"I will never buy another one!" is all I've heard from owners. Hybrid cars: Only 35% of hybrid-car owners buy another one, Polk says - latimes.com

Prius buyer are the pious self-righteous who put solar panels on the street side of their roof to show their neighbors and anyone driving by how eco-minded they are (even if the other side of the roof is the more efficient sunny side). They are most self-pious who are white and voted for Obama because he's black and it really makes them feel good about themselves. 
It makes one wonder how much buyer's remorse will they have for the next elections? m/r

Hybrid cars: Only 35% of hybrid-car owners buy another one, Polk says - latimes.com
By Jerry Hirsch

April 9, 2012

While the choice of fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles for sale in the U.S. continues to grow, more buyers than not are deciding against the technology when they go to buy another car.

Only 35% of hybrid vehicle owners chose to purchase a hybrid again when they returned to the market in 2011, according to auto information company R.L. Polk & Co.

If you factor out the super-loyal Toyota Prius buyers, the repurchase rate drops to under 25%.

Consumers in regions such as Southern California and Seattle, where hybrid sales are strongest, are no more likely to be repeat customers than buyers in other parts of the nation, according to the Polk study.

It’s hard to know what’s causing the low repurchase rate.  One reason is that about 17,000 people purchased electric cars last year, and other data shows that many of those were trading in a hybrid vehicle. Honda has been hounded by high-profile class-action and small claims court lawsuits over fuel economy issues with older models of its Civic hybrid.

Online cross-shopping data from auto information company Edmunds.com shows that buyers typically compare hybrids with similar conventionally powered vehicles. 

-more at link-