Dear Valued Hybrid Customer... - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Frank X. Morris · #16 12-01-2005, 07:40 AM

Howdy All,
My 85 Dodge Colt got 44 mpg. I sold it to a friend when it had a 110,000 miles on it. It got tired with ocer 300,000 miles on it. You know people in America aren't worried about economy when a car that is so good is discontinued because no one buys it. I get 30mpg on the highway with the PT.

Biodiesel300TD · #17 12-01-2005, 12:15 PM

Most Prius onwners that don't get the claimed 50-60 mpg don't drive them like you have to to get that milage. You have to drive them like you have an egg under your foot. Soft and easy. Highway driving won't yield that milage. They are meant for city stop and go driving. They stomp the gas petal and take off, leaving their great mileage behind. I do agree that a hybrid that get the same milage as a normal gas car is pointless. I know someone that bought the Ford Escape which only gets 28mpg, and they are paying for the hybrid technology, when they could buy a subaru outback and get the same results and possibly less headaches down the road.
Also some hybrid owers buy them for emissions reasons. Higher MPG can equal lower emssion. But, a VW TDI gets great milages, it still burns diesel can have pretty nasty emissions, unless they burn biodiesel there isn't really much difference as far as emissions go.

rg2098 · #18 12-01-2005, 01:10 PM

A/C dropes the mpg down almost 5 according to my math teacher who bought one.

NKowi · #19 12-01-2005, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

I agree with you..you are far better off with the VW TDI than the Prius or any of the other Hybrids 99% of the time.

Hell the prius will make the Newer Benzes look easy to maintain when the milage starts to get up there.....

Stop the presses and Katy bar the door - BHD and I agree!!!

Meta6981 · #20 12-01-2005, 07:32 PM

So the college guy was right...I wrote a few papers on this topic, diesel versus the hybrid focussing on the prius. All my teachers tried to punh holes in my arguments, about fuel economy and emissions with bio. HA I was right. And By the way BHD i loved your first response.

BamaMB · #21 12-01-2005, 07:49 PM

I love the way the hybrid has been portrayed as something akin to a perpetual motion machine. You would think a owner would have to stop and drain excess fuel out from the tank from all the fuel savings. Yet good old thermodynamic tells us that energy is not created and with the hybrid very little is recovered under NORMAL driving conditions. It's a compromise in engineering. Build a efficient IC engine car or a electric car with power and range. Quit giving us the worst of both worlds.

aklim · #22 12-01-2005, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BamaMB

I love the way the hybrid has been portrayed as something akin to a perpetual motion machine. You would think a owner would have to stop and drain excess fuel out from the tank from all the fuel savings. Yet good old thermodynamic tells us that energy is not created and with the hybrid very little is recovered under NORMAL driving conditions. It's a compromise in engineering. Build a efficient IC engine car or a electric car with power and range. Quit giving us the worst of both worlds.

What do you get when you put a spoonful of sewage in a barrel of the finest wine?

What do you get when you put a spoonful of the finest wine in a barrel of sewage?

In both cases, you have a barrel of sewage.

aklim · #23 12-01-2005, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GottaDiesel

Hybrid is a scam compared to diesel. Sorry, but drive a Golf TDI with a TRUE 50+MPG and performace and THEN come back and talk to me. That is, of course, AFTER you spend time in the dealership getting the batteries replaced when they no longer hold a charge.

Sorry, I looked into buying one, and they are suckers bet.

That's my IMHO.

The Golf TDI makes 37 and 44 city and hwy respectively according to fueleconomy.gov and runs about 20K. Supposedly the Prius gets 60 and 51 city and hwy respectively and costs about 24K. The probelm with diesel is that it costs more than gas at this time. Diesel is 2.59 at the best I have seen with many places at 2.85 and gas is about 2.19. With that, even allowing for a decreas from hybrids to be in the real world, it might be more economical from a cost standpoint.

I won't buy a car like the Prius because it is too small for my liking and besides, I haven't seen the longevity that it might or might not have. Lets see how it performs 20 years from now and we can talk.

aklim · #24 12-01-2005, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ara T.

The batteries have proven to be pretty reliable, its just the cost of the Prius seems counter productive to saving money on fuel. You can get a civic or a corolla and drive just as comfortably and pretty efficiently in that for way less money.

