Last week’s poll asked about why you don’t drive a hybrid (if you didn’t, obviously). 33% of you cited the price (they’re too expensive), 16% said you can’t afford a new car right now, 50% said they’re too small usually, and 50% indicated there were other reasons. I was interested to see that nobody chose the “I can’t work on it myself and don’t want to pay any repair bills” option.
When we bought our Toyota Prius (2007), my husband got upset that I chose to buy it because he kept telling me, “I don’t know how to work on it. I don’t even know where the spark plugs are and how to replace them. I don’t even know if it has spark plugs.” While we haven’t had many issues with it, we have learned some things about it such as how to change the oil (it’s not much different than a non-hybrid except it requires synthetic) and how to change the headlamps (the driver’s side one is a nightmare while the passenger side one has directions for it in the manual).
As for the price, I think that as more hybrids are designed that the price will come down. So you may be waiting for that to happen before you buy one, and I understand that. Mine, used, was even $17K or so (I don’t remember, maybe I’m trying to block it out). And the size? You all are right, at least about the Prius. I bought it when I was without child LoL. Now, it’s definitely small. The hatchback is a good size, but when it’s got a stroller in there there’s not much room for anything else. But we have road tripped to Grandma’s (2.5 hour drive) with me, Mike, Si, and the two dogs and our gear comfortably. I also have to say that my husband is 6 feet 8 inches and he can fit into it (although it may not look like it at first glance). So height of the driver shouldn’t be an issue for most people.
What I can say is that the gas mileage and lower carbon footprint, for us, definitely balance out the size issue. Especially when gas prices started to rise, I was happy with my purchase and would definitely do it again. We usually get 400+ miles to a tank of gas. Not many cars can do that for you. If you’re in the market for a car and are interested in a hybrid, definitely check out the Prius.
