saturns are cool.. but i'm considering getting a 4x4. all my fiends have one & we go offroading a lot

sounds like fun, i've never been wheeling......is there a hybrid 4x4????

I could only wish...

Ford escape hybrid has a 4x4 model

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

It's not one that could be lifted and taken off road like a REAL 4x4 could...something like a Dodge Durango. Now that's a real 4X4

Hmm.. My real car is absolutely my hybrid. It replaces my 1992 Toyota Corolla which we sold to a grateful college student for $2,600.

Incidentally, I actually drive my Ford Escape Hybrid *more* than I drove my Toyota Corolla (at least in the past couple years' since leaving corporate America, and thus leaving my daily commute). I can use the Escape for trips I would have otherwise had to wait for my husband to do with his Ford F-150 pickup, now that I have a more cargo-friendly vehicle. For instance, I've helped my brother move out of and into two apartments, I've picked up landscaping and home improvement supplies, etc.

We don't have the luxury of having a "fun" car that's held in reserve just for fun and experimentation, but when researching what to purchase to replace the Corolla I found I could have my cake (new vehicle with higher fuel economy, airbags and other improvements made in the past 13+ years, and more cargo room) and eat it too (fun to drive, especially for a geek like me; higher fuel economy than the Corolla and yet in a small SUV package, etc.)

Husband wants to replace his 2001 F-150 at some point with a Mercury Mariner Hybrid, or at least that's his present thinking... it'll be some time yet, as the F150 is doing great and still offers us utility that the Escape does not. Obviously, it sucks eggs when it comes to fuel economy, but -- one down, one to go.

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)

Answer: trailer hitch and trailer!

"Oh Honey, do you mind if I tow the F-150 down to the dealership?"

<GRINS>

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

I see I'm late to the table on this one and am in fact quoting a banned member. Oh well, for those who read this in the future, of course there are hybrid 4x4s (though I guess a few folks here would start this as a new thread called, "What's your REAL 4x4" hehe) --

Ford Escape Hybrid AWD (All Wheel Drive, Ford hybrid-speak for 4x4)

Mercury Mariner Hybrid (all MMHs are 4x4; there is no non-4x4/AWD version)

And judging by some of the places I drove my 1992 Toyota Corolla back in its day, any car can pretend to be a 4x4 for a little while... just bring a change of underwear and your wallet for when you inevitably get stuck, or worse.

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)

LOL! I think we'd need to compare the gross weight limit of the Ford F-150 Supercrew 4x4 to the towing capacity of the Ford Escape Hybrid. I think the only way I could tow hubby's truck is by chopping it and using the truck bed as a funky trailer.

Hmm... images of a blowtorch in the middle of the night...

Nawww.... Not yet, anyway! hehe

- Shannon (Geeky, Wild Texan)

I'm sorry to see so much anger in this thread, so I'll move past that and just say that we've actually done a poll here on the forum before on a similar topic, and we completely rebutted the claim that most hybrid owners (on the forum, at least) don't use their hybrid as their primary vehicle. I could pull up the right thread but I'm lazy. Sorry. However, my feeling is that if you want to buy a hybrid as a second car and you can afford to maintain multiple vehicles for multiple purposes and situations, bully for you! I hope you drive the gas-sippers for long hauls and daily use.

However, I, like most other hybrid owners here (as per the poll) use my hybrid as my primary car. I only have the one car to my name; I use it for basically everything- it's flexible and multi-purpose, suits my every driving need and I love it to bits.

As for your spaciousness issue, all I can say is that I am a small little woman, only 5'1", and when I've allowed friends who were large men to drive it or ferried them around in it, I could tell that they were a little cramped. All the same, both guys I'm thinking of pronounced themselves pleased and impressed with the car and its fuel efficiency. Besides, the size of an HCH is no different than another compact, and the Prius is substantially larger. This is not a hybrid issue, per se; hybrids could be built bigger (and are, what with all the hybrid SUV models out there now).