Well if we are going to go percentage routes lets us state that the over two
cubic foot cargo capacity difference between the two means the standard
Civic has a 20% larger cargo capacity. The engine in the EX has about 36%
more horsepower and after a year of driving 15,000 miles at $1.50 a gallon
at freeway EPA estimates of Mpg the hybrid costs about $441 a year compared
to the $592 a year for the Civic EX. This is just assuming all freeway
miles and EPA estimates of MPG for the sake of clarity and argument. At the
end of 5 years that is $2205 for the hybrid and $2960 for the Civic Ex. So
over the period of five years and 75,000 miles you save about $760 in gas.
Of course the hybrid is about $4000 more than the standard LX and $2000 more
than a Civic Ex plus at the end of five years it is totally feasible that
those batteries will now have to be replaced at a cost of several thousand
dollars. That is what I hear anyways.

So it costs several thousand more in the initial purchase plus battery
replacement down the road which is a major expense in the few thousand $
range all so that you could save $760 over 5 years in gas and think that
you are doing the environment good.

Theoretically if you bought the Lx for 16k MSRP and drove it for 5 years,
75,000 miles it would cost $17,960 not including tax, license, insurance
standard maintenance etc. Just MSRP and gas. The hybrid would cost 20K
plus $2205 for gas and about $2000 for batteries. I have included batteries
for the hybrid because that is the whole point of this car and is being used
to contest the 40% or so in gas savings. So the total for the hybrid is
$24,205 and the Civic LX is $17,960. There is some type of tax deduction
with the hybrid purchase I believe but I don't know what it is or if it is
only able to be utilized if you itemize your taxes so I have left it out.
But I am sure it isn't that much.

In the end if I want to save $760 in gas over a five year period I only have
to cut my horsepower from 127 to around 93, lose a few cubic feet in the
trunk, keep my rear seats from folding down and pay an additional $6245.00?

I don't think I need to beat this dead horse anymore.

CaptainKrunch


"TL" <tlehman@visi.com> wrote in message
news:h3ervvsb1kquqglbujd1b6p6bfjb90gt7i@4ax.com...
> I would beg to differ on both counts.
>
> According the Honda website, the cars are identical in overall size.
> They have exactly the same passenger compartment measurements. The
> trunk is 2 cu ft larger in the Civic than the Hybrid which I assume is
> because of the batteries). Don't know what you mean by "more
> substantial" so I can't comment on that.
>
> EPA mileage estimates for the Hybrid are 46/51 MT; the MT Civic is
> rated at 32/38. That's about 44% higher city and 34% higher highway
> mileage. That sounds pretty significant to me.
>
>
> On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 10:26:49 -0800, "CaptainKrunch"
> <nothing@nobody.com> wrote:
>
> >Personally I don't see the fascination with these hybrid cars. I mean
what
> >really are you saving anyway? They don't get that much better mileage
than
> >a standard Honda Civic which is bigger and a more substantial car. They
> >both use gas. And at the end of 100,000 miles or so, if you buy a
hybrid,
> >you are having to spend several thousand dollars to buy 1000 lbs or so of
> >batteries to replace the old ones in the hybrid. You also don't have to
> >dispose of these batteries which are considered hazardous material. I
> >forgot to mention that the cost of the hybrid is higher than the Civic
even
> >with a tax deduction.
> >
> >Strictly from an environmental standpoint I don't think these things are
> >helping the environment at all and in fact may be hurting it. Honda
> >vehicles in general already have extremely low emissions.
> >
> >CaptainKrunch
> >
> >
> >
> >"Gary Gorbet" <ggorbet@houston.rr.com> wrote in message
> >news:070120042110075950%ggorbet@houston.rr.com. ..
> >> I have a 2003 Civic Hybrid. It's got about 3500 miles on it now. I have
> >> *loved* driving this car - quiet, smooth and peppy. But I must say that
> >> I'm somewhat disappointed in the mileage I'm getting. It's averaging a
> >> little better than 39 MPG. The EPA estimate is just under 50 MPG. I
> >> know EPA is always high, but I would have thought I'd have gotten
> >> closer than 10 MPG under.
> >>
> >> It is true that most of my driving is the 20 minute trip to and from
> >> work in stop and go traffic. I think I've done a pretty good job of
> >> modifying my driving habits to the hybrid. I'm not sure what I could do
> >> to maximize mileage, any more that what I've been doing.
> >>
> >> What I'd like to hear is the experience of other Hybrid owners. Is my
> >> mileage reasonable for the kind of driving I do? Does it get better
> >> after the break-in period?
> >
>