Anyone for a list of compromises?

[pyoor_excuse]

So, many of the cars I was interested in have sold. I really wish people would take down their adverts (and also, don’t you dare sound grumpy at me if you’ve got a personal ad up and you’ve sold the car).

Basically the choices in the Hybrid category are, in order of preference:

Gen 2 Prius: Pretty much ideal for our needs, except it’s the size of a whale.

Gen 1 Prius: Not a hatchback, way less supported, worse fuel economy than a Gen 2, interior is crappy 10-year-old world of plastic.

Honda (mainly Civic) IMA: Only managed to find manuals (don’t even know if it was sold with an auto box), fuel economy no better than a Gen 1 Prius, anecdotally badly supported by Honda garages – ones in my price range are at same age as most Gen 1 Prii. Also, not a hatchback, but better interior than the Gen 1 Prius.

Special case Honda IMA: The Insight – much the same but has boot space and decent MPG (high 80s), but only 2 seats. I can live with everything else, but only 2 seats means it’s only any good for a year.