While I was still in the hospital, I insisted that J attend the appointment I had arranged with a local Honda dealer to be shown a Honda Civic Hybrid, considering how long it had taken me to arrange the showing and my understanding that getting the car wasn't an easy feat for the dealer. I asked a couple of our work colleagues to go along with her, so she wasn't alone.

J's report when she returned from the appointment was that the car, while no Toyota Prius, would be okay. Why just okay? Unlike the Prius, which cuts off the gas engine whenever it can to preserve fuel economy and emissions, the Honda basically runs the gas engine all the time and cuts in the electric engine to add extra power. When stopped, to get the gas engine to cut off you have to keep your foot on the brake--as soon as you remove your foot, the gas engine starts. It provides instant power, but the fuel economy isn't as good. However, considering that the Honda Civic Hybrid is the only reasonably priced hybrid in the Malaysia market (and that's for some definition of reasonable that has to do with comparison to the rest of foreign imports, which are taxed 100% or more), it seemed like we had found our car.

Except the next day the Honda dealer sent J an SMS saying that Honda Malaysia had no more stock of Civic Hybrids and wouldn't have any more until January. Waiting until January isn't really an option for us, as we need something now to replace the rental car we are driving. Which is unfortunate, as we really wanted to support hybrid technology and were willing to pay a premium to do so.