[edit by Jason] Besides, the Prius looks ugly. [/edit by Jason]

I started out in the OP's position: the car was going to be a hybrid for sure, but I was not married to one or the other. If anything, I had a preference for Honda because I dearly loved my 40 MPG '94 Honda Civic DX. I still think it is the best car I have ever owned, for the money I paid and the state of auto tech when bought.

This was back in 2001 or thereabouts. I checked out the HCH and the Prius I -- and disliked both. The Prius I looks like an Echo ('nuff said); the braking was jerky, and the MPG was not that much more than my DX. SULEV was a big plus, but I was willing to wait ..

But first we went to check out the HCH. Frankly, it was the first Honda I disliked. I am a small guy, and yet I felt cramped in the cabin. Both I and my wife felt that the craftsmanship was poor quality, and I pretty much hate the sedan design. My wife nixed the possibility on the spot, and I felt the same way. We did not even test drive it.

For me, the Prius II was love at first sight. I am not interested in showing my colors to people around me; I just think the design is beautiful. AT-PZEV, a promise of high MPG, superior safety as an option, and very interesting, forward thinking tech -- perfect. The $$ difference did not play an important part in my decision. I was more than willing to pay extra for the greenest car available, and since I keep my cars for 10 - 20 years, the cost difference in any case is minor.

If the HCH was a hatchback adn didn't feel crampy, I think I still would have walked away with the impression that it was not enough of an upgrade from my DX to make it worthwhile. If you are coming from a different car, you may feel differently.

IF I liked the current HCH, but wanted better enviro/motor performance, I would wait for the redesign if possible. Otherwise, Prius II all the way :-)

The real-world MPG data is interesting, but I am skeptical one can accept it as face value. For one, the Prius is a bigger, roomier, heavier car; so even if mileage is identical, Prius hybrid tech is superior. Second, I suspect that a larger fraction of the Prius are winter cars that have not been around a full year yet. When I look at Prius II mileage from owners that have had their cars for at least a year, I see 50 - 52 MPG. That group is still small, so certainly inconclusive, but I'll wager at end of summer the group MPG is about 50ish, vs the 46 for the HCH group.

Either car is a wonderful choice

We started out wanting a FEH last june, waited all summer for dealers to get them, in august was told dealers 'would only be allowed one or two-pay $100, get on the waiting list, and oh, we don't know what the cost is"
reviewed our priorities - do we really need a third suv! and it 'only' gets 27mpg anyway. consumer reports that I had read previously said Prius was less comfortable & more noisy in the interior, and I didn't really like how it looked. I didn't drive one, because dealers here are asking $3K premium, and wait is 6 months. honda dealer had 3 HCH on the lot for sticker. I ended up with a blue CVT because I couldn't get a manual in the color I wanted without ordering it. So that's how we ended up with a civic.
I test drove both the CVT & manual and found both to be quick and responsive- especially after my old 14yr old clunker of an explorer. I got 40 mpg on my test drive accelerating hard to test the car. I prefered the manual, because I like controlling the gearing over a computer - but the dealer gave me $500 off to take the CVT since it 'wasn't what I wanted".
I really enjoy driving the car and it has all the power I need to accelerate. I'm getting 45mpg driving locally, here in ny in the winter - hopefully that will get better this summer. I've got 50 mpg on my last highway trip driving 60mph in 40deg temps.

sounds like you already like the prius better - so you should get one of them. drive the car you like and get great mileage, it's a win-win.

KLC
2005 HCH CVT 'Verdigeek'

Looks, about the same mpg (check out the data on this site), and it was a hell of a lot cheaper. I got an 03 with 20k on it for 14.7k!!!

I drive almost 100 miles a day, and put on around 31K miles a year.
I also try to keep my cars for 10 years, and at that time I'll have well over 300K miles.

One main factor in my choosing HCH over Prius is that even if the battery goes completely flat at....let's say 250K miles I can still drive the car but with lower performance. I'm sure I can still get at least EPA without the hybrid battery.

Another factor was appearance.
Being an x-Dodge fan we drove to the Toyota dealer and was quickly shrugged off of the idea of a Prius and tried to be pushed into a Corolla. We didn't like the styling of the Corolla....and well frankly any Toyota we saw. They didn't have Prius on the lot and knew little about it.

But let me add that later I really like the unique styling of Prius as I see them occasionally on the road, and also the Insight.
I guess mainly because they break the "Egg" mold styling of many other cars.

I'm not saying that I made the wrong choice with my HCH, contrary I've been most pleased and have the best time driving it, even after 36,000 miles behind the wheels I still love it.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT

1) My previous car (Saturn SC2) had its engine blow up while I was driving on the highway. I needed a car ASAP. There was a waiting list for the Prius. I decided I wanted a hybrid anyway, so I went with HCH.

