Reply #21: We've had great luck with used Civics.

[Jackpine Radical]

My old '84 got 43 mpg, and my wife's '89 got high-30's mileage, albeit with a little more town driving than I did with the '84.

Before we made our decisions on our current cars I created an Excel spreadsheet grid with mileage by cost per gallon times the average number of miles we drive in a year to estimate the annual fuel costs. The results can be kind of startling, and you may discover the savings per year of super-high mileage don't amount to as much as you might think. For example, assuming 10,000 miles per year and gas prices of $4 per gallon, 50 versus 40 mpg amounts to only 50 gallons, or $200 savings per year. If you're making a choice between a $10,000 used Civic and a $25,000 new hybrid, even at $4 per gallon it will take you 75 years to make up the difference, and that's not taking into account the interest on the loan (or alternatively the interest earnings on the $15,000 savings over all those years), which would further reduce the financial benefit of the hybrid to you. Even 30 mpg versus 50 at $4 gas doesn't save all that much.