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... I guess they mean the Toyota Landcruiser @ $65,000? Or the Yaris @ $12,500 ??
I guess the President's in for a surprise when he signs the bill @ 100.000 Toyota's and discovers it is the first :)

With Toyota you're supporting a few thousand schlubs being paid a decent wage to work in a factory.

A few thousand? Try tens of thousands across their various operating companies plus the extensive supply base, much of which is here in the US. Toyota makes close to half of the vehicles they sell in the US right here in the US. Last year that was approximately 1 million vehicles. (they make more in Japan but most of those are sold elsewhere in the world - they only import a bit over 1 million vehicles annually) You can't build that many vehicles locally and import all the parts. The currency risk and lead times would make it impossible. Furthermore the dollar has been weakening which would make it more expensive to bring parts from overseas to the US.

With the domestic you're supporting not just the people who build the cars but also the parts. Toyota and Honda don't build their parts here, they ship them from oversea's.

You couldn't be more wrong. That hasn't been true for a LONG time. I've been in the plants where they make parts for Toyota right here in the US. I've seen the frames for the Toyota Tacoma, Sequoia and Tundra being assembled with my own eyes and even helped optimize the lines. It's simply not economical to make and ship every or even most parts from Japan if the assembly occurs here in the US. The logistics get too difficult for a Just-In-Time system like Toyota uses - most of the parts HAVE to be made close to where assembly occurs. Furthermore there are joint ventures like NUMMI. If you go to a Honda dealer they list the percentage of parts made in the US versus made in Japan. A current model Civic has about 20% of the parts made in Japan and most of the rest are made in either the US or Canada and assembly happens in Ohio. Supply chains are global these days.

The manufacturing base that is built up around these domestic guys is what is most valuable to us as a country.

Most of those suppliers, especially the large ones, supply both foreign and domestic auto makers. In fact it is a problem for Toyota and other auto makers if GM goes under because they share a non-trivial amount of their supply base. I used to work for one of the 10 biggest auto suppliers. Just over 55% of their business was domestic and the rest was overseas. The largest single client was one of the big three (Chrysler at the time if memory serves) and it accounted for somewhere north of 12% of the company's business at the time. The other big Tier One suppliers in the US depend on the Big 3 but most of them have plenty of business with non-US based automakers too. Don't get me wrong, losing the Big 3 business would hurt the supply base a lot but don't have any illusions about the nature of the supply base.

Searching in pages: pleaaze... that has nothing to do with dhtml based pages!
You can search within pages as long as you are document centric and dont have a rich client application running!

I will give an example, most of the stuff mentioned can be done via applying a hash value which represents some kind of application state (hash because it is alterable from the script without causing page refreshes)

I think you're both coming to the discussion with a different set of assumptions. You're absolutely right that for a web application, many of his gripes don't make sense. Realistically, though, many companies use DHTML for content which is static.

http://digg.com/ is a perfect example. Disable Javascript and go to the comments on one of their stories. Now turn on Javascript. There's actual content which is inaccessible unless you have Javascript turned on. Slashdot has a similar system, except it gracefully falls back when Javascript isn't available. However it's still troublesome to bookmark certain things like a specific comment if you're using the Web 2.0 version.

Think that's too close to an application? Try http://www.toyota.com./ The site ostensibly provides information on the company and their product--relatively static content compared to a lot of the Internet--but the site isn't navigable without Javascript. It's barely a Web 2.0 site, yet it's horribly difficult to navigate.

I'm not just complaining about Javascript. Just about any time that Javascript is required for navigation, the site is not going to be screen-reader accessible.

Anyway, the point is that lots of sites unnecessarily use DHTML and make interacting with the site in a conventional way difficult, even if they're serving static content and not providing a web application. I suspect that it's these sites that the grandparent is complaining about.

They're also made in Princeton, Indiana.

