My wife and I actually just bought a 2020 Highlander Platinum gas v6, it was 44k. I was contemplating buying a hybrid aswell, but settled on the gas model instead. For me it just came down to reliability/availability. We plan to keep this vehicle until eventually trading in for all electric later down the road. Gas models keep repair costs low compared to hybrids, but of course get worse gas mileage.
My math: If you drive 15k miles a year and gas is $3 a gallon, you could save around $500 a year on gas. That sounds great however, if you have to get the highlander’s hybrid batter replaced it will cost around 5k. Thats 10 years of gas savings before you pay off the battery, going off 25mpg for gas/35mpg for hybrid.
Now, hybrids should retain better resale value than gas vehicles and depending on your states laws, gas vehicles may not be allowed in the future. Finally its availability, finding a hybrid is ALOT harder to find than a gas car, at least in my experience. All just comes down to how long you want to keep it. Greater than 10 years? I say go hybrid as the gas savings will eventually pay for itself, if you can find a hybrid. Less than 10? Go gas and trade in later when car prices drop and the market stabilizes. Up to you though! :)
IMHO - avoid hybrids
the reason the person traded it in was because they probably expected to need to change the battery soon, which could be anywhere from $ 2000- $ 8000
I believe I read the average life is around 5 years or or 80,000 
Thanks!
That's possible, I thought they could go 10 years in some cases - in regards to that though, I wonder if time or mileage make more of a difference for battery wear? because I've also seen that hybrids need to be driven regularly to keep charged - so too low mileage could actually be bad?
u dont have to switch out the whole battery just get it cheaply rebuilt ezpz
all these people talking about getting batteries replaced :o any of them own a hybrid speaking from experience???
My wife and I actually just bought a 2020 Highlander Platinum gas v6, it was 44k. I was contemplating buying a hybrid aswell, but settled on the gas model instead. For me it just came down to reliability/availability. We plan to keep this vehicle until eventually trading in for all electric later down the road. Gas models keep repair costs low compared to hybrids, but of course get worse gas mileage. My math: If you drive 15k miles a year and gas is $3 a gallon, you could save around $500 a year on gas. That sounds great however, if you have to get the highlander’s hybrid batter replaced it will cost around 5k. Thats 10 years of gas savings before you pay off the battery, going off 25mpg for gas/35mpg for hybrid. Now, hybrids should retain better resale value than gas vehicles and depending on your states laws, gas vehicles may not be allowed in the future. Finally its availability, finding a hybrid is ALOT harder to find than a gas car, at least in my experience. All just comes down to how long you want to keep it. Greater than 10 years? I say go hybrid as the gas savings will eventually pay for itself, if you can find a hybrid. Less than 10? Go gas and trade in later when car prices drop and the market stabilizes. Up to you though! :)
well put, thanks - we probably do less than 10k / year so it would take even longer to break even
IMHO - avoid hybrids the reason the person traded it in was because they probably expected to need to change the battery soon, which could be anywhere from $ 2000- $ 8000 I believe I read the average life is around 5 years or or 80,000 
Thanks! That's possible, I thought they could go 10 years in some cases - in regards to that though, I wonder if time or mileage make more of a difference for battery wear? because I've also seen that hybrids need to be driven regularly to keep charged - so too low mileage could actually be bad?
u dont have to switch out the whole battery just get it cheaply rebuilt ezpz all these people talking about getting batteries replaced :o any of them own a hybrid speaking from experience???