If you're looking at it from a purely economic standpoint, the hybrid doesn't compete so strongly against the LX because of the rather large price gap. It's actually equipped more in line with the (more expensive) EX model, but if the LX isn't missing any features from the EX or Hybrid that you really want, then it would be hard to make up the difference. How many miles a year do you drive, and how long do you plan to keep the vehicle? We can draw up a sample cost analysis based upon that information.