Arg, wrong website. According to Toyota, they still don't sell them in the US.

try Tacoma

Arg, wrong website. According to Toyota, they still don't sell them in the US.

try Tacoma

Arg, wrong website. According to Toyota, they still don't sell them in the US.

I'll make it simple for you. 10 years ago car companies realized that EVs don't need as many after market parts as IC cars do. So ever since then, they have acted to prevent EVs from coming to market. Not evil but against the public good. You are blaming the consumers (who did want to buy the cars) instead of the car companies (who didn't want to sell them). Quit being intentionally dense.

For comparison: a used Prius goes for ~24K USD http://www.internetautoguide.com/usedcars/11-int/toyota/prius/index.html
a new prius goes for ~22K USD http://www.toyota.com/prius-hybrid/

Now why would a used Prius sell for more than the new one? Because you can't find a new one to buy. They are always on back order. Really? No demand? Stick to engineering...

The US has lots of natural resources (steel, coal, wood, etc.). You can't just export those jobs. Note that the second highest industrial power, Japan, is an island nation with very little natural resources of its own. Where do you think they get the stuff to build all those Priuses?

And it's not even true that there aren't US-born manufacturing anymore. A good chunk of Toyota's output comes from the US. The VQ35DE engine that goes in a lot of Nissans is built in TN.

Increased efficiency often means replacing a low-paying, labor intensive, and possibily dangerous job with a higher paying technical one. While unemployment might be high at the moment, we're talking about decades long trends. If people were really sitting unemployed from increased efficiency instead of moving to other jobs, unemployment would be held over 10% by now.

Toyota is partially based in the US. Almost all the vehicles sold here are only for US and around 70% are made here. The engineering, manufacturing and most other operations are state side. Toyota if anything is an international company, something GM is still but for how long who knows.

Check out the Prius Emergency Response Guide for some information on some pieces that can hurt you.

Bruce

It's not Toyota's fault that Americans would rather pay Toyota and get a nicer car than have a better standard of living for American auto workers

Toyota doesn't have heavy trucksor SUVs?

Toyota doesn't have heavy trucksor SUVs?

Toyota doesn't have heavy trucksor SUVs?

Toyota doesn't have heavy trucksor SUVs?

Sometimes, it seems, there are no new ideas. As others have said, what we have here is a glorified sail. Nothing wrong with that, but as fossil fuels become more expensive, we'll find more and more "old tech" make a comeback.

The biggest deal in alternative energy right now is the windmill, which have been used for what, 1,200 years? Now we have a (gasp!) sailing ship! Pretty soon we'll go back to using the electric car which was very popular in the early days of the automobile.

No, basic technologies are not new - what's new are refinements. For example, Linux is a re-implementation of a 35 year old Operating System having the chief innovation of a license change. I'm not knocking the quality that Linus has put into the Linux kernel, but Linux is written to be POSIX compliant, so while drivers are nice, Linux is basically no different than any other UNIX but for the license difference.

Innovation can come from some incredibly low-tech, unlikely places. For example, this guy has won numerous awards for sticking a pot inside a pot and filling the middle with wet sand - managing to solve a serious problem in Africa for low-cost refrigeration.

I guess what it comes down to is this: Technology is valuable when it works, not when it's complex. There's lots of very, very, very simple technology that nonetheless works very, very, very well.

What's so revolutionary about a web page with a database back end and some automated scripts that run to send out some notifications here and there?

This 'social networking' buzzword/fad is retarded.

a unique electric inverter air conditioning system. Instead of running off the fan belt, the new inverter air conditioner is fully electrically operated.

Here is an article about it on Toyota's own website.

Done and done.

Okay.

Welcome to Canada, it's the Maple Leaf state

Gotta love the CBC (again, in Canada). I hear that Al Jazeera English is pretty impartial, too.

You have elections coming up, right?

Okay, that's a long-term goal.

That's why, if I take a vacation in Europe next year, I'm probably going to buy a GSM phone, unencumbered with all of this North American market philosophy. My understanding is that, in Europe, the mobile market involves many parties competing to provide the best service at the lowest cost... I'm not sure that I really understand this "competition" thing (that's where all of the gas stations charge exactly the same thing because you have no choice but to suck it up, right?), but I hear it's good.

