Thanks, I save over $3,000 a year in gas with a Civic Hybrid at $4.00/gallon over our Sienna. As the price goes up, I save more.
So what does the Civic Hybrid cost? Do you plan to sell the Sienna to reduce the net cost of the Civic? What is the difference in insurance? Taxes? License? Is there an investment you could make with the difference in price that would have a better yield than the savings?
Seems like you do a lot of driving. I did not run the calculator on your differences, but $3000 a year is a lot of savings. (I drive a 15MPG Tundra about 15,000 miles per year so my total gas spending is $4000. If I got a truck that got 20MPG I would only save about a grand.)
The key concept in economics is the marginal cost. For example: if you take a 500 mile vacation every year to see grandma then at $4 this year the trip for the 20 MPG car is $100. Which seems like a lot of money. But the $3 trip last year costs $75. So the marginal decision is on $25 dollars. If you get 30% on the better gas mileage car the better economic decision should have been to use the high MPG car LAST YEAR. (Probably should check the math, but I think you get the idea.)
Sorry, I love this stuff. I'm actually ahead on gas prices. I waited for the truck prices to fall (my Tundra was a steal) and put the savings in investments.
If you really think we are going to $10 +/- gas there are way better ways to use your money than buying any car. For one thing the dollar would have to be cut in half. US exports would sky rocket. Going to Europe would be gold plated - short the airlines. Lots of strategies.
If a hybrid and an equivalent non-hybrid had the exact same costs (all in) it would be a no-brainer, but then again the price of gas would have also probably come down.