Public Opinion Poll

[ladysprite]

For a little while now my sweetie and I have been bouncing around the idea of getting a second car. It's really a necessity at this point; with me working at various random places around the state it's extremely difficult to drive him to and from work every day, and public transportation for him is an expensive hassle.

We've been kind of assuming we'd get a used car, just to save money, but I'm realizing that that's actually somewhat of a hassle. Neither of us is much of a car guru, and in spite of the help of extremely knowledgeable friends, I've had enough bad experiences that I'd never quite completely trust anything particularly old. So this put us looking for a fairly high-end, gently used car with no known vehicle-health issues.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that it would probably be more efficient, overall, to get a second new car. The car I currently drive is, in fact, a fairly high-end, gently used car with no known health issues. If we bought another used car, odds are we'd need to replace one car or the other within a few years. On the other hand, if we get a new car now, the car I currently use can become my sweetie's, and there would hopefully be no need to buy any more vehicles for at least a while. Part of me feels like I'm being overly extravagant and spendthrifty, but another part realizes that, if we can afford the payments, this may be the most reasonable way to go.

The other reason the new-car concept has so much appeal is that I'm thinking of buying a gas-electric hybrid. With all of the driving I do, and with the ludicrous gas prices, it seems a lot more efficient to have a car that gets much better mileage. However, I also know that my knowledge of cars is not merely woefully lacking, but functionally utterly absent, and I don't want to hop into something like this without a lot more information.

So - does anyone out there reading this own a hybrid car, or know someone who does, or at least have a strong opinion about them one way or the other? And if so, would you be willing to share any info or opinions with me?

Comments

[ninjarat.livejournal.com]

Manuals generally get much better mileage than automatics, on the order of 25% better, and they usually cost less than automatics, roughly $800-$1200 less depending on the car. Add a high performance air filter like a K&N Filtercharger (cost about $50 including the cleaning kit) and you can increase the mileage by another 5-10% (and reduce waste because they are reusable).

Hybrids are city commuter vehicles. Much of their efficiency comes from regenerative braking dumping charge back into the batteries. Their actual performance drops if most of your driving is highway driving. YMMV -- literally :).

Personally, I do not see depreciation as a reason to go used instead of new. A used car will depreciate just as much as a new one. Sure, you'll save a few thousand dollars on the purchase price. For that savings you will have critical questions that probably cannot be answered: did the previous owner keep up with the maintenance schedule? Did he use premium parts and consumables or budget parts and consumables? What were his driving habits? Hard or gentle acceleration and stops? Highway or city driving? What kind of gas did he put in the tank, and did he use additives like Gumout or Marvel's Mystery Oil? How often? All of these can affect the life of a vehicle and do not show up on the dealer sticker. Buying new means you know the car's history. Whether or not that is worth the extra cost of buying new is a choice you have to make for yourself. Me? I won't buy a used car just to save a few bucks -- I'll probably buy a less expensive car instead.

Just my two cents for what they're worth.