New Saturn Vue will pay back first
If a number of factors line up in a certain way, a study by the British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) claims, it is possible that buying one of the currently available hybrids can save you a little money after five years versus a comparable non-hybrid model.
The study did not include the upcoming Saturn Vue Green Line sport-cute at $29,995, which has the lowest premium (about $2,600) over a traditional model and should recover its extra costs in about half the time of the other models and deliver greater savings sooner.
The conditions that make this money-saving situation possible for the older hybrid models include getting a finance rate that's three percent lower than you'd pay for a regular car, reaching the fuel economy ratings given by Energy Canada, earning a $2,000 grant from some form of government, and having service costs and resale values match those of the non-hybrid models.
Experience suggests that earning those fuel levels will be hard to impossible, and there's considerable doubt about how service costs and resale values will play out for hybrids, but you can definitely move to the Lower Mainland area of BC and get the cheaper finance rate from the Vancity organization. If you live there and things go exactly right, you might also earn all of the $2,000 provincial Alternative Fuel Vehicle tax concession.
The BCAA analysis compares the purchase and operating costs of hybrids with comparable gas-powered models over a five year period and reveals that, in most cases, the hybrid ends up being "slightly cheaper."
With everything going the consumer's way over five years and 100,000 km of driving, the BCAA says, six out of seven hybrids worked out to be cheaper.
The Lexus RX led the pack with savings of $4,463 followed by Honda Civic at $3,241), the Honda Accord at $2,456, the Toyota Camry at $2,084); Toyota Prius at $1,071, and Toyota Highlander at $844. The Ford Escape Hybrid worked out to be $1,957 more expensive over five years than its gas-fed equivalent.
The BCAA cites "shrinking purchase price differentials and higher fuel costs" as the main reasons most hybrids are more affordable over the longer term.
Along with the lower finance rate and the government subsidy, the BCAA study also assumes a gasoline cost of $1.15 per litre over 100,000 km, financing 80 per cent of the total purchase cost and taxes over five years.
For a comprehensive copy of this analysis, visit www.bcaa.com and refer to News and Views.
If a number of factors line up in a certain way, a study by the British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA) claims, it is possible that buying one of the currently available hybrids can save you a little money after five years versus a comparable non-hybrid model.
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| 2007 Saturn Vue Green Line(Photo: General Motors) |
The conditions that make this money-saving situation possible for the older hybrid models include getting a finance rate that's three percent lower than you'd pay for a regular car, reaching the fuel economy ratings given by Energy Canada, earning a $2,000 grant from some form of government, and having service costs and resale values match those of the non-hybrid models.
Experience suggests that earning those fuel levels will be hard to impossible, and there's considerable doubt about how service costs and resale values will play out for hybrids, but you can definitely move to the Lower Mainland area of BC and get the cheaper finance rate from the Vancity organization. If you live there and things go exactly right, you might also earn all of the $2,000 provincial Alternative Fuel Vehicle tax concession.
The BCAA analysis compares the purchase and operating costs of hybrids with comparable gas-powered models over a five year period and reveals that, in most cases, the hybrid ends up being "slightly cheaper."
With everything going the consumer's way over five years and 100,000 km of driving, the BCAA says, six out of seven hybrids worked out to be cheaper.
 |
| 2007 Lexus RX 400h (Photo: Lexus) |
The BCAA cites "shrinking purchase price differentials and higher fuel costs" as the main reasons most hybrids are more affordable over the longer term.
Along with the lower finance rate and the government subsidy, the BCAA study also assumes a gasoline cost of $1.15 per litre over 100,000 km, financing 80 per cent of the total purchase cost and taxes over five years.
For a comprehensive copy of this analysis, visit www.bcaa.com and refer to News and Views.