News on hybrid vehicles, fuel cell cars, and the future of automobiles

Hi, I wanted to get your opinion on this. The brand new lexus I bought 4 months ago stalled 4 times yesterday while I was driving on the freeway. The "check hybrid system" & "maintenance required soon" signals came on & stayed on until I took it to the service dept (at same dealership I bought the lexus at) & left the car there. they gave us a loaner.
well they called today fr service dept & basically said that the hybrid battery system has failed due to wiring problems & they have to do a major service where they will change the entire battery system & it will take a week to do.
My question: is this something that has happened before to an almost brand new car? we bought this car 4 months ago & I’m feeling very uneasy about this. Would it be out of the question to ask them to replace our car with a brand new one? What is your advice on this? I’m feeling a bit angry about it (solely because this car is supposed to be brand new) & I’m note sure if I’m justified for feeling this way.

first you need to find out what you LEMON law
consist of in your state..
then you also need to check your paperwork about your warranty..and read id well.
third after doing the above..talk to you dealer..and if you do not get the answers you want..ask to talk to someone higher up like the manager or regional manager..if they give you trouble..my next step would be to talk to an attorney..and soon.
but lets hope it does not come to this..and they take care of you..
lastly write every thing down, and ask for all paperwork ..for work done on the car..sometimes the dealer does not give paperwork for certain type of work..like maybe what they are doing to your car now..but ask for it..if they say no..pull out your not book and write down time, place and ask the person to please spell his or her name..this always gets things going..
the notes you take may be needed in court !
good luck

I know the advantages, but what are the drawbacks other than charging the battery?

Battery pack replacement cost is $3000-$5000. Last’s like 5 year’s

On long highway trips they run on the engine 100% of the time because the battery isn’t powerful enough so highway mileage is close to regular car.

Made for short distance city commuting.

Extremely high voltage etc. so only a hybrid certified tech. can work on it.

They sell their old car and that car is still on the road polluting while they are saving the environment with their new hybrid car.
how does that work out?

wouldn’t it be better to junk the car and have it recycled and used to make other product.

Hybrids are bad for the environment
they are made of non-recyclable alloys and plastics and their battery’s go straight into landfills and pollute.

They save gas, not the environment. if you want to save the environment, buy a used jeep TJ or YJ, they are very recyclable and easily repairable, so they last longer and then are recycled, no problem.

oops i mean mpg?

for right now,,that’s us a rumor that’s going around,,there has been no public mention of it as of yet,,but yes i did hear the rumor,,good luck hope this help,s

If realistically we can get to use these types of cars (this one goes 40 miles without any gas needs to be plugged in at night–80% of americans commute less than 40 miles per day, after 40 it can use gas)…in TWO YEARS, what impact, if any, will this have on our butt-kissing paranoid policies toward the ME?

They you can get people to stop driving alone to work in a 4000 pound, V8, gas guzzling, SUV for a 1 hour one way commute.

People are willing to finance cars they can’t afford, what makes you think they will stop driving them even when they can’t afford the gas. Most american cities are sprawled out and might have a bus system at best for public transportation.

I remember a few years ago when a the new hybrid came out, they pulled around 60 miles a gallon. Now the Prius barely does 45 miles a gallon, that is is about 7 miles more than a Corolla, yet about twice the price! What is going on?

Hi,

this is a detailed couple of questions that have big answers, so stay with me.

1. There are multiple levels of hybrid- full, mild and partial. There are many more hybrids from many more manufacturers in multiple levels, so if you see "hybrid" on the back of a vehicle, there may not be a major jump in mpg if it’s a partial or mild hybrid (the gas engine is running any time a partial or mild moves or the AC starts). Even five years ago, there were nowhere near the number of different types of hybrids on the road with mpg all over the place (the 1st gen Insight and Prius were first brought to the US over 10 years ago).

2. There were changes in the way the vehicles that were submitted for EPA evaluation were tested. Not all vehicles have to be submitted or may not be finished with testing before being sold without EPA numbers on their stickers (large vehicles and very new models).

Every vehicle’s mpg went down with the new testing regulations, which hadn’t been substantially updated since the 1970′s. With a vehicle getting 22 to 24 mpg combined, a loss of 10% is a lot less obvious than a vehicle getting 50-60 mpg.

3. When the original Insight and the 1st and 2nd gen Prius first came out, corn ethanol was not as prevalent as it is now. Corn-based ethanol is grain alcohol and lowers mileage because it is not as energy dense as standard gasoline. You simply don’t get as much "bang for the buck".

4. In addition to the ethanol, Toyota also lowered the mileage slightly after the EPA updates when the gen 2 Prius started selling in the large numbers it did. Toyota realized that after the early adopters were overtaken by the general public purchasing Prius’, the experience of those general drivers would be lowered mpg because they would not be interested in maintaining the efforts needed to maximize mpg like the early adopters.

This is not to say that all people that purchased Prius after 2006 are driving them like a regular car and getting 35 mpg, but there were enough only getting in the 40′s that Toyota did not push for what the true mileage should be.

This has been my experience in talking and working with hundreds of people in the last 5 years for Toyota. The drivers who are proactive and work the system get mileage in the 50′s as a year-long average (my average is 51.7 in the Upper Midwest with the AC and stereo on). The drivers that just drive are the ones getting 30′s to 40′s.

Ok, next part of the question- the Corolla and the Prius comparo. This is a common misconception. The Corolla, as good as it is, is not equal to the Prius. The Prius is actually equal to the Camry in power, features and options, and the Camry actually doesn’t match the Prius in some features and options, even in hybrid trim.

While the ’09 Corolla now has the options of the last gen. 2.4 liter Camry gas engine, navi system, and features traction and stability control, those options/features will pale next to the ones on the 2010 Prius.

The 2010 Prius-
- has no mechanical power steering pump or steering belt
- no AC belt
- no water pump belt
- the AC is completely electric and not linked to the gas engine
- the exhaust gases are cooled and rerouted to be burned a second time in the gas engine
And is available with an accident Pre-Collision System (PCS) that uses a laser-guided cruise control to automatically retract the seatbelts and apply the brakes if an accident.

So a comparison of a base $16,100 Corolla to a base $22,750 Prius is not a fair comparison (and while $6,650 is some money, it is not about twice the price).

A 2010 Corolla is EPA rated at 26/34 and a 2010 Prius is rated at 51/48, a difference of 25 more city and 14 more hwy, so the mileage is not comparable and the difference is much more than 7 mpg.

Just to cover it, the 2008 Corolla (last gen) got 26 city and 35 hwy and the 2009 Prius (2nd gen) gets 48 city and 45 hwy, or 22 more city and 10 more hwy, a big jump even with those generations and much more than 7 mpg again.

I can only speak technically for Toyota, but the EPA testing and ethanol effects will be for any vehicle by any manufacturer- hybrids included.

LOL I mean ‘buy a new hybrid’ not BE one! sorry!

Toyota Prius has been out the longest and has all the bugs worked out of the vehicle.

I would puke my brains out and would want to blow my brains out if I settled for that damn Toyota Prius, Scion XB,
Toyota Echo, Honda Insight, or any of those new ugly compact hybrid cars at the expense of getting that COOL 8-cylinder Firebird TransAM or Camaro Z28. I would be in everyday agony if I lowered myself to that.

Look at this COOL-LOOKING Camaro 1997 Z28

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/img_popup.jsp?car_id=228205609&photoIndex=0

Now look at this repulsive hybrid car,

http://www.edmunds.com/apps/vdpcontainers/do/MediaNav/styleId=100933777/firstNav=

Go ahead, get what you like. You can’t single handedly destroy the world, so don’t worry about it. It’s your money, spend it on exactly what you want.

Am I doing the right thing? Are there some particular problems that I can have with the car, that will make it very costly for me?

Super dooper

Funny how you say "good luck with that". The person with the biodiesel mentions he has been running it in his vehicle for 3 years. So it would appear he doesn’t really need any "good luck". biodiesel is a genuine alternative, even "making that crap in your basement with old restaraunt greese(sic)". The process for making biodiesel from waste oil is very complete, and cannot be "half done". It doesn’t matter whether you use fresh canola oil or used oil, you will get the same result. You either get BD, or you get crap.

Home makers of BD have sent their’s away for analysis and have documentation showing that their BD is 99.7% pure ether compounds. The standard is 95.5%, and that is the blend you are paying extra for at the pumps.

The process is actually quite simple and clean you can buy kits for under $1000. I’m currently looking into it myself.

In answer to the original question, it is worth your while at the very least to do a bit of research on the subject, all it will cost you is a few hours of your time.

hybrid cars are still under powered, heavy and unproven vehicles. The are only economical if you are doing under 40-50mph, after which point they have the same economy of a small car.

The issue with bio diesel is that you have to make it yourself to get it for 20c/gal. However, considering you could make a saving of $4-6000 per year, it’s worth serious consideration in my book. $300 – $450 dollars a year to run your vehicle sounds pretty good to me.

OR, you could run your hybrid on BD and have the best of both worlds!