(While only tangentially related to diesel, I include this thread here since, as diesel owners, we're interested in the cost of running our cars vis-a-vis other technologies.)

Never owned a hybrid...don't know that I ever will. But I'm intrigued by the technology....and have wondered whether a plug-in diesel hybrid might be something of a holy grail.

Hybrids are very fuel efficient....but at what ultimate cost? My daughter has driven an 03 Civic hybrid for the last couple of years. Loves the car, loves the fuel economy. But, at last, the IMA battery light has come on and she's told that the battery needs to be replaced. Cost? $5,000! (includes a whopping 15 hours of labor.) That's about the value of the car. So clearly whatever money one saves on fuel along the way is more than eaten up by the eventual cost of maintaining the technology that saves the money in the first place.

I'm trying to figure out what happens when the battery actually dies....does the car continue to drive fine? If so, at what reduced fuel economy? Hardly seems to make sense to spend the $5,000.....especially since she doesn't have that kind of money.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 159k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 178k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 75k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife