My wife and I were gas guzzlers. In the summer of 2003 our gas bill was consistently north of $200/month, topping out at $300 one month. She drove what some people call the yuppies mini-van (1998 Nissan Pathfinder) @ 15MPG, and I drove (and still do) my 2002 Ford F-150 (someone has to be able to haul stuff)@ 17MPG.

My wife was disgusted with the gas bill (made worse by this summers gouging Oregon gas prices) and did the research and called me at work one day and said - I want you to go buy me a Hybrid. Not having done the research I was skeptical.

I reviewed her research:
48MPG city/47MPG highway
Regular Honda Civic body - No space pod car
No plugs

We went on a test drive, and the car felt like anyother 4-cyl car. The acceleration was adequate, but not outstanding, but our days of beating people off the line are behind us anyway. Honda made the interior and exterior a little nicer than the nicest Civic, realizing that the target market for the Hybrid, with the associated price premium was not the same market as the regular Civic. The seats are done with a higher grade cloth, and are slightly more comfortable than your traditional cloth seats. We have a small child, and anticpate another, so we opted to have aftermarket leather installed for ~$1000 (easier to clean up). The instrument panel is, to sound far too young, COOL. Blue numbers on black background with faux-chrome accents. All the different feedback mechanisms were interesting. MPG for the tank, instantaneous MPG, battery charge, and the Integrated Motor Assist guage. All very aestetically pleasing. Overall, the car seemed very similar to other 4-cyl animals, although accelerating up hill at a reasonable rate of speed did run the engine upwards of 4,000 RPM. My wife decided she would like to have this car.

I made her answer the tough questions: are you OK not being up above everyone when you drive (visibility), are you OK not being able to haul a small country worth of junk around at one time, and are you willing to drive a Honda Civic. Her answers were all yes, so we were down to one last test - the car seats.

We have a daughter - and are planning on a second child before too long. We have Britax car seats, and as far as I know, they are among the largest, if not the largest car seats on the market (they are as sturdy as tanks when installed). There are 2 models - the Marathon (large) and Roundabout (smaller). Our daughter is under 1 year old, and therefore is required to have a rear facing seat. I installed the car seat backwards facing in the center of the back seat. The teather has to attach to the rails of the passenger seat (on which the seat slides forward and back). With the largest car seat on the market installed rear facing, the drivers seat could push back to it's maximimum location, and the passenger seat nearly as far.

Now, when there are 2 little one's in Britax seats, things get a little more tight. The Marathon (larger seat) when forward facing, can fit behind either the driver or passenger seat with no problem. The Roundabout when rearfacing limits the ability of the seat it is positioned behind to recline very far, and limits the distance the seat can be pushed back. I sat in the passenger seat for quite awhile to insure that the leg room and angle of the passenger seat was not prohibitive to the passenger (especially since we take 5 hour trips to the lake regularly in the summer). I settled on the fact that the rear facing Roundabout did not encroach on the leg room and/or angle of the passenger seat prohibitively.

We got the CVT transmission and paid ~$20,500 for the car. Honda was running 1.9% financing to clear out the 2003 Hybrids as the 2004s were soon to be released to dealers.

Here are our impressions of the car 4 months and 4,000 miles into it.
1) Gas mileage - We have never gotten the advertised 47 miles per gallon. We have gotten between 40 and 43 in the summer, and 37 and 40 in the rainy Oregon fall and winter. It may be possible to use all the feedback from the instrument panel to get better than we do, but we are not going to change our driving habits further to get the added mileage (if that is what is required). The car does provide so much feedback that is teaches you to drive for mileage, and as a by product we find ourselves driving more conservatively - not a bad thing.
2) Comfort - As long as you are of average height, this car is of average comfort. I have a friend who is 6'6, and he was a little cramped, even with the seat pushed back as far as it would go.
3) Trunk space - even with the battery pack behind the back seats - this has good trunk space for a 'compact' car. I bracket 'compact' as you do not feel like you are in a compact car.
4) The little things - this is where we were a little disappointed and surprised. A) The car has a rattle that is very annoying. There is a plastic piece that runs from the ceiling to the dashboard along the windshield that is not tight, and therefore rattles against the windsheild. B) The automatic door locks are automatic from the interior only to the driver. There is no button on the passenger side of the car, or in the backseats to power lock and unlock. This is annoying when I let my wife into the car on the passenger side of the car, and then walk around to the driver side, and she has to reach over the car to unlock the doors for me (although, if you use the keyless entry this is not an issue - I don't carry the remote for her car, as I am not the primary driver). C) There is an armrest on the right side of the driver seat - very nice for the driver, but one does not exist fof the passenger. D) There is a compartment for CDs under the stereo. This holds 3 CDs. It has a cover that closes, but will only close if the CDs are put into the compartment sideways. This means that you can not see the title and artist when you open the compartment, and of you choose to put them in so that you can see title and artist, you can not close the door to the compartment.

Overall, we are very please with our little Hybrid. We feel like we are doing our part to make up for my gas guzzling F-150 (which I will never part with), and even though it was helped by falling gas prices, we were able to get our last gas bill down to $55.

I do have to admit, most people say that after driving for a few months, they get the 45 MPG, and our experience of not getting more than 43 does bother me a little, but then I open the Texaco/Shell bill at the end of the month, and I do not care so much anymore.

Amount Paid (US$): 20,500
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: Hybrid, CVT, Aftermarket Leather