.. And if your main motivation is just a tendency to change cars fairly often to drive something a bit different than what you have become accustomed to, then your chances of disappointment increase a bit more.

IMHO, the people that are most delighted with hybrids (techno-mechano geeks excluded, but not forgotten) are those who view increased fuel economy as worth more than dollars saved at the pump.

I'm not trying to scare you away from hybrids -- I think they are briliant. Just want you to be happy with your decision a couple of years later.

btw, when I was a kid, I was enthralled by the rotary Mazda engine. Hearing a 'whirr', rather than loud farting, was an epiphany. Course, my Prius does one step better -- no noise AT ALL (at least some of the time).

R2-E2, 2G Prius.
Highway/City/Husband/Wife MPG: 56.5, as of 12/2005, 26K miles

Jac Nasser, Ford President: "We are planning to launch a hybrid version of
this car [P2000] within this year [1998]. We will also make FCEV available in
2004."