Hybrids... worth it?

Wild,
You should buy the car you feel best about. Other posters have pointed out that chosing a car has lots of considerations other than price. Decide what the most important factors are for you and then go on test drives.

If money had been my only consideration when replacing my '96 Honda Civic, I would have bought another plain vanilla Civic. Reliable with proven "old fashioned" technology, easy on gas, priced right, easy to find good repair shops and to upkeep, relatively low emissions. But I liked the idea of super low emissions so decided to test drive a Honda Civic Hybrid alongside the regular Civic. My husband said he wanted to test drive a Prius too, since our Toyota and Honda dealers are on the same street.

Comfort and good gas mileage were concerns since we were planning regular inter-state drives.

We were both impressed by the Prius as soon as we sat in the car. It's more roomy than the HCH. During the test drive, it proved to have more umph under the hood. The Pris was simply more car than the HCH, which felt "tinny" in comparison.

Price difference of ~$5,000 wasn't much of a factor in our case. We were willing to pay the difference for "more" car. Looks weren't all that important either. Dan sometimes calls Foxy, the Jellybean.

Three weeks after Foxy settled in her garage, Katrina hit the refineries in the Gulf and gas prices went nuts. Friends and family kept telling us we must be happy we bought the car. They were right. But we weren't pleased by the rising gas prices, we could afford to drive even if gas tops $5/gallon. We were enjoying our car. She's fun to drive. Low emissions just puts a bigger smile on my face as we drive past gas stations.

 

Way to go on your choice! Something about red even makes the shape of the prisu "that I had trouble getting used to" come alive and look very sporty!

Well it's a bit like I speak about Honda..... And German enginneering also is very good, but when I comes to hybrid..... we have the cream of the crop.

I think the others could do it too if they were willing to take the same chances they took in thier beginning that made them great today...but now they have too much too lose and they are too comfortable and too many boards to please and stockholders to impress.
Necessity if the mother of invention. But inventors take risk... the more the need, the less the risk.

Toyota just does what the market demands... whether its risky or not!... thats why I like them..... from making muscle trucks to hybrids..... if the market calls for it.. they meet the demand. Always thinking ahead or "moving forward" as they say.

It may not always stroke the feathers of the green birds, but you have to admit.... whatever they do, they do it with excellence for the price.

The only reason some of those cars you mentioned cost more is because of the reputation they built.... I really don't think its because they are so much better.
Hybrid would be just if not more expensive if they were totally accepted, and the public were't so afraid and still so uneducated to its reliability and benifits.

They could make tons of mercedes and the price would be cheaper.. but they don't on purpose to keep the price and demand high.
Fact is.... if they made even more mercedes.... they would loose value... because there is a crowd that like mercedes and a larger crowd that doesn't.


But with the prius, there too is a crowd that will never prefer them, but there are masses, that will once they get more educated.
I say all this to point out that.... as they make more and more prius's or hybrids, the price will not drop much because the secret will also get out as more get on the road and the demand will skyrocket even more.

There is a reason you seldom see Prius commercials? If they are this popular now... what will happen when they actually start trying to advertize them?.... maybe they will never need to... word of mouth is all they need!

 

The lexus seats 5. The highlander seats 7.

 

Tropophobia or Metathesiophobia......Fear of change

 

Hey.. if it wasn't for that.. everybody would want one, then we couldn't afford it? :lol:

 

Yes, Prius kept its value better do most new cars. Of course no one who wants to save money buys a new car; they buy a clean two-years-old something.

 

This reminds me of a comedy skit in which a British Peer decides that the patriotic thing is to conserve resources by taking the bus. So he gets on the bus and asks the driver to take him to his club.