This particular comment was from the my last post, which coincidentally was a response to a comment also. I will continue with the Chevy Hybrid Truck post next time on March 19th 2009.

Comment: When you have time, I’d like to know what you think people should go about planning their next car purchase’strategically. That is, I don’t have a hybrid or alternative energy car but want my next one to be. I’d like to think my car has a few more years on it. What do you think will be available when (and at affordable prices)? Thanks!

Without knowing your needs, it may not be the exact answer you want. Since you made the comment on a hybrid vehicle, I’ll assume you are looking for great fuel mileage at an affordable price. Is that an oxymoron? Affordable is not defined by you, so lets assume you can spend $30,000, that is a realistic price if you are looking at Hybrid vehicles. However you can get terrific mileage out of some of the pea-shooters (little tiny cars) that use tiny gasoline engines and are NOT hybrid, and cost less than $20,000.

Realistically, who knows exactly what will be available in a few years? Lots of talk, but little results so far. Lets see what President Obama can manipulate in the next few years.

Basically, hybrids are expensive beasts. That being said, you have to determine if the cost will pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time. When gas goes back up in price, you probably can recover costs in a few years. Hybrid also means being a “greener” by not damaging the environment like fossil fueled cars.

Knowing hybrids use internal combustion engines, although very small, since an electric motor supplements the power is important.

What applies today may not apply in a few years. I can’t make a strategy now without a crystal ball that can tell me what may be available in a few years. But if I wanted a new car now, based on what is available I would look for hybrids and reliability.

The only Hybrid I have driven is a Toyota Prius. I was blown away at how well the car drove, the extra power it had for passing cars and the way the car was built. It was a terrific car. I got approximately 35-38 MPG at 80 MPH. Hard to argue with that. It even has an eight year or maybe a ten year driveline warranty. However the cost blew me away too, a little more than $30,000.

You can buy a pea-shooter now for as little as $12000 to $15000 that gets over 30 MPG city in both and highway driving. Money can become an issue here. Assuming I had the money, I would buy the Hybrid. I know almost every manufacturer is building hybrids and working on new technology’s too.

Reports indicate that by the time you need a car there may be fully electric cars available or cars that have better hybrid technology that translates into better mileage, less emissions and more reliability. Hopefully they will cost less by then.

I think you should see what is available when your time comes for a car and re-ask me the question. The other problem is you really did not say what cars and options interest you. One thing for sure is that if your engine fails and you are not ready for a car at that point, it is very cost effective to purchase a replacement engine from GotEngines.com.

Reading the article on replacement engine strategies may help too, should you have an engine problem and take my advise.

I also suggest reading more of the GotEngines.com Blog to help understand more about cars in general. If you take care of your preventive maintenance, you may not even need or want to spend the money on a new car anymore.