Maintaining a hybrid doesn’t cost any more than a conventional car, and may even cost less due to decreased wear and tear on the engine and braking system. You’ll probably want to take your hybrid to a dealer, especially considering that Toyota offers a 100,000 mile warranty on emission components and battery pack, and that Honda offers an 80,000 mile warranty on the same—on top of the traditional 3-year/36,000 mile warranty on the conventional systems.

Dealer service centers do usually charge a little more, but classes are popping up all over the country to teach independent car mechanics about hybrids. After all, there are more than one million of these cars on the road, and mechanics have to meet this demand. This timing works out well for new hybrid buyers. By the time your warranty is finished, there will be many more qualified hybrid mechanics available to you.

Based on the fact that a hybrid has to have an internal combustion engine(ICE)of some sort, there will be the normal engine oil changes non hybrids require on their ICE’s. By taking your hybrid to a lubrication specialist or to the dealer the other items a hybrid has to have checked will be checked properly too.

With an ICE you have a cooling system, so therefore the radiator needs maintaining too. And you have the normal array of fluids and oils to check and fill also.

One reason I may opt for taking a hybrid to the dealer for all service is the familiarity the factory mechanics have with the hybrid components that are not on a non hybrid auto. Particularly the hybrid portion of the cars drive train, including the batteries. As stated above, with the length of the warranty the factory provides and the familiarity factor of dealer trained mechanic technicians, my car would go to the dealer.

I’m a proponent of dealerships. In a day where it may be hard to find a competent mechanic, the dealer may be your best repair option on all cars. At least the dealer offers a nationwide guarantee on their work and they use factory parts for repairs and maintenance. Dealer technicians go through intense training on every part of every car that a company produces.

One thing you can bank on is that the experts at GotEngines.com will be going through training programs also so that when hybrids come out of warranty they will be 100 percent prepared to serve your needs. You can also bank on the GotEngines.com Blog keeping you as well informed as possible on what is going on in the hybrid world, and some of the maintenance and home repairs that you may be able to perform.