ubertuber

Thanks cadre - it turns out that I'm mostly wrong on this one. I work at an accounting firm and I clarified this with one of my partners this morning.

The credit DOES exist, but it varies between cars and seems to be tied to the number either manufactured or sold. It decreases as more cars of a particular make/model are on the road. Since the Prius is so popular, their credit pretty much disappeared last October. On the other hand, something that doesn't sell as well, like an Accord hybrid, or an Escape hybrid would still be eligible. And the credit is no joke - it's a credit, not a deduction. So if you got a $2000 credit, that's sort of like taking 2 grand off the price of the car (plus the financing charges you would have paid on that money over time - after your presumable tax refund). You could also think of this as being like taking an $8000 deduction if you're in the 25% bracket - that's no small thing!

So anyway, I still think that the consensus is right on. An efficient V4 is probably the best bet, and they are making these on extremely reliable models. I hope to get a couple hundred thousand out of my new Honda... I just didn't want my mistake to be misinterpreted by anyone.

EDIT: This article says the Prius is still good for a credit of around $1500, if you buy it soon. I don't know that this amount is large enough to change the logic behind what people have said before though...

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Cogito ergo spud -- I think, therefore I yam