Freeze,

Good question. I've always been the type to buy a car and drive it into the ground, as long as it stays reliable. So I've kept cars until I need to replace them. The inconvenience of the truck is what made me want to replace it (although I don't need to). I guess "want vs. need" is what's getting me.

There are logical reasons to replace the truck. The inconvenience is one. The comfort of driving a car vs. a truck is another. I could get myself a small sedan. However, the Explorer has 155,000 miles on it. When it dies I'd have to go out and buy a family size car. So buying a Camry (or any mid-size sedan) makes sense. If it makes sense to buy a sedan, then I think a TCH makes even more sense. After tax credit there is not much a premium. I guess I'm just trying to decide whether the inconvenience of a truck is enough to justify (to me) getting rid of it after 50,000 miles.

BTW, we looked at the Prius but my wife didn't like it at all. I liked it, but overall preferred the Camry. And when I added option package 6 to the Prius it was almost identically priced to the base Camry. I still almost went for the Prius, but I realized my wife would never drive it. So there'll be times when she'll take the 17 mpg Explorer out to go somewhere and leave the 50 mpg Prius in the driveway. This way she'll at least drive the TCH.