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Is buying a COROLLA a better deal than a PRIUS?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by ski.dive, Nov 2, 2010.

  1. ski.dive

    ski.dive Active Member

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    Do your math:
    You could have driven about 200,000 miles [ AT $3.00 PER GALLON ]in a Corolla with the money you would have saved by NOT buying a Prius.

    I should have bought a COROLLA.

    But I own 2 PRIUS...
    [​IMG]giant troll rules!
     
  2. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    Perhaps, but you would be in a Corolla.
     
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  3. robbyr2

    robbyr2 New Member

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    Sorry you feel that way. Not sure I believe in $3 per gallon until I can drive 200K miles.
    Comparing a Prius to a Corolla is kind of like comparing an orange to a tangerine.
     
  4. usbseawolf2000

    usbseawolf2000 HSD PhD

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    Math does not include the hybrid exclusive premium features. Are you comparing a base Corolla to Prius IV?
     
  5. dr_d12

    dr_d12 Member

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    Something is wrong with your math. What MPG are you assuming for the Corolla? At a generous 34MPG the Corolla would use 5800 gallons over 200,000mi.

    Did you spend (5800ga * $3) more on the Prius than the Corolla with similar options?

    How does your math look with $4 gas?

    (In Canada, the Corolla is $10k cheaper than the Prius, at $1.06+/L it is cheaper to buy a Corolla over 300,000km, but the difference is not as huge as you said. But then you'd have a Corolla for 10 years, and you're pretending gas prices aren't going up).
     
  6. deltron3030

    deltron3030 New Member

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    But how (unless toyota hid all the corollas from you) didn't you know this at the time of purchase? Im not much for math and I knew as soon as I saw mpg's per dollar that the prius wasn't the most outright economical choice. What you mentioned (the hybrid premium) is the basis for nearly every argument against owning one.
    hopefully you got the prius because you wanted a prius, which is just about the only irrefutable reason to buy one.
     
  7. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    I have driven my neighbors late model Corolla a few times, it is nowhere near to being in the same class as a Prius. In terms of comfort and size I would rank a Prius someplace between a Corolla and a Camry.
     
  8. dr_d12

    dr_d12 Member

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    If you include similar options and do your best to estimate maintenance costs (ie brakes) and re-sale value the "hybrid premium" isn't very much, especially over the long term, and especially if you forget about $3 gas over the next 10 years. Not to mention the added pollution, for what it's worth.
     
  9. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    I could also live in a cardboard box instead of my comfortable home. It's a slippery slope you're playing. I tell folks if you really want to maximize you automotive savings, buy a used corolla with cash, install 80k miles tires on it, and drive it into the ground.

    Also, is the surf flat today so you decided to do a little fishing instead? :):)
     
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  10. macmaster05

    macmaster05 Senor Member

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    LOL what a fool. He should've bought a Corolla.
     
  11. UGC

    UGC Member

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    I used both analogies.......

    ......I bought a used prius. :)
     
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  12. ski.dive

    ski.dive Active Member

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    LOL.. YOU'RE THE FOOL!!!:p
    The COROLLA is problably the most dependable car on earth!!!!

    But I own both a 2008 & 2010 PRIUS + a Chevy pick-up.
     
  13. BAllanJ

    BAllanJ Active Member

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    But the Ontario govt gave me (and presumably you) back a lot of the tax on the prius and i just missed the federal govt gst rebate that i think you would have got, so we should be ahead on those that bought Corollas.
     
  14. GWhizzer

    GWhizzer not so Senior Member

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    Then by extension, nobody would buy a Lexus or a Mercedes (I hope these companies know they are going out of business :)).

    If after you take the comparative purchase price and the perceived benefits of both cars into account (including comfort, utility, future fuel costs, comparative environmental impact) you still don't feel like the Prius has the advantage, then yup, you should have bought a Corolla...
     
  15. bigcwill

    bigcwill Junior Member

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    An automatic Corolla is rated at 26/34 mpg per Toyota's website. A Corolla LE with auto and keyless entry, cruise is $18,200.

    90% of my driving is around town where my last 5 tanks have all been 58 to 63 mpg per calculator. Let's use around town calculations for my situation.

    100,000 miles/26 mpg in the Corolla is 3846 gallons of gas. 100,000 miles/58 mpg in the Prius is 1724 gallons. 3846-1724= 2122 gallons. 2122($3) = $6,366 in gas savings the first 100,000 miles.

    This does not take into account 2,122 gallons of fuel that did NOT get bought from foreigners and did NOT get burned to breathe in our air.

    Enjoy the Corolla...could've had a Prius.
     
  16. SW03ES

    SW03ES Senior Member

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    First you're bitching about your white car with a tan interior being hard to keep clean...now this?

    Troll much?

    Anyways is the Corolla cheaper than the Prius? Yes, nobody has said it isn't. But the Corolla is a crummy economy car, at least the Prius makes a statement, has some utility, and some nice available features...outside of the savings of the hybrid system.

    If the overall cost of ownership was the most important thing to you...then you shouldn't have bought a Prius no.
     
  17. ski.dive

    ski.dive Active Member

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    QUOTE:
    But the Corolla is a crummy economy car, at least the Prius makes a statement, has some utility, and some nice available features...QUOTE]

    How can you say that the COROLLA is a crummy economy car.
    Are you nuts?:mad:
    Where have you been the last 30 years?:confused:
    The Corolla is the most dependable car ever made!!!
     
  18. teeasal

    teeasal New Member

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    If the added functionality (try carry a 46" tv in a Corolla), comfort, style and may I add, class of the Prius over the Corolla doesn't matter to you, why even consider a Corolla? Why don't you consider a scooter instead. It sure will save you a ton of money and even gas!
     
  19. teeasal

    teeasal New Member

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    You seem to be in quite a bad mood. Every answer you posted in this thread is in screaming red. May I suggest you take a ride with the windows open in the Prius...err...please don't express your anger as road-rage, cause that'd be too funny in the eyes of the big bad suv drivers and you might become their laughing stock instead:D
     
  20. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    1) neither Corolla nor Prius is an acronym, so should not be in all caps. Multicolored text is just rude.

    2) You are allowed to have buyer's remorse, (and will, if you do no research before buying) it is a shame you confuse the Prius not meeting your needs with the Prius not meeting anyone's needs.

    3) I had a list of features I needed in a car, had GM ever produced a 2 mode Saturn Vue I would have considered it a competitor, as was the Ford Escape Hybrid, but neither would have paid for themselves as quickly as the Prius.
    http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...502-2010-prius-school-project.html#post979468

    4) The Prius will never win in any scenario where you never drive the car. It will take approximately 5.5 years for the Prius to break even in my case, but I drive my Prius a lot and would drive a Matrix just as much. (I could never get all my gear in a Corolla, the ladder is tricky in many cars and small SUVs)
    http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...1348787722119_1304125006_985752_4829746_n.jpg

    5) Yes, 'my' Corolla is still on the road 22 years later, they did not make the Prius 22 years ago. Call me in 20 more years. (Just think how much money I would have saved had a AWD Prius been available then)

    I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors, I am sorry you purchased the wrong car for you.