From Toyota's own site (http://www.toyota.com/about/environment/technolog y/2004/hybrid.html)

The Prius battery (and the battery-power management system) has been designed to maximize battery life. In part this is done by keeping the battery at an optimum charge level - never fully draining it and never fully recharging it. As a result, the Prius battery leads a pretty easy life. We have lab data showing the equivalent of 180,000 miles with no deterioration and expect it to last the life of the vehicle. We also expect battery technology to continue to improve: the second-generation model battery is 15% smaller, 25% lighter, and has 35% more specific power than the first. This is true of price as well. Between the 2003 and 2004 models, service battery costs came down 36% and we expect them to continue to drop so that by the time replacements may be needed it won't be a much of an issue. Since the car went on sale in 2000, Toyota has not replaced a single battery for wear and tear.

So it isn't as though you will be replacing the battery every few years. 7 years without a single replacement makes me suspect that if you bought a new Prius now the battery would last on average at least 10 to 15 years (since the batteries being installed now are even better than those installed 7 years ago).

Also because of Toyota's battery recycling program paying $200 per battery (though I expect that would drop as the cost of the batteries get lower) you won't, or at least shouldn't, have any form of disposal charge.

From Toyota's own website (http://www.toyota.com/about/environment/technolog y/2004/hybrid.html)

Toyota has a comprehensive battery recycling program in place and has been recycling nickel-metal hydride batteries since the RAV4 Electric Vehicle was introduced in 1998. Every part of the battery, from the precious metals to the plastic, plates, steel case and the wiring, is recycled. To ensure that batteries come back to Toyota, each battery has a phone number on it to call for recycling information and dealers are paid a $200 "bounty" for each battery.

So I suppose that yes, they will have a battery recycling program in place since it is doubtful they would discontinue their current one.

Ok, I wouldn't normally respond, but I own a Prius and I do rock climbing, biking, hiking camping. I also live very close to work, fill up my tank once a month (11 galons), and use alternative means of transportation with frequency. Heck, I'm moving next month to an apartment where I can walk to groceries, movies etc and bus to work. I regularly drive on dirt and gravel and can easily fit my extra large bicycle (I'm 6'3") in the back of the Prius without even taking the wheels off (hatchback + the back seats folded down). I'm trying to imagine the length of kayak oars and can't imagine they wouldn't fit with the back seats down.

I guess I can see your point about requiring an SUV if you regularly travel severely rutted and rained out roads or have to do some fording (the last time I've had to do that was in the Missouri Breaks in Montana and would never want to try that in a Prius). However, size wise unless you're packing 4 people, you can easily fit climbing and backpacking gear inside. If you are bringing 4, or need to bring the kayak and canoe and bicycles, just buy a roofrack.

I don't really have an issue with your driving an SUV (although if "downtown" is the downtown of a city that sounds incredibly impractical), nor do I think you should feel obligated or be forced to obtain a fuel efficient vehicle. I also admire your efforts to maintain a low impact by living close to work.

However, I think you're kidding yourself if you pretend that your life requires you not have a hybrid. Even if you really do require more space than the Prius offers, you're setting up a straw man by attacking the Prius in terms of space and aesthetics considering there are many hybrid options. While the SUVs have a lower mpg than a compact like the Prius, they do increase fuel efficiency while maintaining a large size. There are also many "car sized" options aside from the Prius including the Civic, the Camry and many more coming down the pipes. Basically, you just end up paying the price premium for the hybrid tech (which I've heard estimated at about $3k for a new car) which, as gas prices approach (and will probably surpass) $4 a gallon, is going to start seeming like a wiser and wiser investment.

I have an Echo, which is a great car. Unfortunately Toyota DISCONTINUED it.

and reincarnated as the Yaris.

