Expense of Owning a Hybrid Comes in Different Ways

The news comes in the wake of Toyota’s announcement it will repair 378,000 Prius vehicles in the United States from model years 2004-2007 to correct a possible water-pump condition that could cause coolant to overheat resulting in reduced power output.

The problem arises from the cost of repairing dedicated hybrids like the Toyota Prius that are involved in collisions. There simply aren’t enough of them on the road, which means there are less of them in junkyards to harvest for parts. That’s not a problem associated with hybrids that have normal counterparts like a Ford Escape.

John Voelcker, Senior Editor for High Gear Media focused on green car news and review coverage, compiled the report. He cited a study that shows a Prius repair is going to be 8.4 percent higher to repair.

Voelcker also touches on the dirty little secret of owning a hybrid: they may save you fuel but they are not going to save you money. Only one hybrid on the market saves owners’ money and that would be the Mercedes S400.

Voelcker doesn’t elaborate in his piece but the savings come about because the S400 costs the same as a non-hybrid Mercedes and gets better fuel economy. That makes it a money saver for owners.