Hybrids dominate the Intellichoice Best Overall Value of the Year Awards
Click above for a gallery of the Ford Escape Hybrid
IntelliChoice used the Chicago Auto Show to announce its Best Overall Value of the Year Awards, and, lo and behold, it's loaded up with hybrid and eco-friendly vehicles. Included in the list of winners for 2009 are:
- Honda Civic Hybrid for Best Compact over $17,000
- GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab Hybrid for Best 1/2 ton Full-Size Pickup (2WD and 4WD)
- Toyota Prius for Midsize over $21,000 (Touring trim) and under $21,000 (Standard trim)
- Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD for Midsize Crossover
- Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid for Compact Utility/Crossover
- Volkswagen Jetta TDI for Small/Midsize Wagon
- Lexus GS 450h for Sport Sedan/Wagon over $38,000
[Source: IntelliChoice]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Yikes 9:06AM (2/13/2009)
At current gas prices, I'm not so sure that list is an "Intelligent Choice"
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GoodCheer 10:07AM (2/13/2009)
For how long do you generally keep a car? What do you think the price of a gallon will be 3-4 years from now?
BoomBoom 9:28AM (2/13/2009)
Yeah, yikes, you're right. There is no way that gas prices will go back up. I'm putting a down payment on a hummer.
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Yikes 10:30AM (2/13/2009)
Ok, at what price of gas, does it make financial sense to pay $39K plus base price for that GMC 1/2 ton truck.
BoomBoom 12:29PM (2/13/2009)
I'm not going to defend a GMC hybrid truck which was a POS before it was a hybrid, but the math for the Escape Hybrid, Prius, Civic Hybrid, etc. has been done by a number of different magazines and shown to payback at $3 a gallon.
BoomBoom 12:31PM (2/13/2009)
P.S. On that planet does a GMC hybrid truck cost $39k plus base price. (i.e. 39K more than the base truck.) Are you getting your base price truck for free by hotwiring it?
steve 1:26AM (2/14/2009)
How do any of these cars come close to being a "Best Overall Value". They are all way more expensive to purchase than many other options. Maybe within their contrived classes - Best compact over $17K - thats only there to exclude all the real compacts that start at $12-$14K.
I havent seen any recent numbers now the cost of gas dropped, but even at $4 - $5 per gallon I recall seeing info that the Hybrids took 5-10 years to repay their price differential over their cheaper non hybrid siblings.
There was a great Edmonds report I recall reading on here that had a very different list of best overall value vehicles, and I recall there was a single hybrid crept in around Number 10, with the Toyota Yaris and similar cheap compacts beating everyone else by miles.
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