My advice to anyone considering buying a hybrid, is to buy a fuel efficient economy car instead. A new Prius costs ~$24k. You could purchase any number of economy cars for half the price, vehicles that get upwards of 30/38 mpg city/highway. Most people will NEVER realize a gas savings of $12k during the lifetime of owning their hybrid...

Now if you have the cash to burn and simply want to buy a hybrid to support the Green industry that's one thing, but if you are looking at buying one to save money you won't... unless you keep the vehicle for 10 years... the average consumer trades or buys a new/newer vehicle every 4-6 years... just something to consider.