I am sort of new here, been following and posting for several days now. I replaced my 2001 Taurus (23-25MPG) with a 2008 Tafetta White HCHII without Navi. Several considerations drove the decision to buy a hybrid, one of course was the price of gas. But before you jump on me about being a Johnny-Come-Lately, I have been trying to cost justify replacing my Taurus ever since it was paid off and out of warranty. As the mileage climbed, so did the repair bills. Pretty much any time something went wrong it cost me $500-$800. After several necessary $$$ repairs (AC clutch, automatic cooling fans, Cam Synchronizer) coupled with the rising cost of fuel, the ROI started to get reasonable. I drive 33 miles round trip to work, 5 days a week. 95% of the work drive is freeway, or 50MPH state highway with limited traffic signals. A hybrid just made sense.

I looked at buying a Prius but didn't really like the look, none were available to test drive and they were more expensive by $4000+ to get the dsame Standard Amenities as the HCHII.

I'd like to find out how many forum members are in central Oklahoma and see if there are any planned mmet-ups.