V1, it seems like you made the right decision under the circumstances. But that's not to say the circumstances shouldn't change, which I think they should. There should be reasonably-priced high efficiency cars on the market now which there simply are not. To pay a 10 grand premium for a hybrid insures no one will want one until gas gets outrageous. There have been viable hybrid and high efficiency diesel vehicles around for years with little or no reason to buy one. Government didn't do anything about it either when they set the tax break as low as they did for owning a hybrid, with no break at all for buying a high-efficiency diesel. The high prices of fuel now will gradually open the US car and truck market to more efficient cars and trucks, but so far it isn't worth it for most people.