Hybrid vehicles

[Steve]

What's your take on hybrid vehicles? Do you have one, do you want one? I think the Prius is a really nice car especially so since it gets 50-60 mpg. When gas prices are high, it seems like the car to have but when gas prices are lower, I do wonder if they are worth it.

Toyota aims to make Prius mainstream (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17023723/) - Lindland also says that consumers are starting to question the additional expense of buying a hybrid, asking if they are saving money in the long run. She calculates that regular consumers who buy hybrid versions of popular passenger cars like the Honda Accord, which can cost some $3,000 more than a regular model, will need 10 to 12 years to break even in fuel savings, assuming the price of gas remains within the $2.50 to $3 range.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070207/070207_prius_hmed_8a.hmedium.jpg

[S.P.Martin Lawn Care]

Get a Jetta TDI (turbo diesel), have two of them and they average between 43 and 47 mpg city, and as high as 60 mpg highway. Dead nuts reliable. Have never failed to start in Maine winters.

The dealers are scalping the hybrids by thousands which increases the break even point by years. The mpg has been embelished significantly, so the real world mpg is closer to the Jetta TDI city mpg and less.

I don't think they are worth it at this point.

[Steve]

I never knew the Jetta had such good fuel mileage.