Prius c

[supton]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek

I was disappointed with corolla's MPG from the day 1 (bought it new). Maybe because it's AT. So it's Prius, so is a fair comparison. Don't get me started on my (RIP) Subaru. That thing was gas pig. 18/24 city/hwy.


4spd auto, for some reason while being sturdy it's never turned great mpg. I can only imagine what the 3spd non-OD versions did...

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
Drive it and see how you like it, but also drive a regular Prius. This forum is populated by a good number of people who like to bash the Prius, so don't expect too much useful info.


Hahahahahaha!! But the Prius is really so much fun to "poke fun at".

All kidding aside, I admire the latest generation Prius. Especially in higher levels of trim, with the great audio system, comfy seats and so on. A nice Prius is a fair place to live. Not quite as quiet, or as smooth on the highway as many "real cars" and certainly not as sporty. But, not much of a sacrifice for the MPG's. In my mind, that says a lot.

However, the Prius C is not the car the Prius is. You sacrifice everything for a cheap car with good MPG. I find them annoying in nearly every way. My suggestion is to purchase a current model "real" Prius.

Edited to add: I believe that the real Prius is a higher quality car, with higher quality, and therefore, possibly longer lived mechanicals.

 

[sciphi]

MIL looked at one, didn't like the seats or the road noise. She ended up with a pretty basic '13 Civic that she's happy with.

 

[The Critic]

The Prius C is very noisy and underpowered -- I definitely would not want one for highway driving.

I would look at a base model, 2013 Civic. With the recent updates for 2013, it is actually a very competitive car.

 

[sciphi]

I'd skip the Prius C and take a good hard look at a manual-transmission base-level Civic. It's pretty quiet on the interstate, has decent get-up, and likely will beat its EPA highway rating. It also has 195/65-15 tires and a cushy ride that soaks up bumps in the road nicely. More importantly, Honda looks to have coated many of the commonly rust-prone areas such as the rockers with factory undercoating, then topped those with paint.

 

[dareo]

If Mazda is not your style there are countless other economy cars nailing down 39 to 45 mpg EPA. Ford Fiesta SFE 1.0 turbo is rated 45 highway and costs thousands less.

Hybrids are great in city driving but have no strong advantages on highway runs. Actual fuel money saved is insignificant over 100k miles. For city drivers, electric cars like Leaf/Volt are killing hybrids for those that don't need a ton of miles a day. My brother has a Volt and goes through a few gallons of gasoline in an entire year, only for the very cold winter months. Still a very expensive car though.

Toyota Corolla would probably depreciate the least in a high mileage scenario. People trust and like them enough to still pay top dollar for a worn out example. Especially if you start with the 2014 redesign, it will look new for a while.

Hyundai Elantra GT manual in extreme hyper mile driving by the guy at cleanmpg.com
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=353004
Runs of 61 mpg, 71 mpg, and even a claimed 128 mpg trip. Who knows what ridiculous driving tricks he did to do get those numbers but still.

 

[supton]

Mazda is out. I don't like the styling, I don't want "zoom zoom", and I've seen them rust too quickly.

I gave serious thought to this issue this weekend, and decided the last thing I wanted was three vehicle loans. Wife likes her car, and we like the truck (plus I'd lose trading so soon), so those stay: adding a vehicle loan to save money... doesn't add up. I thought about buying a cheap car outright, but then it'd apt to be the same headaches as my car, and likely w/o the safety features I want, and I'm out that money from my emergency fund. Ick.

 

[dareo]

Dieseling till you have loans paid off is a smart. You can pick a car you want today and when the TDI dies, if it ever does, and at least be ready to buy if you have to.

Like the saying 'One crime at a time' i say one car loan at a time.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: Cujet

Edited to add: I believe that the real Prius is a higher quality car, with higher quality, and therefore, possibly longer lived mechanicals.


I'd say that about the Cruze vs the Spark, Corolla vs yaris, etc. Give me a "standard" roofline, not a Smart car. Same interior room, more of footprint on the road.

 

[supton]

I wanted one loan at a time, but got impatient: thought I was better off financially than I actually was. Bought truck when I realized I was saving more per month towards the purchase than what it would cost on a monthly payment, so I jumped at the first thing that met all my "needs". Then I realized I wasn't saving enough for retirement, so I upped my 401k to a better value after ignoring it for years. Then the shoe dropped on healthcare, about doubling in cost for next year. Those two increases wound up the same as the truck payment.