True. Buy you also see significant gains in mileage vs. gas-only vehicles when not driving conservatively all the time.

False. The batteries in a Prius are no more toxic than any other battery. Also, they can be **completely** recycled at end of life.

Can you prove this steep drop off in value at year 6? If not, than why state it? Let's assume for a moment that this year 6 valuation drop-off occurs. How much is that going to matter to someone who has held the car for 6 years? Probably little at that point.

Now you're simply sputtering off nonsense. Don't spout bullshit unless you know someone isn't going to catch you:

http://www.toyota.com/about/environment/technology /2004/hybrid.html

Toyota has a comprehensive battery recycling program in place and has been recycling nickel-metal hydride batteries since the RAV4 Electric Vehicle was introduced in 1998. Every part of the battery, from the precious metals to the plastic, plates, steel case and the wiring, is recycled. To ensure that batteries come back to Toyota, each battery has a phone number on it to call for recycling information and dealers are paid a $200 "bounty" for each battery.

Oh, and hybrid batteries are recycled. I know you didn't say they weren't (only that it's tougher to do so) but someone reading your statement might misunderstand.

100MPG+ Prius STOCK:
http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergyview/2005/ fall/marathon.html

stock Honda Insights get close to 80MPG before you start tweaking:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/honda-i nsightcvt.html

plugin-Prius @ 150MPG+:
http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=818

Note, most of these date from at least 2005. Welcome back to the future.

while http://www.toyota.com/ takes me to the US page.

How do you know? Or, more precisely, how would you be able to tell (without actually loading the page) if you didn't already know that toyota.com is the US page? The US page should be at toyota.us, not toyota.com.

That being said, I don't think that the generic TLDs are all irrelevant. Sure, .museum, .biz, .info and so on definitely are, and so are .gov, .edu. and .mil (those should be .gov.us, .edu.us and .mil.us); I suppose you could argue that .net is, to some extent, but that's mostly because its original purpose got watered down when tons of sites that don't really belong into that namespace cropped up there. .com and .org certainly seem relevant for global organisations, and the distinction between .com and .org also makes sense to me.

>Country-level TLDs are significant. For example, I KNOW that http://www.toyota.ca/ takes me to Toyota Canada's page, while http://www.toyota.com/ takes me to the US page.

But why is that? Shouldn't toyota.com get you to their corporate international page, and toyota.us to the US page?

I KNOW that http://www.toyota.ca/ takes me to Toyota Canada's page, while http://www.toyota.com/ takes me to the US page

I KNOW that http://www.toyota.ca/ takes me to Toyota Canada's page, while http://www.toyota.com/ takes me to the US page. Surely ca.toyota.com would be better? I mean it's commercial, it's Toyota's and it's their Canada site, it's also cheaper. Domain names are open to allot of interpretation...

Country-level TLDs are significant. For example, I KNOW that http://www.toyota.ca/ takes me to Toyota Canada's page, while http://www.toyota.com/ takes me to the US page. Using country-level TLDs for this purpose is correct and should be encouraged - it is a lot better than the alternatives like having a stupid URL like http://www.hyundaicanada.com/, or forcefully re-directing people based on their geographic location (what if I am using a proxy? Or what if I want information on the American prices for comparison?).

Lots of companies redirect country TLDs to one website, such as www.example.co.uk -> www.example.com/uk/. It's just as convenient a standard and I don't see what advantage a TLD gets you.

But how would you implement it - how do you reconcile those domains if different people own them, who gets the new TLD when they are amalgamated?

There's no obvious solution. You could do it by lottery between the holders of the current .org/.com/.net domain, or start a new registry as a free-for-all or one of several other ways.

I think it would be worth it, but it's never going to happen.

Country-level TLDs are significant. For example, I KNOW that http://www.toyota.ca/ takes me to Toyota Canada's page, while http://www.toyota.com/ takes me to the US page. Using country-level TLDs for this purpose is correct and should be encouraged - it is a lot better than the alternatives like having a stupid URL like http://www.hyundaicanada.com/, or forcefully re-directing people based on their geographic location (what if I am using a proxy? Or what if I want information on the American prices for comparison?).

