Fresh-Out-of-School Conundrum - Used Hybrid or Not?

[RobertSmalls]

Naw, I eat enough beef for you to have guilt-free leather.

Besides, the ecological impact of manufacturing is much smaller than that of use of a vehicle. The real question is, how much fuel will you burn hauling around the extra dead weight of all that leather?

When you opt for the leather interior, do you also get heavier soundproofing material, a third-row DVD player, a larger engine, less efficient gearing, and heavier chassis to haul all that luxo-stuff around?

[Sovereign]

Well, with the used vehicle market, I don't have much of a choice with "options."

And with a Prius, there is no third row or DVD player--rated fuel economy remains the same no matter what version you buy (Base, I, II, III etc.)

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

Naw, I eat enough beef for you to have guilt-free leather.

Beat me to it. Besides, the manufacturers could always offer the option of leather from organic free-range beef :-)

[Clev]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

It's not a big deal for Hondas. If you're handy, you can refurbish the battery yourself for $100-300.

Nor is it necessarily a given with Hondas. The CEO of one of the companies I service now has a little over 240,000 miles on his Civic Hybrid. When I asked him if he had any problems with the battery, he said, "The 12 volt battery I had to have replaced. The hybrid battery still works perfectly."