Honda's Hybrid

snaphook

If the government decides to subsidize hybrids in order to make them more competively priced the true cost of gas will have immediately jumped. But if the goverment allowed us to start paying the true cost of gas then there would be absolutely no need to subsidize these vehicles. After reading fruth's post I am no longer in favor of higher gas taxes. Rather, lets just eliminate the subsidies and let the free market run its course.

robertsmx

The point is, there is no compelling economic reason for me to spend $2,490 extra for the Hybrid.
For you, I can't disagree. But there are people who would say that they have no compelling reason to spend $2K more for EX over LX. It just goes that way.
People go after certain products if they think that the product delivers whatever they value the most. To some it may be power, to others, it may be features, style, utility or whatever. In case of hybrids, the target audience is set as well.

rileyyh

Hi! I bought my first new car, a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. I'm very pleased with it so far. I have just passed the 600 mile mark today. I notice that the car is getting better and better mileage. I have the CVT auto and I get usually 40mpg if I drive normally (meaning 5-10 mph over the speed limit). I have driven according to the speed limit once and have gotten 51mpg. Cool! Anyways, I just wanted to mention that while lots of people compare the hybrid to the other civics and say you don't save money on gas, I wouldn't ever have gotten a civic except for the hybrid so it doesn't apply to me. The other cars I were testing were the altima, xterra, vehicross, impreza wrx, jetta 1.8t. Also possibilities were the wrangler and the rav4. Compared to these vehicles, especially something like the vehicross or the xterra, my civic hybrid costs thousands less, I get 2000 tax deduction, and possibly more from VA, and my gas mileage is 2 to 3 times the amount of those other options. So I have saved lots! My family was good in our dealings and I got my civic hybrid for $19,800 with an appearance package and free leather seats! My dealer says mine is the first civic he'll ever see with leather in it. They are getting it done by some custom place. So even in comparison to a regular civic, I think I got a pretty good deal getting leather and an appearance package and the fact that my car has a nicer body than a regular 2002 civic (my opinion). I like the front underbody and rear spoiler. You should also check out the rear lights and the dash, very nice. And performance wise, I get good acceleration when I start in D, switch to S for a bit to pick up speed fast, and then switch back to D for the high speed. I can easily go 80mph and haven't pushed it beyond that cause I'm sposed to go easy on the first 600 miles or so. I feel bad that I once pushed it to 5000 rpm trying to see how fast it can accelerate, but hopefully it will not matter. If you got questions, let me know. Thanks.

p.s. - the climate control is HOT

Riley (22)

marcb

man am i really green with envy. and thanks for the mpg info, it sound really good. i'm sure with careful babying it could go even higher, not that it is really an issue. i do have a question, does the manual say the engine can take ethanol? i do thank you in advance for any info as i will be on leave for 1 month and i may not be able to respond after today.

rileyyh

Well the manual says that it can take regular unleaded gasoline of 86 octane or so. So I guess that means no. I'm wondering if there would be improvement in mileage with better octane at all.

dgallon

I'm trying to decide between buying the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Toyota Prius. Can anyone give me feedback about what you like and don't like about either? Thanks!