Car salesmen say
Hybrids save their owners money over the long haul
If youre looking for a hybrid SUV, you might have to wait, according to local car salesmen.
2007 Toyota Highlanders sold out at Northway Motor Car Corp. in Latham by July this past summer, said Daniel Traub, Northways Scion manager and sales consultant. The Highlanders were redesigned for this falls release of new vehicles. 2008 hybrid models will arrive at Toyota dealers later this month, Traub said.
"They sell very well," he said. "There are a lot of people looking for a larger hybrid vehicle. It gets better gas mileage." Traub said that SUV purchasers want vehicles large enough to move furniture or take kids and equipment to soccer practices. "For some, it’s the perfect vehicle," he said.
Ordering a Ford Escape hybrid could take up to eight weeks, if one could be found, according to salesman Lee Newcomb of Orange Motor Co. Inc. in Albany.
"They’re very, very limited. Customers are grabbing them all up," Newcomb said. "If another dealer would give us one, we could do a trade. The dealer would have to be out of his mind," he laughed. "Everybody wants one."
Ford Escape hybrids sell so well that consumers come in to the showroom needing little information.
"They already know all about the car," Newcomb said. "People go crazy over these vehicles." He said that a 2008 hybrid Escape recently came off the delivery truck, but was sold two days before it was unloaded. The 2007 models have been sold for six months, he said.
Hybrids defined
The hybrid motors in Toyota vehicles use electricity generated by the car itself and gas equally, Traub said.
"You’re not required to plug it in at all. That’s why it’s a hybrid, not an electric. You drive it like you normally would," he said.
Hybrid vehicles are generally priced around $4,000 more than gas-only models, Newcomb said, but he said that those who purchase hybrid vehicles can receive about $2,000 back from the federal government at tax time.
Asked if hybrid vehicles, with their higher prices, would save consumers money, Traub said, "Absolutely! You get an electronic power steering system that is much easier to repair, less costly." Traub said that maintenance costs are less than for gas-only vehicles because things are less likely to break with electronic features.
"It’s going to save you money on gas. It’s going to save you money on maintenance. The cost of ownership is less than for a gas vehicle. You’ll definitely get it back in the end," Traub said.
Gas mileage per gallon for hybrid Highlanders is in the upper 20s, which is five to 10 miles per gallon more than gas-only standard sized SUVs, Traub said.
Toyota sells two other hybrid vehicles a Camry hybrid, and the original hybrid Prius.
"The Camry looks like your neighbor’s car," Traub said. "It is a traditional sedan in a hybrid." The Camry hybrid sells for between $27,000 and $32,000, he said.
The Prius is "unique similar to no other car out there," he said. "The Prius is the most fuel-efficient vehicle we have here."
Designed to be aerodynamic, the Prius averages gas mileage per gallon in the mid-40s, he said. Costs range between $23,000 and $28,000 for a Prius, he said.
Other options
"The hybrid is built for people who don’t want to give up their SUVs," Newcomb said, "or people who don’t want to contribute to problems [of global warming]. There are a lot of vehicles that will give you the same gas mileage."
He said that gas mileage for the efficient Ford Fusion can be compared with other models as Fusionchallenge.com. He said that the Fusion rated within a couple of miles per hour as Camry and Honda Accord hybrids.
The smaller, less-expensive, standard gas-only Toyota models Corrolla and Yarus offer similar mileage ratings in the mid-30s, Traub said.
"Ford has been making ethanol vehicles since 2000," Newcomb said. Converting from gasoline to ethanol use requires few mechanical changes, rather than an entirely different hybrid system, he said. Newcomb said that ethanol-driven vehicles will get less gas mileage than hybrid vehicles, but that they "burn a lot cleaner" and that ethanol is "made in this country."
A hybrid for whom"
Asked who hybrid customers are, Traub said, "Everyone." Retired grandparents have bought them, as have 20-year-old veterans returned from Iraq.
A quick search at the Kelley Blue Book’s online site kbb.com shows an overview of more than 10 hybrid vehicles on the market from makers like Saturn, Honda, Mercury, and Lexus, as well as Ford and Toyota. Some, like the Honda, have "hybrid-assist" motors, which are primarily gas-driven, Traub said. The Toyota hybrid vehicles have electric and gas motors that work in conjunction at the same time, Traub said. "One is not more dominant than the other," he said.
Traub said that Ford uses Toyota hybrid technology. He said that consumers new to hybrid vehicles should not worry about new technology that may break down.
"Toyota hybrids have been out there seven, eight years. It’s proven. It’s not new anymore," Traub said. He predicted that, within 10 or 15 years, more and more vehicles would have hybrid motors. "There really is a market out there for it," he said.
