Want a hybrid? You’ll have to wait

By Brian McNeill

Published: June 28, 2008

Want to switch to a fuel-efficient hybrid vehicle to save money in this era of record high gas prices?

You’d better be prepared to wait.

The most popular models of hybrid cars — such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic — are in such high demand that Charlottesville-area dealers are telling customers that it might take up to six months before they can get behind the wheel.

“We are swamped with hybrid sales,” said Don Deluce, general sales manager of Brown Honda.

Deluce’s dealership on U.S. 29 north of Charlottesville has pre-sold all of its hybrid vehicles through September.

It is now taking orders for the 2009 models.

At Brown Toyota on Pantops, hybrid hunters are being placed on a five- or six-month waiting list. With 35 to 45 people on its list, the dealership has ceased taking deposits on future shipments.

Brown’s waiting list started to surge during the past two months as the cost of gas sped up to and past $4 a gallon.

The Pantops dealership does have three 2007 pre-owned Prius models for sale. However, the vehicles fetched such a high price at auction, Brown set the price at $29,990 — roughly $7,000 more than the price tag of an equipped new 2008 model.

Bob Deeds, a sales rep at Brown Toyota, said he sympathizes with customers who want to save money on gas.

“I imagine they wish they’d bought one of these three months ago,” said Deeds, who is father of gubernatorial hopeful Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County. “They’re hurting and we’re hurting. If we can’t sell them, we can’t get paid.”

Similar shortages are being felt elsewhere in the state, including Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads and Richmond, said Michael Allen, director of public affairs for the Virginia Auto Dealers Association.

A key reason behind the hybrid shortage is that Toyota is struggling to keep up with demand because it cannot manufacture the batteries quickly enough, Allen said.

“A big part of the issue is the unavailability of hybrids brought about because of the unexpected rise in demand and the fact that battery production hasn’t kept up,” he said.

Charlottesville-area motorists who desire less popular hybrid models such as the Mercury Mariner or the Ford Escape may have more luck obtaining one of those vehicles within two or three months, said Kip Rowe, general manager of Colonial Auto Center on U.S. 29.

Rowe said that hybrid vehicles will not save drivers as much money as they might think.

It would take around a dozen years, he said, for a typical driver to recoup the extra cost of hybrids from the gas savings.

A hybrid version of the 2008 Honda Civic, for example, gets a combined 42 mpg and starts at $23,235. The standard Civic sedan, on the other hand, gets an average of 29 mpg and costs around $7,600 less.

“The hybrid isn’t considered a fix-all for what we’re facing right now,” Rowe said. “Most of these people are spending all that extra money just so they can look ‘green’ going down the road.”

For Prius driver and Brown Toyota sales rep Peter Maher, the car’s extra cost was well worth it.

“They’re one of the best-rated cars out there,” Maher said. “That’s why we’re in the situation we’re in.”

Maher ticked off the reasons he likes his hybrid.

“Cost of ownership. Less environmental impact,” he said. “Plus, it’s loaded with gadgets and I’m kind of a gadget geek.”