What are the advantages of an hybrid car?

Toyota Prius 48 MPG City; 45 MPG Highway
Prices are very comparable to gasoline-only autos See this site: http://autos.yahoo.com/toyota_prius/

Honda Civic Hybrid 40 MPG City; 45 Highway
Slightly pricier, but still in the ballpark.
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-hybrid/environment.aspx

Honda rules. My fiancé is a car mechanic. Has been for years…. Toyota is nice, but the parts are more expensive to replace. Are you trying to save gas money? How many miles on average do you drive per week? If you want to get a vehicle that will last you, get a Honda and take care of it like it is your baby! They are well worth the extra cash!

Ok, how long (with your driving habits) will it take you to overcome the added premium for a hybrid car to the price of fuel (going up everyday) to justify the cost?

@rich: hybrids take premium gas!? Premium gas is more effiecient than regular grade, so if you pit it in a hybrid- wouldn’t that mean you wouldn’t have to buy gas as often- depending on your mileage?

premium gas is hardly more efficient. burns cleaner but doesnt give much boost in performance at all. i dont think he was actually referring to premium gas though.

oh. Haha! I feel silly all of a sudden.

Both the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid take regular gasoline.

@richmarshall
If you compare a city mileage of 25 MPG (which I think is better than average) with the 48 MPG city of the Prius, you assume the average of 12,000 miles per year, then you would save 230 gallons of gas. If you assume an average price of $3.75 a gallon (which may be low for the next year!), your annual savings on fuel is $862. The car differential would pay for itself in less than three and a half years. Sooner if you drive more than average.

A question that has yet to be answered however is what happens to the old
massive batteries when they die, and what does it cost to replace them.

When we bought a Prius in 2004, batteries cost twice what they cost now, so I’m hoping they’ll be down to, say, $79.95 by the time I need one.
(That would surprise me very much; right now they’re in the low thousands.)

And disposal of batteries is a bear, ecologically.

Good points.

I have a honda civic, and it’s nice. I mostly drive on the highway, and I get in the low 30’s per gallon. The trunk is small though, and I’m thinking of getting something else.

@marina, in that case a 36 month lease would not make sense then.