My father had a hybrid civic saloon between 2009-2013 but i drove it enough times.

I really liked the hybrid but it requires a change on driving style compared to normal cars in that one needed go be easy on the throttle otherwise the petrol engine easily kicked in and overide the electric motor. Any speed over 29mph, the motor will not operate unless under hard acceleration.

Whenever the motor was solely powering the car- it works for about a mile or so before the engine kicks in again for a bit of time. Drive it like a normal car (CVT gearbox had a knack of revving up at the slightest acceleration or the slightest incline ) and the mpg drops to the mid to high 30s.

Drive it carefully like I did and I typically got around the low 50's. My best was just under 61mpg.

At 70mph the engines nicely ticks over at around 2000 rpm which is very long but again the engines screams when you need to give it some welly which was frequent as the 1.3l engine struggles to shift that weight. The car needed a software upgrade to eliminate a flat battery and needed a new condensor for the air con. £15 a year tax was nice too and the stop start system was effective.

With respect, although you specify that you want to hear only from owners on this forum, if I were in your position I would be casting my net wider. For example, the following references some serious battery reliability problems with older Civic Hybrids, though newer examples (2012 - 13) seem to be doing better.

tinyurl.com/d84de92

Personally, I wouldn't touch a hybrid with a barge-pole, though my trusted indy tells me they are the cars of the future.

Hadrian - I know you were asking for views on the Civic hybrid. But it's quite natural - and most would consider it helpful - for some with negative views about a car to suggest an alternative - in this case the Prius.

It might be useful if you told us why you wouldn't consider a Prius. Would you also rule out an Auris hybrid, which is nearer to the Civic in size?