Should i trade-in my Truck (17 mpg) for a Hybrid or better MPG vehicle now or wait longer?

Question

FYI: http://green.yahoo.com/blog/amorylovins/43/rethinking-the-cost-of-hybrid-cars.html

Answer 1

Had a recent customer try to do a deal 6 months ago....was 5000 upside down in their Titan, 6 months later, they are now 10,000 upside down. Every day you wait trucks and suv's are declining in value.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I'd wait atleast till next year.  They are coming out with a lot of hybrids with better gas mileage and power than what there is now.  Toyota Prius '09, Chevy Volt, also an aftermarket kit for $7K that doubles your gas mileage and makes it a hybrid.

Answer 3

You should trade your truck in now, because if you wait too long, gas prices are going to be really high and you would have to sell your truck really cheap.

You should trade it in for a Toyota Prius Hybrid, because they get about 55 mpg sometimes.

*The Chevy Volt comes out in 2010.*

Answer 4

My favorite stock VLNC , makes batteries for those cars , but dont trade in your truck to get a new vehicle you would loose money and not save do tthe math ! cost of trade vs cost of gas say if it cost you 4000 out of pocket thats alot of gas that you could buy !

Answer 5

It all depends on your situation.  If your truck is old and paid off, and you drive at least 12K miles a year, it is worth considering.

If you are upside down on your truck and trading it in for a higher priced hybrid, you will likely want to sit tight because your car payment + gas will still be higher.

Ok, I won't give HerbS a thumbs down because he is half right.  Many people are quick to hate hybrids even though they do not understand the technology, the tax incentive, or the positive impact on the environment vs. a gasoline engine.

The logic behind the break-even at the pumps is acceptable, but most people drive more than 10K miles per year, thus saving you even more in gas each year.  

In addition, I average closer to 50 mpg in my 2007 Prius, making the break even point even shorter.

Plus, Herb's example assumes gas will stay at $4/gallon.  If it goes higher, getting a hybrid makes even more sense.

In addition, there are tax incentives up to $3,000 for buying a hybrid (no Toyota's, though).

Lastly, hybrids are actually cheaper to maintain over the life of the vehicle.  Believe it.

Also, if the hybrid is obsolete in 8 years, then that gas engine will really be obsolete.

Honda is actually making more hybrids, not dropping them.  The decision to build a diesel engine happened WAY before it was $5 a gallon.  Try like $1.30 when that decision was made.  I am not sure if Honda would make that decision if they could do it all over.

Answer 6

Simple answer....NO.

Look at it this way:

a Civic Hybrid right now is 3-4k more expensive than a Top Trim Level Non-Hybrid Civic....thats 1,000 Gallons worth of gas at 4.00 per gallon or 82 Tanks of Fuel...that means you have to save 44k miles worth of gas just to break even on the added cost between a Hybrid and a Non Hybrid of the same car.

And depnding on how upside down you are makes this even worse.

Go and buy a cash car beater...that gets good MPG...park that truck and keep paying on it until the market gets better...

C.Bond

And Honda isnt Dropping our Hybrid for a Diesel....we are ADDING a diesel to our lineup and coming out with 3 NEW Hybrids in the next 18 Months....please get your facts straight....

Answer 7

do it now== why delay?

Answer 8

Listen to herb, he's right, the ownership cost of the new car far outweighs the difference in gas expense.

Don't worry about being upside down - the loan gets paid off eventually.

Answer 9

NO!

Look at the time to recoup the cost of just a Prius [hybrid] over the Matrix.

Prius $21,500. msrp [dlr. Price probably higher]

Matrix $16,190. msrp [can probably be bought for less]

Extra cost of hybrid [min.]: $5,310.

Prius mpg [per owners] 42.

10,000[avg. annual mileage]/42mpg=238gal. per year

238X $4. per gal. = $952. annual fuel cost

Matrix advertised mpg 21city, 29 hwy. (21+29)/2=25mpg average

10,000[avg. annual mileage]/25mpg= 400 gal. per year

400gal. X $4. per gal. = $1,600. annual fuel cost

$1,600. - $952. = $648. annual fuel savings w/Hybrid

$5,310. {extra cost}/ $648. {annual savings}= 8.2 years to break even

By which time, with changing technology, it will be too costly to maintain & have no resale value. Hybrid & other fuel saving technologies will do like cel-phones did, get better & cheaper, very quickly; each obsoleting it's predessor. Besides, right now you will get hosed on that trade-in, if you calculate the costs it will probably work out cheaper to keep the truck or just buy an older sub-compact for commuting.

Honda is dropping their hybrid for a diesel    [http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/06/07/... 2009, that should you tell you something.