Next Cars
I am going Hybrid with my next car. Probably in another year or so. To that end I have begun to seriously examine some of the current options available. Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. The Honda Civic is the current leader for price, HP, Fuel Efficiency and Looks. Take a look here:
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Since then we have put 35,000 miles on it, and still love it to death. There have been no major mechanical problems and only two minor ones (the latch on the glove box stopped working) which were rapidly fixed by the dealership. We routinely get 50MPG for most tanks of gas, though there is some affect of weather (colder than ~40F and the mileage begins to suffer). Learning to drive it for maximal mileage has taught me a lot about the bad driving habits I had - rapid acceleration, excessive braking, etc. You learn how to *coast* and get the really great mileage.
We did test-drive the Honda Civic hybrid before we bought. The Prius is extremely roomy, especially compared to the Civic. My father-in-law is 6'2" and he is very comfortable riding with us in either the front or rear seats. Also, the Civic uses older technology (Honda bought Toyota's old design) than the Prius. The Prius has a gear specially designed for recharging the battery, for instance, and there are other advantages as well, such as the interactive touch-screen that controls the air conditioner, stereo, and other appliances as well as displaying instantaneous MPG and the five-minute MPG averages for the last 30 minutes. This has been very helpful as it gives me feedback on how I'm driving and how I can improve the mileage.
On the subject of price, we received a $1000 deduction on our federal income taxes, and an Oregon state income tax REBATE for $1500 (they actually sent us a check), which reduced the price from $21000. The biggest problem with the Prius was finding a dealer who had one for sale! They were mostly pushing us to order one, a process that would take three months or more. I have seen an explosion of new Priuses where I live - they are extremely popular and everyone I talk to loves theirs.
If you have any specific questions I would be happy to answer them.
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