Which Hybrid is better: Toyota Prius or Honda Civic hybrid?

[Southern Dad]

I have the 2000 Honda Insight and a 2008 Toyota Prius. For trips that have a lot of city driving I find that the Synergy system of the Prius is better. For drives that have a lot of highway driving the Insight's IMA system is better.

The situation that you are describing and the choices that you are offering makes me lean toward Prius in your situation. It seems optimum for the Plug In Prius which isn't of course, available yet.

[daniel]

Originally Posted by jdenenberg

Neither hybrid is useful for "short outings". The hybrid MPG advantage only comes into play after the engine warms up. Once warmed up the Prius will out perform a Civic hybrid in MPG by a substantial amount in city driving. They are comparable in highway MPG.

JeffD

I lived in North Dakota when I got my 2004 Prius in January of that year. At 20 and 30 degrees below zero F., with my three-mile, ten-minute commute, I was getting around 29 mpg. I was very disappointed (since I did not yet understand what affects mileage -- I found and joined Prius Chat a month later.)

HOWEVER, I don't believe any conventional car would have done so well under the same conditions. And in summer, with the same commute, my mileage went up into the 40's. Still poor compared to what the car does on longer trips, but much better than any non-hybrid in similar circumstances.

To say that "neither hybrid is useful" for short trips is a new and creative use of the word "useful." The Prius gets better mileage on any route you can devise than a gasoline powered non-hybrid, and I would imagine the same could be said of the HCH. Its usefulness is only limited by its size and power. It is not "useful" for towing a big trailer or for carrying 8 people.

Short trips, a Prius will out-perform anything other than an electric car, or possibly an Insight. (I think the Gen I Insight does better on gas, and I'm not sure of the Gen II Insight, but both are small and have less power.)

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I went through this last week when I had to buy a new car and decided to buy the Prius. I had a 2006 Civic that I loved, and well...more so my service advisor was awesome and I didn't want to leave Honda because I actually looked forward to taking my car in for the routine maintenance. The cost of the newest Hybrid Civic was a bit higher because the newest generation was just released. So, your room for negotiation was just about impossible. So, the Prius won with that because I got an incredible deal on mine.

The drive is much nicer in the Prius as far as road noise, and suspension, whereas the drive in the Civic Hybrid was a bit better as far as handling, but the road noise was pronounced, the suspension was a bit less forgiving, and the gas mileage with the Prius is obviously better.

The look - well, since I was a loyal Honda owner, I was familiar with the setup and it has the fancy option of putting pictures of your loved ones on the display. I also think that the display was a bit easier to navigate through.

Insurance costs - the same coverage for me in a Civic was higher than the 2011 Prius. I assume some of that was due to the model just being released, but just thought I would bring that up. You also get the two years of free scheduled maintenance with the Prius which you would never get with the Civic (although some Toyota dealers were offering unlimited free routine maintenance).

The thing that disappointed me most with the Civic Hybrid was the fact that the Hybrid and Gas model really aren't that different with fuel economy. I was able to attain over 40 mpg. consistently in my gas Civic when friends of mine with the Civic Hybrid are not able to get that. So, why pay that extra premium when their regular model will get you the same results?

The cars are essentially the same size, but the cargo options are better with the Prius. I do agree that the gap between the Prius and the Civic Hybrid is a bit smaller these days, but until Honda goes back to the original hybrid principles with the old Insight, I don't think that I will go back to Honda. It really does make me sad to not have my Honda anymore...who knows what kind of service advisor I will have now? A good one is so hard to find!

I guess it all depends on what is important to you...but I do think that Toyota has the market with hybrids at this point. I am not sure what Honda is thinking these days...their hybrids make very little sense.