Personally I don't see the fascination with these hybrid cars. I mean what
really are you saving anyway? They don't get that much better mileage than
a standard Honda Civic which is bigger and a more substantial car. They
both use gas. And at the end of 100,000 miles or so, if you buy a hybrid,
you are having to spend several thousand dollars to buy 1000 lbs or so of
batteries to replace the old ones in the hybrid. You also don't have to
dispose of these batteries which are considered hazardous material. I
forgot to mention that the cost of the hybrid is higher than the Civic even
with a tax deduction.

Strictly from an environmental standpoint I don't think these things are
helping the environment at all and in fact may be hurting it. Honda
vehicles in general already have extremely low emissions.

CaptainKrunch



"Gary Gorbet" <ggorbet@houston.rr.com> wrote in message
news:070120042110075950%ggorbet@houston.rr.com...
> I have a 2003 Civic Hybrid. It's got about 3500 miles on it now. I have
> *loved* driving this car - quiet, smooth and peppy. But I must say that
> I'm somewhat disappointed in the mileage I'm getting. It's averaging a
> little better than 39 MPG. The EPA estimate is just under 50 MPG. I
> know EPA is always high, but I would have thought I'd have gotten
> closer than 10 MPG under.
>
> It is true that most of my driving is the 20 minute trip to and from
> work in stop and go traffic. I think I've done a pretty good job of
> modifying my driving habits to the hybrid. I'm not sure what I could do
> to maximize mileage, any more that what I've been doing.
>
> What I'd like to hear is the experience of other Hybrid owners. Is my
> mileage reasonable for the kind of driving I do? Does it get better
> after the break-in period?