Honda Civic IMA Hybrid (2003 - 2005)
IMA Exec
Economical, nice interior and smooth (if a little slow) to drive
Bought this last year to save a little money. Owned 2 Honda's before this. I'm getting about 53mpg in the summer, and 49mpg in the winter, in a mix of long runs and town driving. Leather interior is nice, and it is very smooth to drive. Feels like a quality/luxury item. The auto-stop engine function works well and saves fuel while waiting at junctions. Plenty of dials to let you know what's going with the battery and where the energy is coming from - it can get addictive getting the most of out using the instrumentation. Typically Honda reliability - never let me down yet with 72K on the clock now.
Only down sides are that there isn't much power, and there seems to be almost no torque from the petrol engine - you really have to floor it and summon the electric motor into action to get an overtake out of it without a project plan. Also, although the rear boot space is fine (we can get a pram and baby stuff in there) the rear seats don't fold.