Are Hybrid Cars High Maintenance?

Hybrid cars like the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid have become increasingly popular with Louisville drivers in recent years, especially with the rise in gas prices. Maybe you’re thinking about making a hybrid vehicle your next car, but you’re wondering if hybrid cars are costly to maintain. Are hybrid cars high maintenance? In fact, hybrid car maintenance is often less than that of traditional gas-powered vehicles. Keep reading with Hyundai of Louisville’s service team to find out why.

A lot of our Louisville customers come to us with the impression that hybrid cars cost more to maintain because they have an electric motor in addition to a gas engine. Are hybrid cars high maintenance? No, the truth is that hybrid cars often need less maintenance because their gas engines aren’t used as much when aided by the electric motor. How much does hybrid car maintenance cost? Service appointments for hybrid cars cost the same as gas vehicles. The only additional maintenance cost that may pop up is the replacement of your car’s hybrid battery. However, manufacturers are required to warranty the hybrid battery for 8 years or for 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

You’ll find when you schedule an appointment with our service center that we will perform all of the same maintenance tasks on your hybrid vehicle as we would with a gas car. Here are some of the tasks required to keep your car running in top shape for your Louisville commute:

• Oil changes
• Tune-ups – replacing spark plugs, spark plug cables, belts, filters, etc.
• Tire rotation and replacement
• Brake pad replacement
• Headlight, taillight, and signal light replacement
• Conventional (non-hybrid) battery replacement

Why do we say that hybrid car maintenance can sometimes cost less than that of a gas car? As we said, the gas engine doesn’t have to work as hard, since it is aided by the electric motor. So, certain maintenance tasks don’t have to be performed as frequently. Here are some examples:

• Oil changes – the motor oil is not used as much, so a hybrid car can generally go longer between changes.
• Brakes – hybrid cars use regenerative braking to recharge the hybrid battery, meaning the car’s regular brakes are used less.
• Other moving engine parts – with less overall use, any moving part within the engine system will take longer to wear down, decreasing the amount of maintenance and repair.

We have a wide selection of quality hybrid vehicles, like the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid and the Hyundai Tucson Plug-in Hybrid. Why not come down and test drive one or all of them? We’d love to put you behind the wheel of one of your own. We’re just down the road from Shively, and we’re here to help. So, drop by or contact us today!