The "generic" top level TLDs however (.com, .net, and .org), are indeed irrelevant.

Personally, I think the answer is not to *abolish* TLDs, but to make them *optional*, and abolish only .com / .net / .org. Then a company doesn't have to register 3 domains, and they only have to register country-level domains in contries where they actually have a presence.

But how would you implement it - how do you reconcile those domains if different people own them, who gets the new TLD when they are amalgamated?

You could compare it to the cheapest Toyota, sure...but that wouldn't be an equal comparison in the opposite direction. The Prius is going to have creature comforts and performance that are better than the econobox.

But if you want to compare Toyota's cheapest model to the Prius, we'll do that.

The 2007 Toyota Yaris; Toyota's cheapest model at about $11150 MSRP:

Fuel economy: 34 MPG city/39 HWY with the automatic transmission (manual gets 1 MPG better on HWY, city is same) from a 1.5L, 104 HP engine.

2007 Prius, $22175 MSRP: 60 MPG city/51 MPG HWY from a 1.5L, 76 HP engine

The hybrid premium appears to be about $11,000 which would take longer to recoup if deciding between the Prius and Yaris. But is it a good comparison? NO! The two cars are in completely different classes.

Prius dimensions: Overall height/width/length 58.7/67.9/175.0

Yaris dimensions: 60/60.7/150.6

Just on sheer size alone, there is simply more to a Prius than a Yaris. It's bigger in overall size (the Yaris gets a slight edge in headroom, but only by half an inch on average), more interior room, different amenities not available on the Yaris...in short, not a fair comparison. The hybrid premium could be as low as $1300, or as high as about $7800, based on the price comparisons of the Toyota Camry, as it comes in hybrid and conventional models which lends itself to a more direct comparison (which I don't have time to do).

You could compare it to the cheapest Toyota, sure...but that wouldn't be an equal comparison in the opposite direction. The Prius is going to have creature comforts and performance that are better than the econobox.

But if you want to compare Toyota's cheapest model to the Prius, we'll do that.

The 2007 Toyota Yaris; Toyota's cheapest model at about $11150 MSRP:

Fuel economy: 34 MPG city/39 HWY with the automatic transmission (manual gets 1 MPG better on HWY, city is same) from a 1.5L, 104 HP engine.

2007 Prius, $22175 MSRP: 60 MPG city/51 MPG HWY from a 1.5L, 76 HP engine

The hybrid premium appears to be about $11,000 which would take longer to recoup if deciding between the Prius and Yaris. But is it a good comparison? NO! The two cars are in completely different classes.

Prius dimensions: Overall height/width/length 58.7/67.9/175.0

Yaris dimensions: 60/60.7/150.6

Just on sheer size alone, there is simply more to a Prius than a Yaris. It's bigger in overall size (the Yaris gets a slight edge in headroom, but only by half an inch on average), more interior room, different amenities not available on the Yaris...in short, not a fair comparison. The hybrid premium could be as low as $1300, or as high as about $7800, based on the price comparisons of the Toyota Camry, as it comes in hybrid and conventional models which lends itself to a more direct comparison (which I don't have time to do).

You could compare it to the cheapest Toyota, sure...but that wouldn't be an equal comparison in the opposite direction. The Prius is going to have creature comforts and performance that are better than the econobox.

But if you want to compare Toyota's cheapest model to the Prius, we'll do that.

The 2007 Toyota Yaris; Toyota's cheapest model at about $11150 MSRP:

Fuel economy: 34 MPG city/39 HWY with the automatic transmission (manual gets 1 MPG better on HWY, city is same) from a 1.5L, 104 HP engine.

2007 Prius, $22175 MSRP: 60 MPG city/51 MPG HWY from a 1.5L, 76 HP engine

The hybrid premium appears to be about $11,000 which would take longer to recoup if deciding between the Prius and Yaris. But is it a good comparison? NO! The two cars are in completely different classes.

