Well, it turns out shipping only covers "household goods" and cars and motorcycles (we were also going to bring Jeremy's Ninja 250) don't count as household goods. It's understandable but definitely a bummer. It's just not worth it to bring them if we have to pay shipping ourselves.
          Looks like I'll have to learn how to drive stick shift after all!

          I apologize for lack of posts, but until we move I'll just be posting information as I come across it. To bring the car or not is the question of the day. To bring your vehicle over, you have to pay 19.6% of it's value as a form of tax. That's almost as much money as we would spend to buy a junker car while we're there, plus still pay the monthly payment.
          While gas is slightly more expensive than diesel at €5.60 vs. €4.88, my car gets 50 mpg while the average over there is 21.5 mpg so while my car takes gas, it is actually cheaper. This site seems to be pretty on-key with prices, so check it out before you travel for gas and diesel prices.
          If we were to buy a car once we're there, we would not want to spend more than €2500 which would get us a junker with at least 130,000 km on it (80,770 miles). Who knows if we would wind up with something that needs constant repairs or breaks down in a year.

Taking the Prius:

• €2,211.38 in fees
  
• €5.60 gal/50 mpg is €0.11/mile
  
• If we drive 10 mi/day that's €7.70 a week
  
• €193.09/mo in car payments
  
• The first year would be €4897.38
  
• The second and third years would be €2686/yr
  
• That's €10,269.38 in total
  
• A possible fee for bringing it back to the US is unknown
  

Buying a Car in France:

• €2,500 to buy
  
• €4.88 gal/21.5 mpg is €0.23/mile
  
• If we drive 10 mi/day that's €16.10/week
  
• No car payments
  
• The first year would be €3272.80
  
• Following years would be €772.80
  
• That's €4818.40 in total
  

          Buying a car once in France would cost substantially less but maintenance cost is unknown whereas we can feel more confident the Prius is much less likely to need repairs. An added plus of bringing the Prius is that we'll also bring it back with us at the end of the three years, so we'll have a car when we come home instead of having to purchase one. We would probably put at least $3000 (€2317.14) down for a new car once we came home, so technically we could add €2317.14 to the total, bringing it to €7135.54.
          So basically this comes down to if €3133.84 is worth the security of having the Prius versus the unknown quality and maintenance required of a car bought in France. I'm usually the kind of person who likes security over risk and if I were working in France as well, I'd bring the Prius in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, I will not be working and money will be extremely tight, making me lean more towards buying a junker while there and taking the risk. It's a lot to think about, and a decision not to be made in one day, so I guess I'll sleep on it.