But how long have we been observing it? Are you going to take a swing in the nuts after say year 10 when you have to replace the batteries? Don't they also have software issues that shut down the motor or something like that?

boneheaddoctor · #25 12-01-2005, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

The Golf TDI makes 37 and 44 city and hwy respectively according to fueleconomy.gov and runs about 20K. Supposedly the Prius gets 60 and 51 city and hwy respectively and costs about 24K. The probelm with diesel is that it costs more than gas at this time. Diesel is 2.59 at the best I have seen with many places at 2.85 and gas is about 2.19. With that, even allowing for a decreas from hybrids to be in the real world, it might be more economical from a cost standpoint.

I won't buy a car like the Prius because it is too small for my liking and besides, I haven't seen the longevity that it might or might not have. Lets see how it performs 20 years from now and we can talk.

Problem is around here the Prius drivers run them at 70-80 mph on the highway....they are NOT getting anywhere near 51 , I seem to remember reading real world they barely break 40.....people buy them here to avoid HOV restrictions so they don't have to bother with a car pool, they are too important to be bothered, so they jam up the HOV lanes with one person in a car every freaking morning.....

rg2098 · #26 12-01-2005, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aklim

But how long have we been observing it? Are you going to take a swing in the nuts after say year 10 when you have to replace the batteries? Don't they also have software issues that shut down the motor or something like that?

Yes, large recall that causes the gas motor to shut down and not restart, but "you will retain REDUCED electric power to pull off the road."

Meta6981 · #27 12-01-2005, 10:09 PM

In the bay area there is a big problem with privlidges that hybrids get, free parking, carpool lane usage, expecting everybody to hail to them because they are driving "green". It irritates the hell out of me. Most of the time these people who drive them drive horribly, I am always ahving to pass them when they are going slow. And another thing well this is in general is the ultra bright headlights, blinds me and there is no need for them in the city. There are enoguh streetlights. Limke the other day i was having to pay for parking and i askes the attendant if i was considered green enough to be applicable for the free parking. nope she said the city must approve you. And they really are ugly. The only hybrid worthy of talk was one who ran his pollywog in the autocross. he was actually running it pretty hard. it was interesting.

TheDon · #28 12-01-2005, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meta6981

In the bay area there is a big problem with privlidges that hybrids get, free parking, carpool lane usage, expecting everybody to hail to them because they are driving "green". It irritates the hell out of me. Most of the time these people who drive them drive horribly, I am always ahving to pass them when they are going slow. And another thing well this is in general is the ultra bright headlights, blinds me and there is no need for them in the city. There are enoguh streetlights. Limke the other day i was having to pay for parking and i askes the attendant if i was considered green enough to be applicable for the free parking. nope she said the city must approve you. And they really are ugly. The only hybrid worthy of talk was one who ran his pollywog in the autocross. he was actually running it pretty hard. it was interesting.

their is nothing clean about a hyrbrid anyways.. its still using a fossile fuel .. and those batteries.. what is going to happen when they die.. who knows what dealers will do unless yota has a battery recycling program

and how do we know these things will last.. according to the prius members forum the "classic" years are still running on their original batteries.. pffft screw that give me some over engineered german car

i love hearing hybrid owners whine.. im not getting 60 mpg.. well idiot if you didnt live out in the boondocks and fly at 80 mph all day long maybe you would.. hybrids are for city driving stop go etc.. but in a city cars are useless so get a bike the energy is free..

and to the person that used to own an 85 colt.. dude i had an 89 swap in a mitsubish 4 cyl turbo off the eclipses from 91.. and put a talon awd system and a bigger turbo.. guaranteed 10 second car.. ive seen them smack 1000 horsepower supra's 1800 lbs 600 HP 23 lbs of boost.. i wish i still had mine

aklim · #29 12-01-2005, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boneheaddoctor

Problem is around here the Prius drivers run them at 70-80 mph on the highway....they are NOT getting anywhere near 51 , I seem to remember reading real world they barely break 40.....people buy them here to avoid HOV restrictions so they don't have to bother with a car pool, they are too important to be bothered, so they jam up the HOV lanes with one person in a car every freaking morning.....

You cannot see 60 if you are going at that speed.

I dunno. Not sure I would want to carpool and would buy one to avoid the issues. Not to say I am too important or what but I would use it so I don't have to carpool with strangers or be inconvenienced by having to coordinate with someone else when I go.

aklim · #30 12-01-2005, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDon

hybrids are for city driving stop go etc..

but in a city cars are useless so get a bike the energy is free..

I thought the hybrids get 51 hwy and 60 city?

I just love those "free" claims. You are pedaling it so how is it free? Just like the WVO and SVO claims of "free" fuel. Yes, it is only free if you discount all your own effort. I live in a city and I still want my car especially when the weather is bad.