3 civic hybrids and 1 prius in the family
the prius is definitel more spacious, but does have a bit of awkwardness about it. however, you get used to it. the prius has a fancier interior with the screen, etc.
the civic is a basically a normal sedan, with much better mileage (and lower emissions). it used to have the manual option, but i think they made it automatic only in the last year or two... sadly
not sure if you care about ipod connectivity options, but the new civics are supposed to have a pretty sweet set up for that, not sure about the prius. the older ones do have a sort of hack connection available that even lets you watch the ipod video on the screen. hah.
i think if i were buying one, i'd get the civic, as i think they're a few thousand cheaper and overall more "normal"... isn't there also a toyota camry hybrid? too big/expensive? haven't read much about it.
The awkwardness does wear off rather quickly. The "fin" on the rear window confused the hell out of me at first, but now I don't even realize that it's there.
As for iPod connectivity, I don't know if the new Prii
According to this site it's about $2,000 - $3,000. Since my Passat costs almost that much in repairs *every year* I'm not too worried about a one-time cost 7 or 8 years from now.
My understanding is that anything hybrid related (i.e. the battery) is covered for 10 years. From what I have heard, the Prius hsa been out much longer in Japan than in the U.S. and there haven't been any battery issued yet.