Why I shouldn't buy a hybrid car (but want one anyway)

I want a hybrid car. If you’ve been reading my blog, then you know by now that I have a heart of green, and that environmentalism is important to me. The more I read about hybrid cars, the more I love them and the more I really want to get them. As of my last research, the Hybrid Civic gets 50 mpg. I love the idea of helping the environment, of using my purchasing power as a vote for environmentalism, of reducing reliance on oil from hostile nations, of saving money as gas prices go through the roof. I love it, love it, love it, and I read about regularly and hungrily everything I can find about them.

So why shouldn’t I get one, at least right now?

1. They cost too much. At 22,000 for a Hybrid Civic, versus about 16,000 for a standard two door Civic, the price is right now prohibitive. As a personal finance decision, it simply is not a good one, and with debt and struggling, I’m not in a position to spend that much to make a statement. To make the price up in gas savings, at $3 per gallon, I would need to save 2000 gallons worth of gas, which I probably wouldn’t any time soon because

2. I already own a fuel efficient Civic Coupe. I generally get upwards of 30 miles per gallon, and have managed 40 when driving on highways. By my calculations, I would have to drive 150,000 miles on my car to get my money back. While I can probably get that out of my car (although maybe not), that would really only matter if I was buying a brand a hybrid instead of my current car, rather than as a replacement.

3. In addition to being a bad decision financially, replacing a two year old car is probably also not a smart environmental decision. Because the differences in mileage are so limited, it doesn’t seem likely that the environmental benefits of a hybrid will outweigh the environmental costs of the manufacturing. In fact, some argue that the environmental costs of producing nickel metal hydride batteries for hybrids make them even Worse than H3’s.

4. A recent study showed that an increasing number of hybrid owners buy them out of vanity. Reading this, and watching the hybrid car episode of South Park, makes me feel a bit obnoxious about the whole thing. (Really, the cloud of smug. Brilliant!)

Which brings it back around to where I started. I do want a hybrid because of what it says about me. I want it because it makes a statement, because it says something to auto manufacturers and to anyone who sees me driving it. I want to feel like I really am part of the solution to the problem, somehow and in some way.

But maybe I’ll wait a few (or more) years. Because I’m not sure I can afford $22,000 worth of smug.