Originally Posted by farkedup

07 civic hybrid owner here... My vote would be NO if you drive "normal" distances. I for 1 drive 750 miles a week so its worth it for ME.

From the standpoint of purchasing right now? tax credits are disappearing and there's much better gas mileage cars about a year away. I for one will be going after that VW Golf/Rabbit diesel hybrid whenever it finally comes around.

If I were you I would simply get what you can for CASH (~$7k?) and DEAL WITH IT for a year or 2. The current generation of hybrids will TANK in value when the 80MPG vehicles roll out the shitty 50MPG simply won't be enough.

Also think about your SPEED if you drive 60MPH everywhere you go you'll get the advertised 50MPG on the nice days. Cold weather will TANK your gas mileage and so will running the AC. In my civic hybrid when I drive 80MPH everywhere I get 38-40MPG There are some normal vehicles out there that can hold almost 30MPG at those speeds so think about your driving before purchasing. If you're OK with driving like a granny you'll get good gas mileage.

Also the next gen Prius will be much more powerfull and a little bigger. No matter what I'd say now is NOT the time to buy a hybrid. Honda has several nice cars coming and Toyota is also rolling some nice things out SOON!