RE: Totota Prius number 1,000,000 but can you Dinghy it?
For some fuel efficiency is more important than total cost. If you want low overall cost, your best bet is an older economy car--lots of $5,000 Hondas, Hyundais, and Toyotas around, and many of them can be towed flat. Anyway, why would someone who drives around in a motorhome be concerned about overall cost of operation? Yearly depreciation of a motorhome is more than the overall cost of the dinghy!
As far as the Smart car, it is the worst excuse for a car I have had the displeasure to drive. Powered rollerskate on wheels is too kind!
RE: Towing a 2006-2008 Honda Civic
We looked at the Fit, but for my wifes driving the Civic EX-L gets better mileage and the extra cost of the Hybrid won't ever pay off. I like the Fit but she has to have leather upholstery, although we could have it added to the Fit. Did that to our '95 Ody and it was fine, but expensive.
Between the tax rebate and our discount, we paid less for our Civic hybrid than we would have for a Civic EX-L. Even if we were to add leather, the payoff would be a couple of years. What is the mileage on your EX-L?
RE: Towing a 2006 Honda Accord V6 automatic
My 2008 Odyssey EX-L manual shown below.
http://www.nauticom.net/www/tomnagy/DSC02373sm.JPG
-Tom
Yes, that is what it says, but right after that, which you did not completely copy, it says "it is best not to tow more than 50 miles nor faster than 35 MPH." My Civic manual says the same, as do the Acura manuals I've looked at. I don't know about you, but 35 MPH is a little slow for my coach!
RE: Towing a 2006-2008 Honda Civic
The current Fit is a bit tight (poor Fit?:)) for me. I might check it out when the revised 2009 Fit comes on the market.
RE: Toad: 2008 Accord Coupe 6 Spd Manual- Why not?
Looking at the schematic of the manual transmission, there does not appear to be any reason why it can't be towed, but Honda says no, so if you have a problem, it is your problem, not Honda's.
RE: Towing a 2006-2008 Honda Civic
Whether you can tow it has not been technically answered one way or another, but Honda does not endorse towing any of their cars except the CR-V, so if you choose to tow it you are on your own if the transmission goes.
RE: Ford to only produce 25,000 Hybrid Escapes in 2009
Running the engine just to power the AC compressor is very inefficient, and why Toyota went to an all-electric compressor. The Honda system actually can power the AC compressor either by the engine or by electric--under some circumstances, such as at highway speeds, use of the engine will be just as efficient. An electric AC compressor can also run at different speeds, depending on demand.
Ford probably just took the easy and cheap way, like they usually do!
RE: Ford to only produce 25,000 Hybrid Escapes in 2009
Where Ford fell down in the design of their Escape/Mariner/Tribute hybrids, is the engine-driven AC compressor. When the engine shuts down at a traffic light, the AC compressor won't run, and in summer heat, it won't take long to get hot inside. Setting the AC on max keeps the engine and AC compressor going at traffic lights, but that defeats the purpose of shutting the engine down when stopped. Honda and Toyota use an electric AC compressor to get around this issue.
RE: Toyota Highlander 4x4 hybrid
The Ford hybrids; Mariner and Escape, are flat towable, the Highlander is not. The Highlander hybrid uses both front and rear elactric motors, and Toyota warns severe hybrid drive damage could occur if towed flat.
Just read Ford is upgrading their hybrids for 2009, so they could be worth the wait.
And WAIT you will. Ford is going to only make 25,000 of these 2009s. It is crazy. According to Ford, it is not a parts or battery problem with the Escape. They made a "business decision" to only produce 25,000 Escapes. Bad business decision if you ask me. This car is nearly always sold before it hits the dealer lot. I'd be stamping these things out left and right if I were Ford. I'd have the Explorer and Expedition available by special order only. Sometimes I wonder if the Ford marketing department realizes that you should make more of what you sell, and make less of what doesn't sell.
I'm not waiting--I got my hybrid. But for those who may be interested in the Escape or Mariner hybrids, the wait could be worthwhile. However, the wait could be long with limited production.
RE: Toyota Highlander 4x4 hybrid
FYI,
The Highlander hybrid only has rear motors on the 4X4 model.
You can tow the 2 WD model with a dolly.
The Highlander hybrid only comes in 4x4 for 2008 and cannot be towed flat. Any front-wheel car can be towed on a dolly.
RE: Toyota Highlander 4x4 hybrid
The Ford hybrids; Mariner and Escape, are flat towable, the Highlander is not. The Highlander hybrid uses both front and rear elactric motors, and Toyota warns severe hybrid drive damage could occur if towed flat.
Just read Ford is upgrading their hybrids for 2009, so they could be worth the wait.
RE: Towing a 2006 Honda Accord V6 automatic
You probably can tow an automatic Honda Accord, but Honda does not want you to, and if something goes wrong with the tranny, you are on your own.
RE: Ford to only produce 25,000 Hybrid Escapes in 2009
Let's see; You have a company who spends millions on an advertising campaign touting "Quality is job one" rather than spending money actually improving the quality of their vehicles, what do you think? Stupid?????
RE: Totota Prius number 1,000,000 but can you Dinghy it?
Actually the Prius is a mid-sized car. and has plenty of legroom in the back, but it is a bit short on rear headroom. However, I suspect few people buy or don't buy a car based on rear seat comfort. As far as the ride goes, that is one of the reasons why we bought a Civic hybrid instead of a Prius--a much improved ride, and we couldn't care less what the comfort in the rear seat is.
RE: Totota Prius number 1,000,000 but can you Dinghy it?
I find it interesting that most folks who criticize hybrids have no idea what they are talking about. The gas mileage champions are the Prius, the Civic hybrid, the Camry hybrid, and the Altima hybrid. No other car comes close.
Batteries? With a 8 to 10-year warranty, few owners worry. Besides, you want to bet you can get rebuilt batteries from J.C. Whitney in a few years, at a fraction of the cost of a new battery?
Volkswagen TDI? Besides the fact it is no longer avaliable as a new car, objective testing showed it gets much less mileage than the Prius, and that's before you factor in the 25% higher cost of diesel. Personally I don't take much stock in owner's reports of fantastic mileage. If you want true fantastic mileage stories, try the documented cases of hybrid mileage marathons, where 100+ MPG is common.
Seems there is an irrational fear of hybrids, and there is a lot of disinformation out there, which for some reason, many jump on. Some folks just need to grow up!
RE: Ford to only produce 25,000 Hybrid Escapes in 2009
The only reason Ford is not selling more hybrid Escapes and Mariners, is because they are scarcer than hen's teeth. Toyota just went over the million mark with the Prius, and Ford could sell a whole lot more of their hybrids, but they want to keep selling gashogs and reap huge profits on those. Ford does not deserve my business!
