Prius? Accord hybrid? Other hybrid? Conventional motor?

[ucbalumnus]

@happymomof1

Our mechanics heavily favor Honda, Toyota and Subaru for reliability. They are skeptical about Hyundai because of delays in getting recalls handled. They don’t care much for hybrids in general - replacement betteries are expensive, two kinds of motors mean that there are twice as many things that can go wrong.

The Toyota Prius has a long record of excellent reliability. The same cannot be said of the older Honda IMA hybrids, though newer Honda hybrids use a different design.

@happymomof1

Happydad is interested in hybrids. I can’t help thinking that gas prices will go back up, and in a couple of years we might be really happy to be getting 50 mpg with a Prius. I’m concerned that he won’t think a Prius has enough “oomph”. For that matter, the current crop of Accords seem to only have 4 cylinders, and possibly not enough oomph either.

Engines are both more powerful and more fuel efficient than they were in 2001.

A 2001 Honda Accord V6 had 200hp and EPA fuel economy of 18/26. A 2018 Honda Accord 1.5L 4 has 192hp and EPA fuel economy of 29/35 or 30/38. The more powerful 2.0L 4 has 252hp and EPA fuel economy of 23/34.