The other thing to do is just ignore the hybrids and get a regular car that
gets good mileage.
Last summer my wife needed a new car and since she's having foot problems -
broken bone in on and a torn Achilles heel in the other, we decided to try
an automatic. First automatic in over 33 years of marriage,
Anyway, the Hyundai Accent is advertised to get 40 MPG, and sure enough,
some around town driving drops it back to 30-35 MPG, but her five day
commute brings it up to 40 MPG or more. It's a small car, but not too
small, drives nice, handles nice, rides nice. It's not a Lotus when it comes
to performance, but it will easily keep up or surpass a Camry or Civic.
It was a great investment, and was under 20,000 for a new car and I do
believe I'll get my monies worth out of it (I tend to keep cars until they
fall apart - still driving a '93 Accord with 240,000 miles on it). We like
it, we just probably won't want to take it on a cross country trip to
California (from Virginia). Our previous car (son inherited it) was a
Hyundai Elantra and it's a couple of years older - rated for 30 MPG and gets
there all the time. It's a bit bigger and could easily server as our cross
country transportation.
Try one of the Hyundai's you will be surprised at the quality - they are
real cars, even though they are cheaper.
Tim Mullen
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