The Prius I is IIRC a worse car than the Civic, so yeah, it can't be compared to the Prius II (2004-2005). But both you guys express an interesting sentiment, that you want the car to look normal. I don't like mundane cars, though it's not that important to me... but I'm all for the Prius' noticeable design. Alot of people are in both camps though.

I did hear about Honda's 2006 Civic announcement, but even though it may perform better (either in power or in fuel efficiency) than the current Civic, its interior probably hasn't changed, and that's another problem I have with the Civic. Its mileage indicator is horribly designed! You must agree with me here... one can't really see the mileage just from the length of the bar; you need to compare it to the numbers written above, but that means spending way too much time looking at the dashboard instead of the road. The Prius shows it digitally (in the center console, which isn't great, but not a big deal) and even its speedometer is digital. The Accord Hybrid and Insight both show it digitally as well, from the pictures I've seen at least.