My sister's hybrid Highlander.

[SteveO]

[quote spearmint]
She drives fast and has for forty years. Why should she have to change for a hybrid? The savings were not supposed to be dependent on changing your driving habits.
Sorry to read that someone has apparently misinformed you and your sister. I read two car mags on a monthly basis and every hybrid article mentions in some form that the easier you are on the throttle, the better the mpg. Just like a regular engine, except hybrids have the potential for even better mpg when driven sensibly. One columnist even did a whole article on going easy while trying to beat his all-time mpg record in a hybrid.

Where have you been, brother? Seriously. This is not rocket science. I do agree with you and many others here in that hybrids in general are somewhat disappointing at this point in their development...but in a few years I think we'll see these efforts bear major fruit across entire lines.

[elmo3]

[quote SteveO]Sorry to read that someone has apparently misinformed you and your sister.
Oh, I wouldn't say that someone misinformed him. That's taking the responsibility off of his shoulders completely and putting it onto some nameless, faceless person.

The much greater likelihood is that he has never bothered to understand the Monroney sticker and the mileage figures thereupon. Further, it's plain that he's simply not thought out the entire process of how his sister's driving might or might not relate to those mileage figures.

No, don't put the onus onto those faceless people who somehow have some responsibility to "inform" him of how this all works. The information is out there, and he plainly never even bothered to look.