Technically, at 3.5% the truck is only slightly more expensive than inflation; and with the Camry at 0% it won't get paid off early. But it is tying my hands more than I realized it would, ergo, am hating myself now.

Jetta is going away. Everyone says it's rusted junk and/or a parts car. Ignoring depreciation on the truck, it almost saves money driving the truck: at 22k/year commuting, truck would burn $3,700 while the Jetta would burn $1,700--but it costs $1,000/year in repairs and then toss in registration and insurance.

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: dareo
Dieseling till you have loans paid off is a smart. You can pick a car you want today and when the TDI dies, if it ever does, and at least be ready to buy if you have to.

Like the saying 'One crime at a time' i say one car loan at a time.

+1
I would run the Jetta until it has an expensive repair which could be a couple years now, don't fix anything that isn't really really needed. Like just change the oil once a year and that's it. I think you won't get much more than scrap value for it, but if someone has to have it for $2k, sell it and then save that money for gas for your truck and switch to driving it.
Get a AAA membership to put your mind at ease for towing, I use CAA almost yearly for locking my keys in the car, so any towing is a bonus.

 

[supton]

No, I finally decided, and while I'm infamous for being both indecisive and for second-guessing decisions, I've decided that it's time for it to go. I'm literally wasting hours each week thinking about it. I can't stand to be known as one of those prior owners who didn't take care of their vehicle, ergo I'm not about to start being cheap and cutting corners. Proper fluids, on time, and fix whatever else is broken. Or move on.

Back in high school I locked myself out of my car. Once. Ever since then I've always carried a spare on me. These days they say not to have any extra weight on the ignition, so I carry the spare key on the set for the house. Used to be you got a credit card key spare for your wallet; I wish they still had those.

I have AAA, but I'm not sure where I'd have it towed at the moment. There is a shop that I haven't tried yet; I'm guessing he is up to speed on TDi's by now. But there you go: I'm tired of going to specialists.

 

[dareo]

0% loans don't count, since you beat inflation of both the USD and new car prices, and 3.5% is good too. If you were to save up money in a bank account earning 1% or less, and the dollar keeps weakening while new car MSRPs keep increasing due to CAFE regulations and obamacare costs, you would end up paying a lot more than a cheap loan today.

Times like these are good to lock in cheap debt for things you actually need. Getting to work is a solid need, not a want.

 

[Cujet]

So????? Have you chosen a new car?

My suggestion stands, the Prius C is, in my opinion, substandard.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
So????? Have you chosen a new car?

My suggestion stands, the Prius C is, in my opinion, substandard.


Yes, decided: no new car. Going back to just two vehicles in the fleet for a bit. Maybe once I get one paid off I will spring for a lightly used Prius, the regular one.

 

[friendly_jacek]

I always thought 2 cars were enough for a couple (excluding kids).

 

[supton]

I live 30 miles from the nearest car rental. A small trek, but über annoying if a car breaks during the week. Switching out of the vw at least means the dealer becomes an option, and they have rentals nearby if not loaners,

Three vehicles IMO make sense for me, or at least two that don't break. At 25k/year on each the costs add up.

 

[refaller]

Of course two cars are enough, but I enjoy having 3. I get to use the convertible for fun and the minivan (now that the kids are gone) for home depot trips. Plus, when there is a problem with either one, I can fix it when it fits my schedule. No more changing my radiator on the coldest day of the year in the dark because I needed a car the next day for me!

ref

 

[Zako2]

Based on reviews I have seen, it seems like it may be worth it to make the jump onto the base trim of a normal Prius instead of buying a Prius C. Note that normal cars are starting getting decent mpg on highway. The 2013 Honda Accord gives you about 35mpg highway EPA estimates, and the fuel economy observed in real world is pretty close. The Prius on a highway may give you 50mpg on a level road, going under 70mph, but there is certainly a hybrid price premium. The new one stickets at +24K which is over 2K more than the similarly equipped base Accord LX.

 

[Smokescreen]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek

I was disappointed with corolla's MPG from the day 1 (bought it new). Maybe because it's AT. So it's Prius, so is a fair comparison. Don't get me started on my (RIP) Subaru. That thing was gas pig. 18/24 city/hwy.


4spd auto, for some reason while being sturdy it's never turned great mpg. I can only imagine what the 3spd non-OD versions did...


Weird...my lifetime 200,000km (125,000mile)average is 6.1L/100km or 39mpgUS in my Corolla.

If you are truely after high fuel econony and fast return on investment, Ford Fiesta, Mitsubishi Mirage get great numbers with sub $14K price tag.