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Brother and sister in law bought the Volvo hybrid , received $10,000 in tax rebates, 5,000 from federal government, and they live in Colorado 5,000 ( I think that was breakdown) each state offers their own rebates, ( tax discount )
https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml
( perhaps this has been mentioned above, I haven’t read every post )
Thank you. I’m going to buy a Volvo soon. If the hybrid is the same or close to the gas version, I’d consider it. Didn’t even know there was a rebate.
The tax credit on federal income tax is available for some plug-in hybrids, not non-plug-in hybrids.
Thank you. Well, that leaves me out. While, we own two Volvo’s now and are pretty happy, I’m still waiting for Polestar info. Question is, how long will the wait be? Gas fell by a buck recently so wonder if that will impact car sales locally. Still a lot of people who needed a car and haven’t gotten one post Covid.
The best time to buy an electric or fuel efficient vehicle is when fuel prices are low. The worst time to buy such a vehicle is when fuel prices are high.
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Well, depends on definition of low and high. I don’t think they are going sub-$2.00/gallon anytime soon. Then again, I think they might go above $5.50 ( highest gas price I ever saw in our state) this Winter.
I’m unlikely to get a good deal in the Northeast. There’s a decent amount of demand and very few new cars of any type available. If I got a good deal on a new car, I’d be very very surprised. Will start to look now and buy end October or November ( if there’s any inventory).
The plug-in hybrid versions of the XC60 and XC90 are extremely close to the gas versions. They look functionally identical. They just updated the specs mid-year 2022 for the XC90 with more battery range, etc., so make sure they give you a recent one.
They have an all electric SUV coming out in 2024 that is functionally comparable to the XC90 but is all-new and not simply an electric XC90.
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Thank you. Great info. I’ve already driven both those models (gas only). Think I’ll drive the hybrid version of the XC 60 very soon.
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Report back… Hybrids still interest me too. My dad had a Toyota Hybrid he loved and often got 50+ mpg with it. He passed away back in 2018 and I don’t recall exactly what model. I just recall him being super happy with it.
I was at my dealership recently, and I spoke to the GM of the dealer, who’s been a good friend and helped me out. He told me that as soon as he gets a new shipment of vehicles, they are basically sold immediately. He hardly had anything new in stock and the used cars are sky high (and moving, albeit at a slower pace).
Regardless of what kind of car you want (gas, EV, PHEV), these conditions might make it wise to get a car broker, who can source new and used cars and help you sell your current one. There are some really good ones in the Bay Area that only charge if they close a deal for you and their reputations are superb.
I used to like to do the buying and selling myself, but I simply don’t have the time anymore. More importantly, this is an exceedingly difficult time to get a car. A reputable car broker, with their immense contacts, can do all the searching for you to locate cars in the area (or even outside of the area…yes, I have been known to fly to get a new car and drive it back home). I guess the other alternative is pre-ordering a car and being prepared to wait, which might not be a bad thing either.
Best of luck.
Good idea to get a car broker. I like to test drive then just buy. Normally we buy whatever is available. To me, it’s a moving piece of metal so if it goes fast and can drive in the snow great. Color, specs don’t really matter to me. I do need a moon roof and heated seats. I used to be able to get good deals by going in the last day of the quarter.
I do think the hybrids will be a bit more in demand. We’ll have to see.
I’m really interested to see if the hybrids have good pickup. I’m mostly doing highway driving, rarely city. I’d like something with a lot of traction. And a car that’s good in snow, rain and ice. Fog lights are a definite plus too.
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I am exactly the same. IF, and I underscore IF, you want a PHEV, hybrid, or EV, you will have no issues. Both our EV and PHEV are fully loaded (my PHEV has a moon roof, heated and cooled seats etc), and you will definitely have no issues with getting a car that has excellent traction and pick-up.
