<prompt> Human: Im an average middle class American. Im in fairly decent financial shape, such that buying any reasonable car is within my financial capabilities, though I would only buy a luxury car if it meant it had a better total cost of ownership in terms of fuss and expense. I have no special circumstances, i.e. no need to haul around lumber, no need to haul around a soccer team. I also dont really care about the difference in driving feel or interior layouts between cars - Ive driven a lot of rentals before, and Ive discovered as long as a car is able to go where I want, Im happy with it.I think almost any car would work for me as a result.Fuss essentially means all sorts of costs that are not financial. For example, if a car is breaking down all the time, the annoyance and time spent on fixing it would be fuss even if it costs less in money terms. In that light, buying a 1000 used car would probably mean its not a good total value. Another example of fuss is driving around some sort of outlandish vehicle or the used clunker, where there could be possible social costs from people reacting negatively which would have to be factored in when deciding if a car is a good total value. An additional sense of fuss is safety, which would make a dangerous vehicle a bad value at any price.Ive read a bunch of posts here on rpersonalfinance, and it seems like new versus used is actually starting to make new look like a pretty good value in some respects these days, since used cars have increased in cost in recent times, while still exposing you to potential headaches from the previous owner such as mechanical abuse. Do the upfront costs of a hybrid generally pay for themselves? Obviously, gas prices are extraordinarily low now, but is there a rule of thumb on how much gas would need to cost to make a hybrid worth it? Assume Im an average driver and probably put around 10,000 miles on a car a year.Overall, is some sort of new midrange 15k-25k sedan, possibly a hybrid like a Prius, the smartest possible choice?  <response>: Prius C 