I also found the decision to be rather emotionless, we have ~70 mile a day commute so the math is better in our case for fuel, but still not going to recoup the investment of the hybrid technology. I figured we could give our money to Exxon mobile, or we could give it to Toyota for being the first to break out of the box and attempt to do something about the dependancy on oil. We chose Toyota mainly because a company that makes a car like this, even if the interior is poorly assembled, is a company worth supporting, and a car we want to support. Our interior has a squeak in the center console and an ever so slight rattle in the B Pillar on the drivers side. it is not without flaws, but it's as good as my '03 Porsche and superior to our Focus that it replaces as our "beater" commuter car.

BTW, someone mentioned Ford's hybrid system sucks. The Escape Hybrid is also technology licensed from Toyota. GM's is a weak effort, but at least it's an effort to develop something new that could have been better, it just wasn't.

Compared to the I4 Camry, the Hybrid is better in my opinion. We drove all three models, I4, V6, and Hybrid. The Hybrid instrumentation is far more entertaining, and the acceleration once moving is just as good as any other V6 car in my opinion. I love 37 MPG fill ups. I told a coworker with a regular Civic that I had 1463 miles and I had filled up 3 times for less than 40 gallons. She was amazed, especially as her trip odometer read 270 miles and her refuel warning light was on.

Hybrid is quieter, smoother than the sport model V6, and the upgraded sound system with BlueTooth sounds great for a car in this class, which the I4 doesn't have I don't believe. My regret is not getting the NAV system, but alas there wasn't one coming in that wasn't sold already.

 

Sounds like you are having a bad case of buyer's remorse. I bet you'd have felt the same if you had bought the SE V4 or the SE V6.

Relax. You've got a great car that will take you 500+ miles on a tank of gas, runs smoother and quieter than any SE, and won't have you up nights waiting for the transmission to fail (as they have on the SE's).

Also, I've been taking my TCH to my neighborhood garage since the day I brought it home. No problem. They've seen hybrids before, even knew to order the 0w20 synthetic oil for me.

As for gas prices...well, they went up 60 cents from the time I ordered my TCH until it was delivered. Then down a dollar this fall, then back up 30 cents. Do you really think the price is staying at $2.20 a gallon? Don't you feel better know that if (when) the price goes up big time, or even worse, when the pumps run dry, you can keep going? I do.

 

Ah, the solution to your "dilemma" is simply to buy that S2K - then you will have the best of both worlds!

Works for me!!!

 

I was in the same boat as you. I thought about getting the i4 LE instead of the hybrid. But having came from a Prius, the smart key was hard to give up. Not to mention the hybrid version is the only one with VDIM. The hybrid also had a standard 6 disc changer with JBL stereo and bluetooth. Compared to the i4 XLE that runs around $24k, the hybrid version, which i paid a hair over $25k for, was a relative bargain and saved a bit on gas too.

I'm paying more a month to finance my TCH, but I do not regret my purchase. I love the smoother, quieter ride. If asked if I would make the same decision again, my answer is a resounding yes.

 

I have been thrilled with my TCH. When we were shopping for a car to replace the Rover Discovery, we looked at the VW tdi, but found the seats to be unsupportive. We then went to the mercedes dealer where we had looked at the E350 CDI (or is it a E330?)previously, but after we negotiated the price down to around $45,000 from $55,000 we decided to at least look at the TCH before spending that much on a car. We went to the local dealer and the made us a deal that was great in comparison. $1,000 off sticker.

So in the end, while the seats are not as good as the E series seats, they are much better than the VW seats. One of my formr neighbors has a VW, and they are not getting more than 40 MPG with their combined mileage. As you can see by my banner below, I have averaged 38.6 since the day we drove off the dealer's lot so the mileage of the tdi is not that much better than the TCH. (Also diesel prices are about 30-40 cents higher than regular unleaded.) Also, I can't really think the SE would give you the features a TCH would. To get the features that are similar you would have to bump it up to the LE, then prices start to become similar. Also, the 4 cylinder does not have the performance of the TCH.

As for the Ford Hybrid technology, I HATE Ford, but in their defense, they developed their own technology which turns out had SOME similarities to Toyota's so they paid Toyota to prevent a lawsuit. Toyota did not provide ford with the technology. Also, Ford's system is not junk, what is junk is the FAS systems used by GM and Dodge!

 

First you will still save gas. I drive 17k miles a year and at current gas prices woudl have been saving $800 a year. the TCH will accelerate better than the base I4 and feel smoother. The V6 woudl be peppier, but you woudl be getting in the low 20's for MPG where the TCH you shoudl be well into the 30's. The Hybrid components are covered for 8 years 100K so you don't have to worry about them for some time. I got rid of my TCH after 5 months for other reasons, (see my posts) but the hybrid was not one of the reasons, the interior quality sucked and I missed my sports Sedan ride.

 

Please state the type of interior you had Kluken;
Factory Leather
Port installed Leather
Cloth

The factory leather interior in my TCH is easily as nice as the interior in my friend's Audi A6. As far as Sports Sedan ride - nope - I have to agree with you - it's not a sports sedan ride and it's not a luxury car ride - it's somewhere in between.

 

Well, I got my new unit today. I must say the dealer was very good. They brought an hour and a half to my office after purchasing it last week. They also gave me a nice discount off the MSRP.

This vehicle has everything...all the options (factory installed). It even has factory installed remote start (I thought they were all dealer installed but mine is listed right on the factory window sticker).

This has so many bells and whistles I am going to have to sit down and study the owners manuals (especially the navigational unit manual).

All my neighbors are really admiring this vehicle. They especially like the remote start feature. One remarked it's like a jet aircraft spooling up. The dash lights up, the lights start blinking, as it whirs to life. I just have to make sure the remote stays out of the hands of my 6 year old boy.

The stereo, in my opinion, is VERY good, and I am a discriminating jazz lover. May not be quite as good as a Mark Levinson system, but then again I paid a lot less than an Lexus ES350 with that option. And the quiet ride allows you to enjoy the sound system's sonic accuracy even at highway speed.

All these luxury features and such great fuel economy -- regular octane fuel -- at a very competitive price.

I'm starting to really like this car.

 

Yes! Along with the other good things, indeed, the JBL system is an EXCELLENT-sounding system -- by far better than anything I've ever had before. Not judging by the kiddies' "hear the bass six blocks away" insanity, but just good, clean, full sound, with some sense of soundstage -- it's wonderful! Oh, sure, I'll bet the kilobuck systems in the higher price ranges must be better, but I consider this to be a very fine "entry-level" system when it comes to the better "soundstage designed for the car's interior" systems.

And indeed, the car is quiet enough to truly enjoy the sound at normal listening levels.

I'm glad to hear that you're getting more and more satisfied with your TCH, and especially that you're enjoying the fine stereo system! Good luck!

 

I had PORT leather, but the seat supporting cushion seemed to begin sagging, actually sawa few other posts about ths with factory leather and one guy paid $100 to have someone add padding to the seat. The PORT leather is poor quality compared to what aftermarket is avialbale and I would be the factory leather is much better.