Uh? Honda makes a hybrid? Oh, right, that primary gas engine they THINK is a hybrid... http://www.hybridhonda.org/ http://www.insightcentral.net/
Oh yes, Honda's fake hybrid (with really ugly wheels). Look, if you think that the Prius is elusive, you need to find another dealer. You don't have to purchase from your local dealer, you should purchase from the dealer who treats you right. A car is such a high cost item that you should go to where ever they will treat you with respect and where they respect your intelligence. I am also a member at http://www.greenhybrid.com/ That site covers all hybrids, however some of the discussions are a little shallow and their Prius forum isn't very dynamic. I like the site owner, he is cool and really takes care of the place and it runs very well behind a 56k modem. If you live in the Pacific Northwest I'd be happy to point you toward a dealer who treated me right and got me the exact car, package and color that I wanted.
good luck getting the prius... the hondas are fine... i was a honda / acura guy until i got my prius a few weeks ago... but the prius is simply supreme. i have the ability to comparison shop honda & toyota every day - we are actually a dual-hybrid family. my wife drives an accord hybrid - not nearly as good on gas mileage, and a 'partial hybrid' as opposed to a 'full hybrid', but very comfortable, lots of features, much bigger and more expensive ($30k). we got the accord hybrid off the lot with no wait. i had to wait 4 weeks for the prius. wouldn't do anything different... it's a fantastic car.
Thanks everyone who responded with info and opinion Believe me, Prius is my first choice, but if it turns out that for whatever reason or reasons, I can't buy a Prius, then the Honda would be my backup plan. (I've owned 3 non-hybrid Hondas)
Recently, a coworker had surgery and couldn't drive so I drove her to work for about a month. She was shopping for a new car and every day she rode in Priapus, the more he was convinced that the Prius was the coolest car ever. However, she was looking to trade in her 200,000-mile Civic and buy another one. In the end, that's what she did. And since the Civic has an ULEV rating, I'm not all that concerned that it's not a hybrid. It's easy to focus exclusively on something like mileage and forget the fine-particulate pollutants pumped into the air by so many other cars.
