Prius envy

It seems like everyone around us is buying a Prius! One of the mothers in my book group has the original one. But this round of Prius envy all started when my friend Andrea drove me in hers and showed it off to me. I had no idea the new Prius was a hatchback! I love riding hatchback. I've developed a serious case of Prius envy. Then my friend Jed blogged about his shiny new Prius complete with pictures. Our next door neighbours are buying one. Another friend talked to me about buying one.

If the new Prius had been out in 2002 when it was time for us to buy a 4 door sedan, we'd have probably bought a Prius. But the old one was a little too small in girth for two car seats. We're waiting for the Toyota Sienna hybrid minivan "expected in 2007" according to Hybrid Cars.com

But of course on the Internet, you can always find folks more obssessed than you. A google search of "Prius envy" revealed a Prius fan site complete with videos, photos and a log book with over 200 pages, which asked the question. "Do Hybrids save money?" and as part of the answer, another question "Why must you be rewarded (save money) by using less resources and polluting less?". My answer is because we live in a capitalist society where things are valued according to money. The real question is: Why are gas and clean air so undervalued that owning a Prius is more expensive than owning a regular car? I believe gas and clean air and a lot of other enviromental "goods" are undervalued due to government subsidies to industries, and regulations that in reality require industries to pay only a fraction of the true cost of cleaning up their pollution.

But we'll drive our Passat for many more days, because VW fixed the trunk latch under warranty. No more dinging!