Do you get the mialege you expected? What did you expect, and what are your getting? When do you expect to hit the break even point? and does that break even point assume battery replacement?
I have been somewhat involved in gas/electric hybrids for before it became mainstream, heck before most knew about it. From the start it seemed to me personally like the wrong way to go. You are combining 2 technologies that are very good at providing long term power, but not really any technology that produces a lot of power in a short amount of time.
I have an '05 Prius. I expected to get around 50MPG (the sticker numbers had to be inflated; plus one of my brothers had one of the original models, and I knew this one would be an improvement over his mileage). I’m usually running around 52MPG, so I’m happy.
“Break even point” as in making up the price differential between the hybrid and a regular IC? Hmmm… hadn’t thought about it. Given that I’m driving it 20K+ miles per year so far. I’ll probably drive it into the ground long before that break even point. I guess that means that battery replacement’s a moot issue, too.
We have a '06 Prius and so far love it. Mr. SCL drives it much more than I do (you’ll get my Wrangler when you pry my cold dead hands off the steering wheel) but I like it, too. Driving in city, mostly, and getting around 60 mpg. The warranty covers the battery for 8 years, so hopefully that won’t be a problem.
One thing that took some getting used to was when the car would switch to total electric at a stop sign - I could feel the gas engine cut off (through my butt - I’m sensitive like that 
) and nearly have a heart attack thinking I’d broken the car. It’s also very quiet - I can’t hear it when he drives up in the driveway, altho the cats can.
SpouseO and I just bought a Ford Escape Hybrid (well, “just” as in what? July? August? Something like that.) He drives it mostly, and he seems to like it a lot. While its gas mileage is nothing compared to the Prius, the 27 - 28 mpg he’s getting now is a huge improvement over his last car (Nissan XTerra), so he’s happy. He’s noticed that his mileage has gone down since it’s gotten cold out.
We bought the hybrid SUV because SpouseO wanted to keep the roomy-ness of the XTerra, which does come in quite handy when we got to the closest big box home improvement store for stuff, or when we look for furniture, and the like. It is convenient. Otherwise, I woulda pushed harder for a sedan/coupe hybrid.
We’re happy with it so far. However, we didn’t buy the hybrid because we were aiming to save money on gas. We bought it because we (well, SpouseO more than me) were interested in the technology and wanted to support it.
One thing that SpouseO has noticed is the “ignorance” of the general public about hybrids. He’s suprised that most people really don’t know much about them - he’s fielded tons of “do you have to plug it in?” questions (no) and “how much do batteries cost?” questions (they’re included in the price of the car; warranteed for 8 years, so by the time you need to replace the battery, you might be shopping for a new car anyway; and the dealer told us about $1000 right now, but that cost will probably come down).
SpouseO was really torn between the Escape and the Toyota Highlander hybrid, but the Highlander was $5000-$8000 more, and was more powerful (for towing) and roomy, but was also on a wait. We decided that for the literally 2 times a year we tow something, we could borrow one of our Dad’s trucks. And the Escape was available right then - we bought the one we test drove off the lot the next day. Apparently there’s also a Mercury SUV hybrid which would presumably be more comparable to the Highlander, but we didn’t know that at the time.
So far, we’re well satisfied.
I forgot to add how suprised and pleased I was at the roominess of the Prius. It seats four adults very comfortably, and the rear seats fold down for more cargo room. Mr. SCL was able to get a wooden porch swing in the back with no problem!
Awesome, but how does it work with the seatbelts? 
Funny you mentioned that. A while back I was a a gas station when a hybrid car owner (either prius or the honda), was filling up, with the engine running. When he got back into the car the car shut off and he drive off (under battery power).
I know that the hybrids usually shut off the IC engine during stops, perhaps he left the a/c on while filling up. Either way it was quite unexpeted.