Prius dimensions: Overall height/width/length 58.7/67.9/175.0

Yaris dimensions: 60/60.7/150.6

Just on sheer size alone, there is simply more to a Prius than a Yaris. It's bigger in overall size (the Yaris gets a slight edge in headroom, but only by half an inch on average), more interior room, different amenities not available on the Yaris...in short, not a fair comparison. The hybrid premium could be as low as $1300, or as high as about $7800, based on the price comparisons of the Toyota Camry, as it comes in hybrid and conventional models which lends itself to a more direct comparison (which I don't have time to do).

First off, the HV batteries are warranted for 10 years/150K miles in CA and a few other states. This guy is at 280K miles BTW. http://john1701a.com/prius/owners/jesse3.htm

They're also recycled. See http://www.toyota.com/about/environment/technology /2004/hybrid.html.

"Is there a recycling plan in place for nickel-metal hydride batteries?

Toyota has a comprehensive battery recycling program in place and has been recycling nickel-metal hydride batteries since the RAV4 Electric Vehicle was introduced in 1998. Every part of the battery, from the precious metals to the plastic, plates, steel case and the wiring, is recycled. To ensure that batteries come back to Toyota, each battery has a phone number on it to call for recycling information and dealers are paid a $200 "bounty" for each battery."

A record company selling Beatles music sued a computer company selling microcomputer hardware, the former having a red apple logo, the latter using a rainbrow-striped apple with a bite in it. Which "Apple" was doing the steamrolling, here?

I mean, should Anya Seton's estate executors be suing Toyota and Marion Bradley?

The standards regarding "infringement" require than the trademark similarity be prone to cause marketplace confusion between the products, diluting the brand.

Of course, Apple's prima facie argument that VOIP and cellular phones are too dissimilar to cause confusion remains highly questionable. It's true that the two are fairly dissimilar markets, but that could easily change, especially given Cisco's otherwise-spurious "interoperability" line. That request alone may prove to a judge that there's at least a case that the two markets are insufficiently dissimilar to allow Apple to use the same trademark.

This car looks worse than most cars of the late 70s early 80s

I think the Prius is one of the best looking non-sports cars on the road. It actually looks somewhat like a futuristic "concept car" design, rather than yet another Ford Taurus clone.

if you wanna "support your country" buy american

Or not. Ford are shutting down 14 plants in the US and moving all the jobs to Mexico and China. GM have been moving their manufacturing to Mexico too. Meanwhile, Toyota built their first US plant in Kentucky in 1988. They're still expanding into the US, they just built a big new manufacturing plant in Texas.

Tell me, why should I give my money to Ford and GM who are busy shifting jobs out of the US, rather than to Toyota who are investing in the US? How does that support the US?

Oh come on. We're comparing it to the Prius not some abstract "new car". And yes, you paid extra for AC in the VX and it only had a driver's side airbag. But you lose those amenities for a reason. They consume power and the VX was optimized for gas mieage. Glancing through the interior dimensions of the two vehicles, the Prius was slightly roomier in the front seats and cargo, and far roomier in the rear seat (see Honda Civic VX versus Toyota Prius). The engine of the VX was less powerful at 92 HP versus 76HP for the Prius plus a 67 HP electric engine. But curb weight of the VX is more than 800 pounds less. It weighed 2094 pounds curb weight (minus AC) to the Prius's 2932 pounds including AC. That yields slightly weaker power per weight (about 10% less), but performance degrades faster as cargo weight increases. This wasn't the vehicle to efficiently move five big people plus cargo in hilly country.

There are cars which do that anyway. Take a look at the Toyota Prius (Flash).

Never mind the music, have you seen the guys name? "Mr Toyoda " indeed! He should be up for trademark infringement!

