I waas giving you the perceptions of the cabby and what he understood the position of the cab companies to be. Bear in mind that some of them get used cars at say $3,000 and refurbish and sell to the cabbies at $5,000 - not much room in there for a Prius yet. (His story and numbers not mine).

Absolutely - I wasn't taking what you wrote in this regard as your positon. I was just sad to see that the old perceptions remain so pervasive. Certainly the issue of initial cost would be real, even if reliability is not.