2) The Prius II is a slightly better car than the HCH in general. But it depends on how much highway vs. city driving you do. If you do a lot of city driving then Prius all the way. If you do mostly highway driving you will see better fuel economy with the Civic Hybrid.

3) It will not be long until the redesigned HCH 2006 is out. Wait to see how it is. Neither Honda nor Toyota rest on their laurels long; both continually strive to improve their products.

Sure, both the Prius and Civic Hybrid are great cars. I think the choice of either is pretty personal, because they are very similar. Being an engineer, I saw some advantages to the Civic. Here's my 2 cents on why I bought the Civic.

1) Looks. I just plain don't like the looks of the Prius, whether Prius I or Prius II. They look futuristic, and scream "hybrid". I like the fact that people have been in mine, and went for a whole trip before they realize, "this is a hybrid?"

2) Dash. I'm not a big fan of all the guages in the middle of the car. And I thought the center display was not very meaningful, plus a distraction. The fact that the radio also needed the display was a negative if I wanted to replace it. I also didn't like the chicken-wing shifter.

3) Transmission. I'm a 5-speed driver, so the lack of a 5-speed was a big deterrent away from the Prius. Plus, the fact that it's a completely different type of transmission (planetary gears).

4) Complexity. The Prius is incredibly complex, having 2 electric motors (one for charging, one for moving the car) and a planetary gear set. The Honda, in comparison, is very simple. Both have good emissions and similar gas mileage, but the Honda is simpler. To an engineer, simpler is better.

5) Safety. The Honda did better in safety ratings, and can run on the gas engine alone should the electric fail.

6) Availability of parts. The Prius was designed from the ground up, meaning the parts are limited to the production of the car. The Civic, conversely, uses a lot of the same parts as the conventional Civic, so are much more available, as well as aftermarket add-ons.

7) Scaleability. Honda's design should be easier to adapt to its line-up of vehicles, which should make it cheaper in the long run.

8) Batteries. With the Civic having a smaller battery pack, there's less voltage, and the battery pack costs less should it need to be replaced.

9) Less problems than the Prius I. There were reports of the "Big Hand", tire problems, gas guage guessing (bladder), etc.

These were the reasons I chose the Civic. I'm very happy with my purchase. I'm sure there's a lot of happy Prius owners as well.

Mark

I agree with many of the remarks here. I would love to have been able to hang onto my 1987 Civic Wagon. It was my dream car for all of the years (and over 209,000 miles) that I owned it. It was finally beginning to show its age, however, and I didn’t think I could reasonably count on it much longer. I knew for environmental reasons I wanted my replacement vehicle to be a hybrid. Both the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Prius were appealing to me. I particularly liked the adaptability of the Prius’ hatchback configuration, which reminded me of the cargo capacity of the old Civic Wagon. However, when it came down to it, I was able to find a used 2003 HCH in perfect condition that fit my budget. The test drive convinced me that this was a worthy successor to my trusty ’87 Civic. I’m very impressed with the quiet and smooth performance of this sedan. (It’s a CVT, and despite my years of preference for five speed manuals, I’m totally won over.)

It’s probably clear that confidence in the Honda name due to my past experience played a role in my decision. I did do a good deal of research on the available hybrids, however, and I was impressed by Honda’s simple, yet innovative engineering approach. Here’s a link to a nice article that sums up the achievements of the Civic Hybrid: http://www.greenercars.com/gbd3.html

I also find the Civic Hybrid’s design and ergonomics comfortable and elegant.

Bird

1. availability. HCH was in stock, wait list for the Prius, or pay over MSRP to bypass the wait list
2. stealthiness. Less radical look than the Prius. Not that I don't like the Prius, just like the less in your face style of the Civic
3. Honda reputation. Not a long time Honda owner like some here, just have always thought they built a quality car. Have never seen a Honda that came apart on it's own, but have seen a Camry fall apart despite a fastidious owner.
4. Price. In '04, to get a Prius with similar equipment would have been 3-4000 dollars more, even before the over MSRP gouging began.

Have been thrilled with our choice, added leather and a really good sound system, and it's all we wanted it to be, and 46.5 mpg cumulative over 5400 miles, measured by an Excel spreadsheet, not the dashboard gauge. We're thrilled!!

Ironically, I am actually leaning towards the HCH now. I took the Prius for a test-drive and found it oddly shaky during highway (80 miles per hour) driving, whereas the Civic handled very well. I found the Civic has enough power, too. This time I got perhaps 42 mpg at 70mph,though it was more like 22mpg at 80mph. Still, it was good most of the time. I'll wait until the 2006 HCH comes out before I make my decision, and I'll probably take a Prius for another highway test drive to verify the problems with its handling. Has anyone else noticed that?