Hybrid vs Gas for Mother-in-law's New Car

[SPhill]

I thought the Fusion vs Prius was a good match-up for mother-in-law's new car, but the latest, more stringent NHTSA crash testing doesn't bode well for the Fusion. Using their Star ratings, the Fusion scored only 3 front and 4 side, with 4 rollover and 4 overall. The Prius scored 4 front and 5 side, with 4 rollover and 5 overall.

The Hyundai Sonota Hybrid scored 4, 5, 5, 5. Both the gasoline Honda Accord and gasoline Kia Optima aced it.

Also, from lurking in the Fusion forums, I have seen more serious owner problems than I am comfortable with. Balancing safety, reliability and fuel efficiency, it looks like the Fusion is out and the Sonota, Accord and Optima are in. It's very beneficial to have models with both gas and hybrid options.

 

[Highbeam]

Does she drive a lot? Since her SIL is choosing the car, I picture this car sitting in a garage a lot. As such, I would not pay the premium for the hybrid option on any of these vehicles.

I don't care how many stars you have. If I T-bone you in my 7500# diesel pickup, there is a very high chance of death to the guy in the car. Point is, none of these small cars are safe.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Does she drive a lot? Since her SIL is choosing the car, I picture this car sitting in a garage a lot. As such, I would not pay the premium for the hybrid option on any of these vehicles.

I don't care how many stars you have. If I T-bone you in my 7500# diesel pickup, there is a very high chance of death to the guy in the car. Point is, none of these small cars are safe.

Exactly ,one of my friends narrowly escaped serious injury in a minor accident with a prius,the prius was totaled.
Needless to say she did not replace the prius but is now in an SUV.

 

[begreen]

Some would say that the unsafe vehicle is the 7500# truck . If it tboned my 2 ton 1956 Packard I'd be no safer. Mass rules. Still, safety is relative. There is a much, much higher probability of her getting hit by a drunk driver or of having a single vehicle accident. Fatalities are dropping at the rate of about 1% a year since 1994. By in large, modern cars are all hugely safer than most cars of 20-30 yrs ago. Even in the tbone crash, side-air bags reduce fatal injury by almost half.

More info at: (broken link removed to http://www.autotrader.com/research/article/car-safety/26682/side-impact-airbags.jsp) and http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

 

[Highbeam]

The point is, you are not safe because of your stars. Making a buying decision based on stars, among otherwise similar size vehicles, is like buying based on blinker strobe rate. It just doesn't matter.

 

[SPhill]

Oh geez, now I have to get her a dually Powerstroke Super Duty, like all the other ladies in her Purple Hat Club have.

 

[SPhill]

More good news for Prius reliability. Consumer Reports just ran tests on a first-gen 2002 Prius:

After extensive testing, CR's numbers show that the first-gen 2002 Prius returned an overall fuel economy of 40.4 miles per gallon, which is virtually identical to the 40.6 mpg that CR recorded when testing a new Prius back in 2001. Likewise, CR found that, with 206,000 miles on the clock, the old Prius' acceleration numbers had only dropped by a few tenths of a second for both the 0-60 miles per hour dash and the quarter-mile run.

While the tested Prius' nickel-metal hydride battery pack showed virtually no signs of degradation ten years and 206,000 miles later, CR's evaluation says nothing of today's radically different lithium-ion packs. Still, since we're a decade on in battery development and the OEMs behind the new batch of plug-in vehicles and hybrids are offering substantial warranties.

 

[begreen]

Toyota is very conservative with their battery technology. They really want the batteries to last the life of the car.

 

[Highbeam]

Oh geez, now I have to get her a dually Powerstroke Super Duty, like all the other ladies in her Purple Hat Club have.

Don't be silly, but do be aware that a driver in a tiny car can be smashed like a bug. I just find it amusing that anybody willing to drive a little car would even consider safety ratings. It's like the 500 lb guy reading the label to find out how many calories are in his pepsi.

I like small cars for my personal commuter, they are very maneuverable and easy to fit in parking spaces, they are usually very efficient on fuel, and are cheaper. These are some of the reasons that I own a super high mpg motorcycle. Also very little crash protection. I made the mistake/good fortune of working with firemen who have responded to hundreds of car accidents. The people in large vehicles usually walk away. The firemans' families, like mine, drive full sized vehicles.

Great news about the longevity of the batteries. The propoganda you hear would lead you to believe that these batteries die off quickly like the batteries in common household items. Not so great about the 40 mpg, I thought the prius(s) got much better mpg.

 

[midwestcoast]

Great news about the longevity of the batteries. The propoganda you hear would lead you to believe that these batteries die off quickly like the batteries in common household items. Not so great about the 40 mpg, I thought the prius(s) got much better mpg.

The Generation I Prius (using the new 2008 EPA test method) is rated at 42city/41hwy and was a smaller car too.
Gen II (starting 2004) was 48/45. I'm getting ~50 lifetime.
Gen III (2010) is rated 51/48.

 

[begreen]

Depends on the time of year, driving habits, and terrain. We average about 42+ in winter and about 45 in summer. But this is with shorter trips, mostly under 10 miles and each trip has us going up and down big hills. On the highway we see 50-55mpg unless we are running at 70mph.

 

[SPhill]

So again, the principal considerations are safety, reliability and fuel economy.

Both the Prius and Accord are reliability leaders. The Accord has the edge in passive safety (NHTSA) and active safety (Consumer Reports Accident Avoidance testing). The Prius is the clear efficiency champion. Still studying the hybrid Sonata and Optima.

Another good source is: US News, Rankings and Reviews

It's no easy task dealing with her opinion either. She can be insistent about conveniance features she likes. She has a thing for front bench seats. Her present TSB and trouble-plagued Buick Lucerne has a front bench seat she loves. They are about as hard to find now as a Soviet block sports car.

 

[begreen]

Here ya go:
http://www.luxuryautodirect.com/tag/russian-sports-car/

 

[SPhill]

Well yeah, that is very cool (and the first).

But hey, it ain't no '46 Likhachov ZIS that still bears the faint aroma of Papa Joe's cigars: Papa Joe's Shag Wagon

Its got a bench seat too.

"Gaiety is the most outstanding feature of the Soviet Union". Joseph Stalin (and he oughta know)