Hybrid Repair Costs

When you buy a hybrid car, you should expect higher repair costs. Not because of the technical difficulties expected from working with all the high tech gear, as most cars sold today are infinitely more complex than those sold even 10 or 20 years ago. No, most of the high repair costs come from always having to go to the dealership, where, as we all know, repairs cost more.

But an engineer from Worcester, Mass is trying to change that. Craig Van Batenburg is running a training course on how to repair these hybrid cars. If he, and others like him, train enough local repairman, the cost of repairs will come down. In the short term, those auto repairman who attend his class will still be able to charge top dollar for their new found know-how given how rare that knowledge is. In the long-term, it will benefit us all as the knowledge spreads.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News

The class was the brainchild of Craig Van Batenburg, a self-taught engineer from Worcester who has become a big name in the hybrid-training world. He wants to give independent technicians the know-how to repair these increasingly popular cars, thereby keeping them in a market dominated by dealership shops.

The class began Friday and ends today, with 12 students and five instructors. Mr. Batenburg has three more planned and sold out, and is currently booking for May 2007.