Lots of defensiveness on this thread...
Why is it seen as a bad thing to want to drive a vehicle that uses less energy? We should all try to reduce our energy consumption for reasons that should be obvious to all but the most idiotic/brainwashed people.
I didn't buy a Raptor to save money on gas or save the environment, but I did trade in my gas-guzzling SUV for two vehicles: A Raptor (for weekend getaways and bad weather, etc.) and a Honda Civic Hybrid (for my daily, 100+ mile commuting duties). Granted, I did this for economical reasons more than any sense of obligation to the environment, but I have no regrets and I actually enjoy using less fuel on my commute.
And for those who claim the Honda Civic is a "POS", I have to say that their sales figures/resale values/customer satisfaction statistics will refute this assertion on any level. As a matter of fact, my new Honda is still running fine but my new Ford is already plagued by clunks and glitches that have already had me back to the dealer on more than one occasion.
I'm all for saving money on gas. And I'm glad your Civic is working out for you. Here are a few of the neato features our 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid offers...
- New tires every 8-10k miles. Yea, the alignment is fine and the pressures are dead on. And I've also replaced 2 blown tires in the rear. Sweet...
- New battery-pack at 16k miles. That's a $6,000 repair. A bit of online research showed that I was not alone. Seems like a TON of owners had the same issue. The dealer acknowledged the same...
- Full 20-25% worse mileage than advertised. The sticker said 41/50. Yet the best the car has ever done is 36 highway (no air conditioning) and 41 city. A friend of mine had a standard 2006 Civic that got 38 on the highway. Surprise, surprise, when other owners saw the same thing and sued Honda, they reworked the numbers.
- Fully oxidized paint on the rear spoiler. Even with regular waxing the paint basically vanished. Worst paint I have seen on any car I have ever purchased.
Had someone asked me within a year of buying the car I probably would have said "Hey, it's pretty good. As evidenced by their sales figures, etc. it must not be a PoS.". I'm also pretty sure that Honda attempted to fix these issues in later models - for your sake I hope so. But as I said, our Civic defines the phrase PoS and if my daughter did not love that car I would probably take it to a junk yard and spend 2 hours beating it with a sledgehammer. There are good hybrids out there, but that year model for the Civic Hybrid is a PoS. I hope you still feel the same way in a year or two - or at least hope Honda is still paying for the new batteries.