Did you consider the Civic Hybrid and why did you pick the Prius?

[tnthub]

I have driven both vehicles, 2007 and 2008 models. I generally achieve slightly better gas mileage with the Honda hybrid in most (not all) situations as I am 49 and drive professionally and the "feel" of the Honda is more conducive to seat of the pants "feel" in terms of performance (which includes achieving good fuel economy). The Honda hybrid accelerates more quickly corners more cleanly, and has a much sportier feel to it. I also prefer the looks of the Hinda interior to that of the Prius.

However, for ride comfort, steering "feel", and the hatchback/storage layout, and general interior space and headroom, the Prius comes out on top. I also know it is possible to achieve better miles per gallon with the Prius and on a long trip the Prius would be more comfortable (despite the quality of the seats).

As far as options, Both the Civic hybrid and the Prius can have aftermarket leather, and both can accept many aftermarket creature comforts.

Both cars are well built and a fair value (especially with current gas prices). I think the choice is best made based upon how a person intends to utilize the vehicle and a person's driving habits.

[BIGGDOGG]

I test drove the civic hybrid and these were my complaints:
Civic hybrid came in one style. No GPS available (not that I wanted one) but it was just 1 style interior or you could choose the after market leather for about 1k more and that was it. there was a very "stock" feeling about it.
Civic Hybrid was too jumpy when the engine cut off and back on. It really did feel like the car was stalling. There was no nifty tech stuff about it either. It felt dated.
Thats why I chose the prius. (well I wanted the prius over the civic any way but I had to test drive the civic just to make sure)

[sendconroymail]

I also considered the Civic Hybrid. I bought the Prius because the gas mileage of the Prius was better. I know the difference is not huge but there is a difference. If your buying a car for its great gas mileage you buy the one with the best mileage. I didn't want to buy a car with the second best mileage.

Its the same as if you wanted a fast car. You'd look at the lineup of the fastest cars you could afford. Then you'd buy the fastest car in the group. You wouldn't buy the second fastest car just because it was close.

[kohnen]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

I did not seriously consider the Civic Hybrid since I believe that the Toyota hybrid design is much more elegant.

AMEN! I bought the Prius because the design of its hybrid system is just elegant from an engineering point of view. The power split device in the Prius is simply a tried-and-true Sun-Ring-Planet gear set. Those don't ever fail. The necessary changing of gear ratios performed by a transmission is all handled electronically with the motor generators and the electronics between them. That makes for rock solid reliability.

The Honda Civic Hybrid on the other hand is much more of a kludge - they slapped a hybrid system on top of a standard power train. As others have noted, you don't get the same hybrid benefits.

And, the Honda CVT is a "traditional" CVT (noting that CVTs are not traditional yet) using two pullys and a metal belt. I have much less faith in the longevity of those compared to the Prius's power split device and a couple of motor-generators.

In short, the Toyota engineers started out with a blank sheet of paper, the Honda folks didn't.