That's the beauty of a hybrid -- it insulates us from the high gas prices that are eroding the quality of life of every other car owner in the U.S. We can talk about OPEC theoretically, e.g.; "gas prices shouldn't be this high," and "supply and demand can't explain these oil prices." But other folks have to deal with the reality that an extra $20-$40 per week is coming out of their pockets just to buy gas.

As I said in a post a few weeks ago, many of the people who criticized us for buying hybrids a few years ago are conspicuously quiet these days. Remember the derisive comments -- "Those things don't get the mpg they claim" and "The batteries go dead and leave you stranded" and "When gas prices come back down, hybrids will be worthless" and on and on.

I don't hear any of that lately.

And I'm sure that hybrids' resale value is sky high. I see used 2006 HCHs on AutoTrader.com selling for only a few thousand less than new MSRP. Try that with an SUV!

I read a news article last month about car dealers who refuse to take SUVs as trade-ins. They don't try to low-ball the customer on price, they just flat out refuse to take the SUV. They can't sell it, so they don't want it.

It would be interesting to take my HCH to a few dealers and see what kind of price they'd offer -- especially if I say I want to buy one of their SUVs!
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