We bought a Civic Hybrid about 6 weeks ago and completely love it.

We get 50+ mpg on the highway and around 40-45 mpg city (automatic with
CVT).

We drove both the Prius and the Civic Hybrid before we bought the Civic.
They are fairly comparable in terms of power. Both cars have substantial
warranties on everything that touches the batteries and engine systems. The
Prius is totally tricked out and has lots of high-tech looking
instrumentation (and a goony display showing whether you're using battery,
gas, or a mixture). The 2004 Prius has been completely redesigned outside
and in. My wife hated the body style compared to the 2003 Prius -- she said
it looked like someone squashed a Volkswagon.

You probably already know that the Prius is battery only at very low speeds,
then the gas engine is mixed in. The Civic is the opposite -- gas only when
you start with battery assist. This translates into significantly better
mileage in heavy stop-and-go traffic (I think the Prius is rated at 55 city
compared to the Civic which is rated at 47).

The Prius seems to have an edge in the technology (and looks different from
any other Toyota)... whereas the Civic Hybrid looks like a Civic.

We ultimately went with the Civic for economic reasons. For some reason,
the Prius is considered an extremely hot car and there's lots of demand for
it. In Southern California, there's so much demand, that you have to wait 3
months to get one. (And because of that demand, there's no price
flexibility). WIth the Civic Hybrid, dealers had the cars in stock and
available immediately. Also, because there are more Civic Hybrids available
(and not as much demand), there was a lot of flexibility with the Civic
Hybrid. (There also are NO factory options for the Civic Hybrid --
everything's standard so you don't have to argue and haggle about expensive
options you might not want. The Prius has a couple of expensive options --
including a GPS display that spikes the price up considerably -- and dealers
are making a lot of money selling these cars.)

The bottom line is that we could got the Civic Hybrid for almost $5,000 less
and got it immediately.

Alex


"Harry Everhart" <harry@everhart.com> wrote in message
news:harry-2AE7C8.12304204022004@news.verizon.net...
> I have always loved Civics. I am also reading about the hybrid
> technology in the Prius.
>
> Does anyone on here have the Civic Hybrid that they can give a report on
> it?
>
> I am not interested in that other Honda Hybrid - impractical for me.
>
> I am going to decide between the Civic Hybrid and the Prius.
>
> Harry