[jfw834]

the only reason to buy a prius is to feel good. there is absolutely no money saving factor. In fact, you are getting a cheaply made car that is as slow as a tired snail and paying quite a bit for it just to make a political statement. The avg mpg is not 50 it is has been reported to be more like 40 on all road tests thus far. If you have 18k to spend on a slightly used car you can do a lot better than 22pmg if you want.

You could save tons of money and buy a good slightly used civic. That would still get over 30mpg and be comperable in quality to a prius, would retain it's value well, won't cost a dime to maintain, and is actually decently potent when you need to accelerate.

more importantly along the lines of actual polution created by making one car, i have to agree with the previous response, becuase although this care polutes a lot less while driving, the battery which is slowly dying in side is becoming a small box of toxic waste itself that will need to be disposed of. (not to mention when it dies it will be ~$5000) where are we going to get rid of all these dead batteries in a world of hybrids? and from what i can tell, a hybrid causes just as much pollution as a regular car when being produced.

hope some of this helps.....there are lots of great articles on the prius and hybrids and why they are a great idea but not practical as an economic solution just yet.....