Prius, Civic hybrid owners save money, Consumer Reports now says [View All]

[bananas]

Has this been posted before?
I just came across this - Consumer Reports made a math error in their currrent issue.

http://priuschat.com/Consumer-Reports-Eats-Crow-t16986.html

Consumer Reports Eats Crow
Mar 8 2006, 01:27 AM

My friend who won't admit he's at a level of genius, quickly realized the Consumer Reports had made a major calculation error in their article regarding the cost effectiveness or lack of payback in purchasing a hybrid.

He wrote a letter to Consumer Reports about the error and to the San Jose Mercury as well, who had put the CR report in an article in their newspaper.

Well, CR has now published a retraction and updated chart of the costs of hybrid ownership. The SJ Mercury will also publish the corrected information very shortly.

Way to go, John G.!

Here's CR's updated chart. I assume the retraction and "oops" article will be in next months magazine.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/new-cars/high-cost-of-hybrid-vehicles-406/hybrids-vs-all-gas.htm

Here's the Mercury News article:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/14041566.htm

Posted on Tue, Mar. 07, 2006
Prius, Civic hybrid owners save money, Consumer Reports now says
By Matt Nauman
Mercury News

Consumer Reports now says it made an error when calculating the cost of owning a hybrid: Owners of the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrids do save money, the magazine said today.

Last week, the organization released a statement ahead of its well-read April auto issue, which hit newsstands today, that said owners of the six most popular hybrid vehicles would pay more than buyers of comparable gasoline-only vehicles over their lifetime of ownership.

<snip>

The new calculations show that owners of the Toyota Prius will save $400 and owners of the Honda Civic will save $300 when compared with gasoline-only counterparts. Owners of four other hybrids -- the Honda Accord, Ford Escape, Toyota Highlander and Lexus RX 400h -- will still end up spending $1,900 to $5,500 more during five years of ownership and 75,000 miles, Consumer Reports said.

<snip>

Readers such as John Grebenkemper, who has a doctorate from Stanford University, told Consumer Reports it had made a math error in calculating depreciation.

Contact Matt Nauman at [e-mail] or [phone].