NX200t vs NX300h: Which one is Best for You?

Let's take 9 mpg difference b/w the two. Of course, if you drive city more, then the difference will be greater...and vice versa for highway.

Assume 12,000 miles driven a year. If you drive more than 12k miles / year, then the difference in cost will be greater.

At least around me, REGULAR gas costs $3.10; PREMIUM gas costs about 35 cents more, $3.45. YMMV.

200t: 24 mpg (combined)

12,000 miles / 24mpg = 500 gallons used.

500 x $3.45 = $1,725 / 12,000 miles driven.

300h: 33 mpg (combined)

12,000 miles / 33mpg = 363.6 gallons used.

363.6 x $3.10 = $1,127.16 / 12,000 miles driven.

DIFFERENCE = $597.84 / 12,000 miles driven.


So, it all depends on the price difference b/w equally-equipped 200t vs. 300h. (BTW, $597.84 x 7 years = $4,184.88...just FYI.)

NOW, this is ONLY about gas consumption.

Hybrids do NOT require starter, transmission maintenance, belt vs. chain (not sure about 200t engine, but i think hybrids are chain-driven), and brakes maintenance & replacement. Oil changes may differ too. Again, the last part is questionable since we don't know if 200t engine requires any special oil or how long in b/w changes.

As noted previously in my other post, hybrid batteries (from Toyota) are proven beyond doubt that they can last well past 200k miles. And used (or even new) batteries are fairly cheap...around $2000 (new). Think of it this way...if i make it to 150,000 miles (worst case scenario), and all i had to spend was $2000 on maintenance outside of oil changes and tire rotations, then i did pretty good IMO!

Toyota hybrids generally have good resale value.

So, it's up to your priorities...but i am sticking with 300h.

unclebob said:

Ostensibly I would say the 200t simply becasue the Hybrid system may be fatigued by the time turn over comes...

Click to expand...

Not true, at least with Toyota hybrids. I would venture that maintenance cost over the LIFE of a vehicle is much less in a hybrid.

Here is my post from another thread:
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A new hybrid battery cost is dropping with every passing year. For my Prius, i think that the cost of a NEW battery is around $2000-2500 at most. You can also buy a USED one for a lot cheaper. And not sure about other hybrids, but resale value is one of the strong points of a Prius.

Link: The 200,000-mile question: How does the Toyota Prius hold up?

"....Based on data from over 36,000 Toyota Prius hybrids in our annual survey, we find that the Prius has outstanding reliability and low ownership costs. But we wanted to know if the effectiveness of the battery degraded over the long run. So we hooked up a 2002 Toyota Prius with nearly 208,000 miles on the clock to our testing instruments and compared the results to the nearly identical 2001 Prius we tested 10 years ago.

Conclusion: We found very little difference in performance when we tested fuel economy and acceleration.

Our testers were also amazed how much the car drove like the new one we tested 10 years ago. It certainly didn’t seem like a car that had traveled nearly the distance to the Moon. We were also surprised to learn that the engine, transmission, and even shocks were all original.

If the battery ever did need to be replaced, it would run between $2,200 and $2,600 from a Toyota dealer, but it’s doubtful that anyone would purchase a new battery for such an old car. Most will probably choose to buy a low-mileage unit from a salvage yard, just as they would with an engine or transmission. We found many units available for around $500.

So is an old Prius a still a good value? We think so."
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So, after 10 years and 208,000 miles, the original battery is still in near perfect condition. This is why there are plenty of stories of cabbies running well over 300k miles on the original battery and still going!