Meeting Fuel Efficiency and Thin Wallets with Used Hybrid Cars


In our striving for energy sustainability, our first and foremost goal is to end out reliance not only on foreign sources of oil but all sources of oil. Traditional automobiles typically get anywhere from 20-30 miles per gallon gasoline mileage, with smaller cars getting better mileage than larger ones. Recently, a new type of engine was introduced into the market. Utilizing new technologies and groundpeaking innovations into the world of fuel efficiency, hybrid vehicles can get significantly better mileage on the open road and up to three times the fuel efficiency in cities. However, hybrid vehicles come at a steep premium over traditional automobiles, so buying used hybrid cars is the most economical way to save money.Used or New?Toyota's 2007 Prius can get an impressive 60 mpg in the city. For this used hybrid car, prices hover in the $12-$18 thousand range. If you don't want to buy a used hybrid car, the 2009 model base model costs $22-$24 thousand, a good $10 thousand more than the used hybrid car for sale. However, some questions have risen about the need for hybrid vehicles in the first place. Obviously, better gas mileage is a fantastic prospect, and it can save you hundreds of dollars each and every single year, but there are new technologies just on the horizon which promise even better fuel efficiency.Take the Chevrolet Volt for example. It's expected to get up to a whopping 150 mpg, 2.5x the efficiency of the Toyota Prius. That's because of the Volt's engine design built from the ground up instead of relying on old models for improvement, and it's more electric than gasoline powered, whereas “hybrid” vehicles merely complement the gasoline engine with electric power. Many of the concepts are the same, but the part that you need to concern yourself with is the Volt's starting price of effectively $32.5 thousand after tax credits. That's a twenty thousand dollar premium over the Toyota used hybrid car, and the savings in gasoline would take about fifteen years to pay off the premium, and you'll probably replace the car within that amount of time.While the Volt is a taste of great things to come, the Toyota Prius (and other hybrid vehicles) is the smart choice for today's car market. Hybrid technology is mature enough to have pought the cost down to mainstream levels that most people can afford with a little saving, and it will be several years after the Volt's original debut in 2010 for the price to reach the same levels as the Prius today. For the most cost effective driving choice, used hybrid cars save gas and save money.