Why to Say No to Hybrid Cars
Ever since the launch of the most coveted hybrid cars across the world, positive and negative customer feedback has poured in. Some customers say they are unhappy with the price, fuel efficiency, and rising maintenance cost, while industry experts feel that it will lead to discrimination as the government intends to support the hybrid car owners by offering undue incentives.
Price has always been a strong decision-making factor for cars, besides mileage. Hybrid technology would continue to be available only in high-end cars due to the current cost structure. However, leading car makers are betting on hybrid cars in the lower-priced segments since they feel that technology will become cheaper and the market will improve for hybrid cars.
Mileage of the hybrid cars will become a big issue as and when the cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells hit the market. With this insight, current hybrid car owners are demanding more mileage. Honda Insight, a two-seater hatchback is the leader of the pack in terms of gas mileage. But Honda will discontinue the Insight with its 2006 model.
Contrary to the perception, maintenance costs of hybrid cars are relatively lower than the conventional ones, but finding the right mechanic becomes the costly affair for the hybrid owners. Though the carmakers offer outlet service to their customers, it is at the laters’ risk to accept such a service, as the expertise of the mechanic in the new hybrid technology is not satisfactory most of the time. Hope that the situation will improve in the next 2-3 years, with millions of hybrid cars ready to hit the roads making sufficient expertise available in this field.
Has safety taken a back seat in hybrid cars? Hybrid cars run on electricity as well as gas, and they are relatively small in size. Hence, safety should be considered as one of the main reasons to avoid buying a hybrid, especially when evaluating the Civic Hybrid versus the conventional Civic of Honda, or the Prius versus a Corolla or Camry of Toyota.
Though hybrid vehicle makers such as Toyota and Honda are strengthening their market presence with innovations, recently the 2003-2005 Honda Civic owners received advice from Honda requesting them for a product update. As per the advice, the engine control module (ECM) software in certain 2003-05 Civic Hybrids was not programmed properly, making the engine run slightly lean; no doubt, it aroused a lot of customer fury.
Alarm sounds are essential for a vehicle. But the beep sound produced in the Toyota Prius when it is in the reverse, according to many owners, is something uncalled for.
Car driving, especially in chilly winters, is an exciting experience for many. But the case with the hybrid cars is not very promising as some of the customers have already come up with complaints of losing the gas efficiency of their cars while driving in extreme cold conditions.
We have talked about brutal winter driving. What about driving in normal conditions? Hybrid is a normal car except for one thing. When the hybrid car is stopped for a few seconds, the gasoline engine is shut down automatically. Do you want to own one hybrid?
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