Now is the TIme to Buy a Used Hybrid

[Elmore Furth]

I've had a hybrid Camry for the past 3 years and averaged 38 mpg. I love it.

If you ever had any plans to buy a hybrid, now may be the time to buy a used one.

According to Kelley Blue Book, the average value of a used hybrid is down about 2 percent from last year. In contrast, the average values of used vehicles in other segments, ranging from pickup trucks to equivalent vehicles that are not hybrids, are up anywhere from 7 to 15 percent.

“Compared to any other times in the last several years, this is really one’s chance to get the best deal available on a used hybrid,” said Alec Gutierrez, lead analyst for vehicle valuation at Kelley Blue Book. Their “prices are so suppressed relative to how the rest of the market has performed and to how hybrids have performed in the past.”

In contrast, according to Kelley Blue Book, hybrids historically have held onto their value as well as the overall market and have even outperformed some segments.


Deals Available on Used Hybrids

[rurallib]

1. The question I would have about a hybrid is the batteries

Were I to get one (I may be interested) would I be buying a potential major expense in replacing the battery pack?
this is one question that has bugged me about the whole hybrid thing.

[leveymg]

2. I'd check into battery lifespan and replacement costs, and factor that in.

Other than that, definitely.

[poverlay]

3. I just saw an article espousing that most lion bat. packs still have 50-75% of their useful lifespan

available even after the car goes kaplooie. They're using them in bat farms.

[DCKit]

4. Even better, the "old" NimH batteries used in the Rav4 and EV-1...

were expected to outlast the cars - at least a 150K range.

Additionally, the current crop never charge the batteries above 80% (it's a lot harder to stuff that last 20% into the batteries), so the batteries are never stressed.

I'd worry about physical damage to the batteries long before I'd worry about lifespan.

[kristopher]

5. That could probably use some clarification...

When a battery drops below about 80% recharge capacity it is considered no longer suitable for use in the auto. There is a good market for the used batteries, however, in many non-mobile applications (utilities in particular like them). The reason for this is that the amount of dead weight you are carrying around in unusable battery capacity affects performance and efficiency so much it is better to replace the battery. Lithium batteries have shelf lives, so the early ones are likely to need replacing before the car wears out.


BUT.

We don't know a lot about the specifics of the batteries the various makers are going to be fielding, but the state of the technology is such that if this first run of EVs and PHEVs don't have batteries that will last 10 years they very soon will.