An update on my car purchasing saga

So, my new car search has become more complicated now that my environmental concerns have risen on the priority chain. Initially, I was looking more along the lines of getting a boost in terms of performance and drivability (i.e. "fun" factor) over my Saturn. But now I'm trying to throw fuel economy and emissions into the mix, as well.

This of course has lead me to take a much stronger look at hybrid cars than I had initially planned. There still aren't too many hybrid cars on the market, and if you throw away the 2-seaters, performance hybrids, one insanely expensive Lexus and all the SUVs, you are left with three cars (not a very wide selection):

  1. the Honda Civic Hybrid,
  2. the Toyota Prius,
  3. and the new comer (that not too many people know about), the Toyota Camry Hybrid.
On Sunday, I managed to test drive a Civic Hybrid. The Honda dealer that I went to had 3 on the lot, so I was able to take one for a spin. Aside from some funky interior and exterior styling, it appears to be a fine car. I took it onto the highway, and with my foot mashed down to the floor on the accelerator, I was able to achieve enough acceleration that I didn't feel unsafe merging into traffic. The car was pretty quiet, up until I stepped on the gas, forcing the gas engine to work (which it really didn't like to do). I would say that the acceleration is close to my 124hp Saturn - it certainly isn't any better, but it didn't feel too much worse.

But all in all, I am really feeling the lack of "gotta have it" factor with the Civic Hybrid. I just don't want this car. So, I was looking forward to getting over to Toyota, to check out their two hybrid cars. Pitting the Prius and Camry would hopefully allow me to balance acceleration, interior dimensions, and fuel economy. In fact, I was really looking forward to driving the Camry, because it seems like it might be the closed of all of the hybrids to being a car that I would like to own.

Unfortunately, the helpful Toyota salesman (who pounced on me just about as soon as I parked my Saturn), informed me that the wait time for a Prius is at least 5 months. The Camry hybrid is apparently a little better - it only takes 2 months to get one of those. Even worse, you can't even test drive either car! Apparently, as soon as the Toyota deal gets a shipment of either the Prius or the Camry, they are immediately sold. The salesman took down my name and phone number, and offered to call me the next time they get a shipment. Apparently, there is a window of a few hours, where test drives can occur, before the new owner takes delivery of the car.

Sheesh.

I mean, I'm okay waiting 5 months for something, if I know that I really want it. But, I am not going to even think about buying a car without at least test driving it first. It seems like there is some "Irrational Exuberance" around hybrid cars in general, and the Prius specifically. I am really turned off by the idea of having to fight my way through the herd just to obtain one of these vehicles.

So, since I couldn't test drive anything at Toyota, I went back to my previous plan, and checked out Volvo. To my surprise, I found that the base model of the Volvo S40 (they call it the 2.4i) is actually rated as a PZEV (Partial Zero Emission Vehicle) car in California. That means that the emissions produced by the S40 are equivalent (or possibly even better) than what comes out of a Prius. This is really fantastic, because the S40 has insane amounts of "gotta have it" factor. The style of this car is incredible -- the interior minimalistic without compromising functionality. The exterior also looks great, and during the short test drive that I had, the car felt great on the road.

Plus, it has safety features up the wazoo, and Volvo seems to extend its care for the environment beyond what comes out of the tailpipe.

Unfortunately, there are two problems with the S40 2.4i (of course). The first is that the fuel economy stinks - it is rated at 22 MPG city and 30 MPG highway. At first, I thought that this was equivalent to my Saturn, but I did some digging, and it turns out my Saturn is actually rated at 24 MPG city and 34 MPG highway. This would explain why my napkin math tells me that I'm getting pretty close to 30 MPG with the Saturn. So, if I went with the Volvo, I would be making cleaner emissions per gallon of gas, but I would be consuming more gas than I am now (and far more than if I were to buy a Prius). :(

The second problem is that you cannot get the DVD navigation option on the 2.4i, only on the next model up, the T5 (which has a turbo, amongst other things). And of course, the T5, while it has slightly better fuel economy (up to 31 MPG city), isn't PZEV. :(

So, I'm pretty much back to square one, with no idea what I'm going to do. At this point, my options are:

  1. To fight my way into a hybrid car that is probably pretty far from the "car of my dreams", or
  2. To go with a conventional PZEV car, that has better emissions but worse fuel economy that what I have now, and doesn't quite have all of the features and power that I want, or
  3. To screw the environment, and get exactly what I want (which at this point, is probably either a Volvo S40 T5, BMW 325i, or Acura TSX).
None of those choices are terribly appealing, unfortunately. And thus, I am stuck trying to figure out what the right thing is to do.

-Andy.

Technorati Tags: , , ,