Please help to choose one for my wife.I cheked some hybrid cars sites ( www.tophybridcar.net , and others) but they all say that i should buy toyota prius:/
I think currently the only hybrid I would consider is the Prius. Other available vehicles out there just don’t justify their price.
You can get a Ford Escape Hybrid that gets 30MPGhwy/34MPGcity and pay $26K for a Ford,
or you can get a 4cyl. Toyota RAV4 that gets 30MPGhwy/26MPGcity and pay $23K and get a larger vehicle that is a Toyota.
Honda has already discontinued making it’s hybrid Accord since the price didn’t justify the small improvement in gas milage.
I’ve heard the hybrid Toyota Highlander got good ratings but again I think the cost outweighs the mpg gain.
And they say that because Prius owners are happy with them, Toyota is committed to continuing with and improving hybrids (unlike Honda), Toyota has an excellent reputation for design and durability (unlike Ford), and for most people there’s really not a better choice.
Is there some reason you don’t want to get a Prius?
This pretty much summs it up for me too. It’s by a long shot the better bang for your buck.
If you don’t like the way it looks, then I’d consider a Highlander highbrid - if you have a nice trade in, or money isn’t too much of an issue the highlander hybrid is very nice indeed.
The Prius has been around for several years now and they are reliable. Toyotas are very reliable in general. My parents previous cars were a '94 Camry and a '97 Sienna that had 220k and 175k miles respectively, and neither had major problems when they sold them. I had a '98 Corolla that lasted 168k miles before it died, but I abused that car.
I don’t think you can go wrong with a Prius. It’s a decently sized car (bigger interior than the Corolla). My mother has one, and a family friend of mine has two (actually his third and fourth…he got one in '04 and keeps trading them in for newer models). I’d have one myself if I could afford it.
If you are looking for a more luxurious car, the Camry Hybrid is REALLY nice. My father has one. He gets around 37mpg, which isn’t as good as the Prius’ 45-50, but isn’t bad for a car of that size. It’s a bigger car than the Prius, and has luxury stuff like heated leather seats, dual zone climate control, 8-speaker sound system, etc. It is more expensive than the Prius, but worth it if you want a luxury car.
Of course, there’s also the Lexus GS Hybrid, if you’ve got $60k sitting around…
–FCOD
eta: Feel free to ask me if you have specific questions about the Prius or Camry Hyrbrid…I know lots about them.
I think your wife will want the red one.
My wife just bought the Toyota Camry hybird. She LOVES it, if you haven’t checked those out, I would.
Happy '04 Prius owner here. Just turned 122,000 miles with absolutly no problems with the car. Now on my third set of tires and quite happy with the Prius.
I drive at or above the speed limit and average 47 MPG. My round trip to work is about 100 miles and is mostly interstate.
I plan to buy a new one in fall of '08.
Consumer Reports says that Toyota in general has a very good record for reliability, and that Toyota Prius owners are the most satisfied of any car purchasers – I think it was 94% that would buy one again. That’s a pretty awesome record.
But even so, their recent story on hybrids in general showed that, financially, it was hard to justify purchasing one. Measuring the higher purchase cost vs. gas savings over the expected lifetime barely breaks even for most hybrids. Many only do so because of the government tax credits for hybrids, which are becoming harder to get.
So when you buy a hybrid, it’s hard to justify on finances alone – what you are doing to help the planet comes into consideration here.
More IMHO territory, but I’d seriously consider a diesel car. My diesel Jetta gets 55 mpg on the highway, and about 45 in the city. Diesel gas is usually less expensive than unleaded these days, and the diesel can be run on up to 100% biodiesel.
And diesel engines run forever and ever.
The Mrs and I are getting the 2008 model, which is a significant redesign. We’re looking mostly at the seating for 7 - all the others are 5 seaters and she’s tired of me being ‘left behind’ when we have to transport more than the 5 our current sedan can hold (I tell her I don’t mind, but she’ll have none of that).
That’s a fine wife! 
And Honda even higher.
The Prius is a damn good car. BUT you have to buy it from the biggest group of rip-off artists outside of the greybar hotel. Honda- not so much.
And, you lose out on the Fderal Tax credit as so many Toyotas have been sold they ran out. With the Honda Civic you get almost the same milage, possible more relaibility, and $3500 or so back on your Federal Income Taxes (YMMV, watch for the AMT!) Although Honda has discontinued the Accord Hybrid, it fully supports the Civic, and Honda has made Hybrids about as long as Toyota. For me, it would be hard to pick between Honda Civic and Prius, but an extra $3000 or so savings makes the Honda hwaaaay better- $3000 better.
Deisels get great milage but much worse emissions than a Hybrid, no tax credit, and you can’t really buy any in CA (and other states?).
Of the SUV’s, I like the Saturn Vue Green line the best (great milage but it isn’t very big) Of the Mid-size cars, I like the Saturn Aura Greenline (just out). Saturn still gets the tax credit. And Saturn dealers have a fantastic rep, you will not get ripped-off.
Questions which are searching for informed opinions are best put in IMHO. Moved.
samclem GQ moderator