Hello, I'm in the market....

Hello Folks,
Well, as things would have it I'm in the market for a new car. My old car a '89 Nissan Maxima finally gave up the ghost after 140,+++ miles. She died a slow death from steel termites, brake lines rot and the exhaust from tip to toe needed replacement. So off she went to a donation car dealer. I'll miss her.
Currently I find myself in a '94 Honda Civic, and I love this little gal. She sips gas and I often get 36 mpg on the highway, around town that drops to about 24 mpg.
Not bad, but the lady in the house feels the car is a bit to small and she's grown tired of the stick shift. The other car in our fleet is a '03 VW Eurovan, it's our rolling dog kennel, as we have five dogs (Four Corgis and one Australian Shepherd). We need it to take them to herding and agility trials. We also have a '68 VW Beetle that will one day undergo a full restoration.
I've long been "into" cars, repairing them, showing them and of course driving them.
A recent test drive in a friend's Prius motivated me enough to look into this Hybrid car. While looking around on the web I found this site and figured I take a look around and see what people were saying about the Prius.
The test drive was a bit interesting, the CVT does take a bit of getting use to. (I've driven a Ford Freestyle with a CVT.) Normally when a car "stalls" on me my first inclination is to stomp the clutch pedal then twist the key. Well, neither will work in a Prius, so that took awhile to get use to. As far as room, plenty for my wife's short commute and it will fit at least two of our dogs (crated) for the shorter trips.
Yup, the Prius has moved way up on my list of maybe's....

 

You're probably right, but I just don't feel safe driving for either myself or the dogs if they are not in crates.
Nothing like getting struck in the back of the neck by a 25 pound flying, furry, scared mouth full of sharp teeth!

 

Well, it's not that bad compaired to some of the small six bangers I've driven. That would be on a bad day (24 mph), it will best it's self on other days in the low 30's.
A Ford Freestyle I drive often, gets only 16-18 mpg around town, now that's lousy!
Not saying I'm rich or anything close, but the sticker price is not a big shock for this car. Nothing like my '81 Chevy Chevette that was $5000 brandy new.
Maintenance is something I do myself, provided I have the right tools and the time. Can't see going to the dealer for an oil change, unless it's under $25. The other filters, if I can reach em, I can change them. Brake cleaning is not big deal, either.

 

I figure by the time I hit 100,000 miles in a Prius it will need a good looking over to see if a $3000 investment in a new battery would be worth it. It would be cheaper than a new car in the eight years (or more) ahead.
Body rot is usually the main issue with my older cars, no matter how hard I try to keep them clean and waxed. The salt here in N.Y. just feeds the steel termites.
Things like struts, major front end work, tranny or clutch work, are other "killers".
Things like tires, are no big deal, hey they wear out no matter what you do.