with a Cummins BT4 diesel engine. Ultimately, there were too many upgrades and adaptions that I would have had to do to make the switch and I did not feel comfortable making them. I do like the idea of a diesel engine though. Definitely not a fan of the Prius type vehicles. As others have pointed out, the battery is not environmentally friendly to produce or dispose of and the price mark up on the car, typically, makes the financial proposition unfeasible.

[610Alpha]

I used to have an 80 mile 1 way commute and I was getting 32 mpg in my 2000 Lumina (EPA rated it at 28 mpg). I know participate in a Van Pool at the halfway point of my journey which is saving me money. I have also reduced the number of days in the office down to 3. It all adds up.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/12/the-diesels-are-finally-coming/

http://cnettv.cnet.com/2014-chevy-cr...-50151967.html --- this one gets around 50 mpg.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2013...NEWS/131019833 -- GM Bi-fuel....CNG and gasoline. In the Farm Show Magazine a lot of farmers have been using CNG and Diesel to get crazy fuel efficiency.

I will wait for a used diesel :).

[justanothergunnut]

I did the 80 mile each way thing for 3+ years.. I don't miss that not even a little. Luckily I was driving a company vehicle or getting paid mileage on my own vehicle. Still though, 160 miles of commute in Southern Kalifornia is brutal.. Then I did 20 miles in Idaho. Boy was it tuff driving those 40 miles looking at geese, ducks, deer and pheasant every day.. Man I hate California!!!

[Machrism82]

Hate Prius with a passion. Someone I used to know had two. He loved them but once his red one wasn't running right. It was roughly 20 miles or so from end of warranty. So he had it towed. Driving it was further thanthat. Battery was bad and got it fixed for free. I believe he said it would have been $3,000. Yeah. Kiss my ***.