Some Toyota R&D happens in the good ol' USA:
http://www.toyota.com/about/operations/na-affiliat es/index.html#rd

The problem is not the car companies. The problem is the stupid american people who don't think beofre buying a big gas guzzler. If you don't get at least 30MPG, you are the problem. Why should we people who buy efficient vehicles have to pay extra (from thw lawsuits) for the purchasing habits of idiots?

What about when there aren't any better alternatives? I paid $2000 (via an insurance settlement) for a 1997 Thunderbird (3.8L v6, nothing fancy) in good cosmetic and so-so mechanical shape that gets about 16MPG in the city and maybe 19 or 20 on the highway. It was the best balance between cost, fuel economy, and engine power (about 145 hp and 210 ft lb) we could find at the time, especially given the time constraint we were facing. It has been my experience that fuel economy and power are roughly porportional to the price you pay for the car and inversely related to the age of the car.

Not all of us have $22,175 to plunk down on a Prius or similar hybrid.

So we have to get by with this thing, and now you want to tell my husband and I are a problem? How about the other couple of people here who have suggested *raising* the gas prices? Prices here peaked at $3.15/gal during that first big price hike, followed by about $2.90/gal during this last one, and now sits at about $2.25/gal. While Tampa Bay isn't exactly LA in terms of size, it's still big. Thanks to the way things are arranged in Pinellas county, to get from place to place generally requires us to drive from one end of the county to the other, so the mileage adds up FAST. Since people get really pissy if you leave a car sitting for months at a time without driving it and threaten to have it hauled away, even if it's perfectly road-worthy, we may have to sell the car if the gas prices start going up again, because we simply won't be able to afford to drive it.

Never mind that sudden acceleration of a modern automobile is impossible if the driver's foot is held firmly on the brake

the brake and gas pedals are "by-wire" enhanced for easier and more precise control.

I don't know what you are talking about on the hybrids. Toyota gives an 8 year/100,000 mile warranty on anything relating to the hybrid technology, including the big battery (see http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2006/prius/faq.html question 17). Plus the fact that since the introduction of the Toyota Prius, (and i'm pretty sure any other Hybrid vehicle) they haven't had to replace a single one of the batteries.

Also, consider this: If everyone in America were to go out and buy a hybrid vehicle then, overnight, the amount of oil that we consume as a country would drop so significantly that the price of oil would plummet to less than 1/2 of what it currently is.

So, not only do you use about 1/2 the gas, gas would cost about 1/2 the price: this means (given the best case scenario of everyone driving a hybrid) that the actual amount saved would be significantly more than what is actually realized today...You'd have to double the savings...That's $6,000 in 3 years (according to your own numbers).

But also why only stop at 3 years...I don't know about you, but I believe that your average car's life will span more than 3 years...infact on the prius, the power train gets 5 years coverage...so, over the WARRANTIED LIFE of the car, you are saving $5,000 (by your calculation of $1000 per year). If you treat a car with the proper care you should, then the life of the car can easily go up to 10 years before requiring repairs that are worth more than the car itself...This would put savings at $10,000. To top it all off, The prius and most of the other hybrid models currently available have all earned consumer reports highest possible rating for overall reliability...which makes the possibility of your car lasting 10 years all the more likely.

Finally: The price of oil has hardly remained stable in the last 4-5 years...The price of oil has only climbed at an alarming rate. Some analysts predict that oil could possibly reach $100 per barrel in the not-to-distant future...This would put a gallon of gas at about $5...The more oil grows, the more savings a hybrid car will yield...and all predictions point to oil and gas just getting more and more expensive.

I don't know about you, but my next car purchase is most definitely going to be a hybrid vehicle of one kind or another...most likely the prius.

Note: I do happen to like the prius very much right now, so that may be affecting my judgment, but I do believe my analysis to be sound either way.

*cough*

http://www.toyota.com/landcruiser/index.html?s_van =GM_TN_LANDCRUISER_INDEX
http://www.toyota.com/highlander/index.html?s_van= GM_TN_HIGHLANDER_INDEX