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You still have to maintain a hybrid's ICE Posted by JerseySaab [Email] (#666) [Profile/Gallery] (more from JerseySaab) on Fri, 8 Jun 2012 04:52:40 In Reply to: Re: Some last much longer without repairs, TML [Profile/Gallery] , Thu, 7 Jun 2012 21:01:29 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Small expenses for maintenance over the life of the vehicle are much easier to take than suddenly facing a huge bill all at once for battery replacement. Being semi-retired and working on cars as a hobby anyway I don't have a problem putting in time to do a head gasket or the like on my Saabs if it becomes necessary.
Of course remember you still have to maintain the gasoline engine in a hybrid vehicle; you still have a fuel system, cooling system, exhaust system, lubrication system, ignition system, emissions system, multitude of sensors, etc., all needing attention and maintenance. (A full electric is not viable until a "miracle battery" is made commercially viable, so that's completely out of the running as far as I am concerned.)
That's one of the reasons I do not see any real benefit to a hybrid and do not understand the fascination with them. You still have an internal combustion engine that will need to be maintained and now you have layered on another level of complexity and expense, all to achieve about the same fuel efficiency as a 1980 VW Rabbit diesel. For those concerned about environmental issues, the mining of raw materials, manufacture, and recycling of batteries involves some pretty nasty stuff. It just does not make much sense to me, aside from my personal concerns about being stuck with a vehicle that needs a battery costing many thousands of dollars.
Now if the new Saab is going to offer a high-efficiency diesel that is something I would certainly consider. A well-designed diesel engine will run for a long time since diesel fuel is inherently a lubricant rather than a solvent.
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