Do you like your hybrid?

I was thinking about buying a hybrid. I have a 6-cylinder Intrepid. I like the speed of my car, but it's a huge gas guzzler and it's getting old. Would you recommend a hybrid for me? I'm a traveling nurse and drive out of my city to do home visits for sick people...I need something with better gas mileage. What do you think?

Hybrids have their biggest benefit from in-town driving, rather than highway driving, as they add efficiency by storing and reusing the power generated by braking.

Some Hybrids have used the technology to just add power, and don't offer much in the way of improved fuel economy, such as the luxury vehicles like the Lexus RX400h.

Also, actual fuel economy has tended to be shy of the EPA estimates- even more so than a traditional car.

Generally- the financial advantage isn't very significant, as you'll need to drive for years to save the money in gas, that you spent on the car. But- think of it as sending money to Japan instead of Saudi Arabia. (which you may or may not prefer).

Hybrid cars are more complex- and therefore likely have more things to go wrong with them in the future.

So- being green isn't as green as you may have originally thought, but it's still OK. It's not fair to compare a Prius with a Dodge Charger. Sure the Prius gets much better mileage, but not just because it's a hybrid, but also becuase it's smaller and much less powerful. But it is fair to compare, let's say, a Toyota Rav4 with a Hybrid Ford Escape. They get similar milage- so no real benefit.

Bottom line: Look for the car you want to buy, rather than limiting yourself to hybrids. There are some good ones out there. The new Camry is probably worth looking at.

I think you should hold off just a little bit since affordable electric cars with reasonable performance are soon to be available to the public. I also heard that some hybrids are only allowing consumers to switch over to electric after the gasoline has run out. We all need to get off the gasoline/hybrid kick completely and switch over to total electric, bio fuels, fuel cells, and other alternative fuels.