2006 Prius CU top 10 car

For Spike and other advocates of consumer reports being the honest mentor of car information, I hope you are all planning on purchasing their April auto issue to be on the stands Tuesday. In depth testing of the costs and benefits of ownership of The Ford Escape, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Lexas RX 400H, Toyota Highlander, and Toyota Prius hybrids are evaluated.
And believe me Spike and niomeka, I had nothing at all to do with writing the article. That they have come to the same conclusions I have stated is just coincidental.
Then again, you know that my feelings about consumer reports being mainly just the expressions of the opinions of consumer report subscribers and I know of no one personally who subscribes. On the other hand this latest issue is the opinion of the editors only.
If you like, I'll post the two paragraph gist of the article posted in Knight Ridder newspapers, todays date in San Jose, California.

hi hyperion,

I knew someone would bait you to respond. And I'm a subscriber, have been for 20 years so I don't have to purchase the new guide. It'll arrive in the mail. And my response is included with their 1 million plus responses on how they gather information on reliability. Their questionaires are rather lengthy and they don't just focus on cars. They ask questions on just about every appliance and electronic you own. First requirement is the product you purchase/lease is new and they track what you've owned for 5 years. To make sure they don't have dupes, they ask for VIN and serial numbers. When I looked at their FCC required circulation info, they have in excess of 30 million magazine and online subscribers.
And my response to their conclusion about the costs of owning a hybrid "just don't add up" is they are entirely correct - at today's gas prices. But seriously - it is not economical to choose any vehicle based soley on gas savings if one is more expensive than the other. I'm just trying to be not as greedy in using resources as possible. Like my Dad always said, leave the place better than how you found it.

Drash, I wouldn't think of critiquing a magazine I did not read. We subscribed for several years when the family was growing in the fifties and sixties but dropped the subscription when I found that I was not finding a lot of merit in their choices of products. Have had much better success talking to neighbors and friends and now with the net.
Except for spikes remark I wouldn't have mentioned this article, but I will purchase a copy next week.
Their article leads with "If you're thinking of buying a hybrid vehicle to save money, you won't---ever" says Consumer Reports magazine.
In it's April auto issue, on newstands Tuesday, the magazine said the six most popular gas electric hybrids will end up costing owners from $3700 to $13,300 more over five years compared with similar gasoline models. Much of that comes from the higher purchase price of hybrids vs. non hybrids, but they also will lose more of their value, the report said.
The complexity of the vehicles, questions about battery life and replacement cost, and a lack of independent repair shops that will work on hybrids all result in extra depreciation costs, said David Champion, the magazines senior director of automotive testing.
"None of the six hybrids we have tested recovered it's price premium in the first five years and 75,000 miles of ownership," said the magazine. "Nor did any when the analysis was extended to ten years and 150,000 miles."
Rik Paul, the magazines automotive editor, said the study took the price of gas from $3.00 a gallon now to $4.00 a gallon five years from now. "Still, the cost did not add up," he said.
The costs and benefits of the Ford Escape, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Lexus RX 400H, Toyota Highlander and Toyota Prius hybrids were evaluated.
Hybrids do provide strong fuel economy and emit less pollution, the magazine noted
Personally I've been wondering at the rest of the worlds auto manufacturers lack of interest in hybrid power and it just might be because of the consumers pocket books. They may have done the same study just completed by Consumer Reports.