Tag Archives: gas mileage

Used Hybrid Car

used hybrid cars

We hear about hybrid cars every time the price of gasoline or oil spikes, or when the difficulty of finding enough oil to support all the people who want to drive makes the headlines. Over the last few years, though, this segment of the market – once teensy – has been growing. Among new car sales, hybrids will make have a three percent market share in 2010.

While one manufacturer gained a lot of publicity for bringing out first one then a line of hybrid cars, there are now hybrids on sale from Honda, Ford, VW, Mazda, Chevy, Kia, BMW, Nissan, Mercedes, Suzuki, Hyundai, and others – as well as Toyota. There’s an equal amount of variety in models: small cars, mid-sized sedans, vans, SUVs, pick-up trucks, luxury cars: all come in hybrid models. Most people in the market for a vehicle can find a hybrid to suit their needs. There’s one part of buying a hybrid that most consumers overlook: the possibility of buying a used hybrid car.

Cheap Hybrid Cars

cheap hybrid cars 2012

One of the newest types of hybrid vehicles on the market are the new plug-in version of hybrid cars. These vehicles can run completely on electricity and are able to be recharged through common household electricity. Much like when hybrid cars were first introduced, automakers are doing their best to ride out the recent obsession on the next step in environmentally friendly car technology; the problem with these vehicles are that they have not been proven to be feasible in real world scenarios yet. Some car makers are still focusing on other environment friendly concepts and others are working to bring inexpensive hybrid cars to dealerships and help more people take advantage of the improved gas mileage.

American Hybrid Cars

american hybrid cars

The term American made is becoming harder to distinguish nowadays, but most people when they use it are referring to the major American based car companies: Ford, GM, and Chrysler. One of the companies had simply refused to engage in the hybrid market, because it wasn’t cost feasible, and the other two were late to the game, but all of them are quickly taking steps to catch up to the Japanese competition. When hybrid cars were first introduced, many considered them to be gimmicky and unrealistic, similar to how the first electric cars were received, and this thinking might have kept American hybrid cars from getting serious consideration.

Ford’s original stance when it came to the hybrid vehicle was to aim at one thing Americans truly love: the SUV. One of their first models was a hybrid SUV; the company is still adding more hybrids to their production line. Although, their approach to selling their hybrids was much more conservative than the Japanese, they are starting to turn a profit, which will allow them to continue to expand their hybrid offerings and keep them competitive with foreign car companies.

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Ford Escape Hybrid

ford escape hybrid 2012

So far as new cars go, I’m fairly confident in my belief that hybrid technology is the future. That being said, I was absolutely delighted when my brother took the initiative to check out used hybrid cars.

After weeks of shopping around for the best used model, he finally came cross the 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid. At this point in time (a year or so ago) I was living with my brother due to my being laid off, so I can say quite confidently that I’ve spent more than a few dozen hours driving the 2008 Escape Hybrid. To start off, he picked it up for a reasonably low price. I believe the amount was in and around 19,000 dollars; much less than he might have had to drop had he bought himself a newer model.

Toyota Prius Hybrid

I purchased a 2009 Toyota Prius in July and I must say that thus far I am quite pleased. I was unsure about used hybrid cars but the more I own it, the more I like it. I was actually looking into one of the hybrid trucks but I’m glad I went with the Prius.

The gas mileage, of course, is the primary benefit of owning one of these cars. Mine tends to average around 49.5 MPG, even with mostly city driving. When I purchased the Prius, I wasn’t expecting much pick-up. After all, it only has a 4-cylindar engine; I figured the trade-off for gas mileage was beneficial. As it turns out, though, there really isn’t much of a trade-off at all. When I step on that accelerator, it definitely takes off.

The Prius definitely holds its own if you’re the type who likes to gun it taking off from a stoplight. If you are that type, though, you won’t get very nice mileage (speaking comparatively, of course). Heavy acceleration will lower it noticeably – not a whole lot, but usually around a couple MPGs. Without a doubt, though, it’s still a lot better than 99 percent of everything else on the road.

The Prius has a nice, bright touchscreen built into the center control panel. This is the screen the optional GPS navigation system uses as a display. Without the GPS, it displays climate controls, audio controls, and a few other miscellaneous goodies. When it’s not displaying controls, it shows either a live diagram of the hybrid system or a bar graph of your recent gas mileage. Upon purchasing the car, you will stare at these diagrams constantly, because they’re really quite fascinating. I can attest to the fact that over time, though, the fascination quickly wears off. The standard stereo equipment in the Prius is really quite good. I don’t consider myself discerning enough to be a true audiophile, but the Prius can definitely deliver some rich sounds. The bass can overwhelm a bit at times, but the bass and treble levels are customizable via the touchscreen. Seating is reasonably comfortable, though not remarkably so. The front seats are more comfortable for long road trips than is the back seat, as is the case with most mid-size cars.

Lastly, it’s amazingly quiet. When I’m pulling into my driveway, I don’t hear the car itself at all. There’s a pretty usual amount of road noise on the highway, of course, just because of the speed, but the car itself rarely makes much noise at all (Though if you accelerate quickly, you can hear the engine kicking in). Overall, a great vehicle. You will definitely be impressed with the gas mileage, and even besides that, it’s a pretty great car.