I've ridden around in an older Prius and it was a nice car, but I haven't actually driven one myself, and I don't know how much better (for me) one would be. The car I was riding in belonged to our buyer's broker, and she drove pretty much constantly - but not away from the city - so for her it was a wise choice.
The main issue that I've heard with hybrids is that because they are -so- complicated under the hood, you pretty much have to take them back to the dealership to get service. If you're in the middle of, say, New Jersey on your way to a Con, and the car breaks down, you have a problem. This is the main reason my mother (who lives in Washington state and drives to Utah occasionally) is not getting a hybrid. I don't know how much of an issue this would be for the pair of you.
I have a Honda Civic LX stickshift and I'm regularly getting 40 mpg, so while the savings in emissions with a hybrid would be nice, I'm not sure it would offset the additional cost. I got mine at the end of model year (around this time, two years ago) and I followed the Foolish Guide to Buying a Car and ended up paying for it what I had paid for my four-years-old used Subaru wagon three years earlier, and I've been very happy with it ever since. (Well, aside from it not being a hatchback.)
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-07-20 02:18 pm (UTC)The main issue that I've heard with hybrids is that because they are -so- complicated under the hood, you pretty much have to take them back to the dealership to get service. If you're in the middle of, say, New Jersey on your way to a Con, and the car breaks down, you have a problem. This is the main reason my mother (who lives in Washington state and drives to Utah occasionally) is not getting a hybrid. I don't know how much of an issue this would be for the pair of you.
I have a Honda Civic LX stickshift and I'm regularly getting 40 mpg, so while the savings in emissions with a hybrid would be nice, I'm not sure it would offset the additional cost. I got mine at the end of model year (around this time, two years ago) and I followed the Foolish Guide to Buying a Car and ended up paying for it what I had paid for my four-years-old used Subaru wagon three years earlier, and I've been very happy with it ever since. (Well, aside from it not being a hatchback.)
Good luck!