It's a very good vehicle. As much as I'd like to have a hybrid, I think we made the right decision for the way we intend to use the vehicle. For day to day use, the hybrid would've been a sound choice. However, we also intend to use the vehicle as our long distance road vehicle. Most hybrids don't do as well at sustained highway speeds for long distances. Unless you cruise slow enough that the batteries aren't needed to sustain the highway speed, you'll run into a situation after an hour or so where the batteries are drained. Hybrids are better suited for stop and go city-type driving.

Now, in a few years when I look for a replacement for my car, we're quite likely to buy a hybrid. My car is used almost exclusively for in town driving. The deciding factor will be whether the cost of buying the hybrid technology will be recouped over the expected time I'll use the vehicle (I tend to keep cars for about 7 years). Given the high gas prices, demand for hybrids is very high and the prices are going up. If the "hybrid premium" is so high that I wouldn't save enough in gas costs to pay for the higher price, then I'll stick with a gas burner.