On the broker, I signed up for one where there was a success fee payment of a few hundred dollars if they closed the deal with the car I wanted. I was lucky because I had a trade-in on a lease that had a profit margin of five figures that I was able to get the original car dealer to handle. While I did not get the full value of the profit, I didn’t have to deal with buying the old car and then trading it in for the new lease, paying sales tax, dealing with paperwork, dealing with selling the old car etc. So, I didn’t ultimately need a broker, but I was able to source a leased PHEV for less than what I was paying for the old lease with nothing down.
In CA, getting a qualifying PHEV (or EV) generally gets you an HOV sticker that allows you to use HOV lanes and get discounted tolls on the bridges in the Bay Area during rush hour even with just a single person (i.e., me, the driver). Using the HOV lanes in the Bay Area with a single driver can shave large amounts of time in longish commutes in the area. That was the initial reason I got a PHEV years ago, but given the pricing differential between charging vs. gas, it makes a huge difference in cost, putting aside the environmental benefits, which are also important.
This is a very tough market for cars right now, so do consider a broker to make sure it’s the right thing for you. If I hadn’t had my friendly local dealership GM work it out for me, I definitely would have paid a few hundred more to get the best deal possible on the cars I wanted. At least at the beginning of 2022, it was an optimum time to cash out on a used car to get a new car, assuming, of course, you could find a new car to begin with. Late in 2021 and early 2022, that was a huge issue, but we get extremely lucky with two cars, both involving trade-ins/
@publisher (if I have the UN right) had a great OP on buying a new car with these market conditions. I can’t find it now, but search there for tons of intel on sourcing a car in 2022. ETA: here is this OP: Buying A New (or Used) Car Experience During Supply Chain Shortages
I’ve been on the Cybertruck waitlist since forever ago.
It wouldn’t work for us to have 2 EV’s I don’t think, based largely on where we live. We just end up having to drive a lot of miles, and some of those trips go where there aren’t chargers. I think those areas are less and less common though. But for us, at least for now, at least one will have to be a hybrid. We just bought an ICE car, and we are cautiously optimistic that it will be the last one we have to buy.
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Re the handling in snow and ice I was just talking to a friend who lives in the Rochester NY area and has a Suburu and. a Chevy Bolt EV. He says the Bolt is fantastic in the winter — just zooms right up the hills. He does switch out for snow tires in the winter (standard practice up there).
Where I live in NC we just wait a day or two for the snow to melt. I do have a steep driveway though that it does great on.
Also if you’re looking for a used car we used AutoTrader and a couple of other similar sites as well as Craigslist an NextDoor and Facebook Marketplace. Gotta check every day multiple times a day. Helps to have a separate email address and maybe a Google Voice number.
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Car performance in snow is determined mostly by tires. Even the best AWD will be awful in snow with summer tires or the sort of “all-season” tires that come stock on many cars. A good set of snow tires if in a region with consistent winter snow, or a set of all seasons with the 3 peak mountain snowflake rating if snow isn’t as common, will perform best in snow.
Volvos and Audis for a long time came with Continental extreme contacts as stock tires. Great in the snow. One year my neighbor switched to the Michelins the guy at Costco recommended and couldn’t get up his driveway when the first snow hit. His Volvo wasn’t suddenly bad in snow. The guy at sold him summer focused all seasons.
For drivers who don’t get much snow, wouldn’t putting cables on the tires (front tires in an AWD or Front Wheel Drive vehicle) be a good alternative to snow tires? They are relatively easy to take on and off and can be used on an as-needed basis.
I think cables are illegal in certain states
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Right. But my NY friend was comparing the Bolt with snow tires to the Subaru with snow tires and said the Bolt was amazing. It’s not like he was comparing it to a rear wheel drive under powered summer tire wearing car. This is a guy who has lived in upstate NY for decades now. He genuinely likes how his Bolt performs in snow and ice compared to his Subie and all the other cars he’s driven over the years. I just asked,”how does it handle in snow” because I don’t drive ours in snow and he said, “It’s great!” And proceeded to gush a few more minutes and tell me how they always swap tires on both the Bolt and Subie.
It doesn’t surprise me that it’s great because it’s got such amazing torque and hill staying power.
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