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I wouldn't knock the hybrids too much. I own a '86 245 and my girlfriend used to own a '89 740 until she bought a 2004 Toyata Prius.
With a 10yr warrenty on all hybrid components, a continuosly differential transmission, and all of her maintenance for free for the first 100k miles, it seems like you can't go wrong here if you are buying a new 2004 car. It is cheap, ~$20k, very plush inside, quiet, has great power (especially compared to my B230F), and it is warrentied up the a$$ because they know people will be hesitant to buy a car with such new technology.
And with the regenerative braking this car has, I will bet that my girlfriend will never have to change the brake pads while she owns the car. It only brakes using the friction pads in heavy braking situations. I think she uses the brake pads about once a month.
Granted the car only has 25k miles on it now but with toyota's reputation and the warrenty included, it makes it a great bet, not to mention the fact that she gets 52mpg on her daily commute to work.
It doesn't handle quite as well as my 245 with IPD sways, Bilstiens, virgos, and strut tower braces but it does handle well enough to be a daily driver on a very twisty daily commute. It isn't a bad car at all.
In short, I wouldn't let the fear of the new technology scare you away from owning this car, if for no other reason, because of the warrenty on the new technology for this express purpose.
But to the point of this thread, if you want a car to work on, the Prius isn't the car for you. When you open the hood all you see is tupperware and a couple of cables that you are supposed to connect the jumper cables to because they lead back to where ever they hid the battery. And wo be to the unsuspecting mechanic that finds the 500V battery without proper warning.
Personally, I like working on my old brick. But I can certainly understand how someone could go out and buy a Prius. I throw a lot of money into my brick, making her better than she was when she was new, but the amount of money I spend annually is 1/10, at most, what I would be spending on car payments or even just the decline in the resale value of a new car.
I spent some time fixing up a '95 Subaru Outback and in the end I ended up not liking the engineering. It was like they built the car without having in mind that repairs would ultimately be done on it. A friend has a '94 Toyota Corrola that when he went to put in new rotors he found out that he had to replace the wheel bearings and take off a dozen bolts to do it as well. He found the car not an easy car to get started with doing your own repairs on.
Basically, most cars these days aren't built like they used to build them. maybe the small Ford trucks is a good way to go like someone else mentioned. But for the most part, we are stuck with what they are giving us. You could buy a '93 245 and go to town with suspension upgrades, sound proofing, a new paint job, rust proofing, and anything and everything else you can think of and still pay less than a newer car. And in the end you will have a better car toboot.
Just my humble, opinionated 2 cents.
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