According to Kelley, hybrid vehicles are not retaining their value the way they once did, and are not keeping pace with the appreciation of most other vehicles segments. Combine this with the significant decrease in sales of new hybrids compared with last year -- no doubt due in part to last year's boosted sales from the Cash for Clunkers program -- and it means that purchasing a used hybrid today will be significantly easier on the wallet than in the past.

On average, recovering the premium paid for new hybrids through fuel savings takes around 10 years, based on gas prices of $3 per gallon and 12,000 miles driven annually. The recovery time falls drastically for used vehicles. According to Kelley:
"If a consumer were wise enough to purchase a used hybrid vehicle, the time needed to break even falls substantially. For the Civic Hybrid, the break-even point is realized just shy of five years down the road, as opposed to the 16 years required for a new purchase. This would require only 57,600 miles to be driven before the hybrid premium was recovered."

If you want to save even more, Kelley recommends buying the hybrid version of an existing model, rather than a hybrid-only vehicle such as the Toyota Prius.