Prius III or Jazz hybrid?

Looking for some guidance here.

I've rented a couple Priuses in America, once for a couple of weeks, and I loved them. But now I'm in Israel, and car shopping. I've looked at Honda Jazz hybrids. Two facts about them have made a big impression: The Jazz is 22 inches shorter than the Prius, and it costs substantially less here. But I can afford a Prius, even at the Israeli price (around 45,000 U.S. dollars ... cars are taxed heavily here).

I live in the bush, where vehicle length doesn't matter much, but my occasional visits to Israeli cities convince me that the Jazz's considerably shorter overall length would make it eligible for a lot more on-street parking spots. But then I used to own a Japanese pickup truck in America, and faced with the same issue, my solution was simple: Park mostly in off-street pay lots. Certainly I could do that in the cities here, so vehicle length is not a deal-breaker.

The Honda Insight got lousy reviews for, among other things, its horrible ride and cheesy interior fittings. The Jazz hybrid has the same drive train, but in a different body. I'm not finding online information about whether the Insight's vices live on in the Jazz.

The Jazz gasser is a great little car. A lot of my friends in America (where the Jazz is called the Fit) have them. It handles like the original Austin Mini ... that is to say, it's fun to drive.

The Jazz does not have the Prius's ability to run entirely on electricity at slow speeds for short periods, but my experience driving Priuses suggests that's not significant.

Has anybody else been tempted by the Jazz hybrid? I'd be interested in knowing what their ultimate decision was, and why. Thanks.

 

Reopening an old thread here.

Since I'm in Israel, there are some local factors to consider.

Israel taxes new cars heavily, around 100 percent. But hybrids get a 30 percent tax break. Result: A new Prius III costs around $43,000 in equivalent U.S. dollars. A new Jazz Hybrid costs about $10,000 less. I'm not rich, so that's a very big consideration.

Because the Jazz Hybrid gets a big tax break, it sells in Israel for considerably less money than the automatic-tranny Jazz ICE models. Only a manual-tranny, smaller-displacement ICE Jazz is cheaper here than the hybrid model. In most countries, the hybrid costs more than the other models.

The Jazz Hybrid's fuel economy is a bit lower than the Prius's, but the Jazz remains a bargain, on a couple of counts, in spite of that, at least for someone in Israel.

If I were in the States, I'd buy the Prius for sure. But given where I am, I'm leaning toward the Honda. It doesn't have the long track record of the Prius, but I'm willing to take that chance, something I'd never do with any brand other than Honda or Toyota.

 

Well, I still haven't bought a car here in Israel. I'm driving my girlfriend's ancient Fiat until I resolve some bureaucratic issues so I can buy a car here.

She's just bought a Honda Jazz hybrid that I've driven a couple times. Great little car, and seems peppier than a friend's Honda Fit gasser I drove once in the States. I like the Jazz hybrid a lot. A whole lot. Too bad it's not sold in America. Over here, because of the peculiar Israeli tax system, the Jazz hybrid is cheaper than most models of the Jazz gasser, unlike virtually anywhere else.

But, like, whoa ... Toyota just unveiled the Prius C, sales to begin next spring. About the size of the Jazz (which is 22 inches shorter than a Prius III), reportedly cheaper and more fuel efficient than the Prius III. If it's got the Prius drive-train technology and battery technology, I may have to keep driving the Fiat until the C arrives here. Things are getting interesting!

 

x

 

Not a problem. Israeli roads are mostly excellent. Wish I could say the same for the drivers.

 

A year later, I'm reopening this ancient thread yet again. Been driving my gf's Honda Jazz hybrid (Fit hybrid under another name) here in Israel for the last year and loving it (put the ancient Fiat to sleep). But I'm moving back to the States in a week or so. There, if I shop carefully, I can get a '12 Prius ex-rental with 12k-15k miles on the odo for $20,000. That's not a lot more than the equivalent gasser Camry, my other option. So I'll probably have a Prius pretty shortly. The Prius C isn't sold over here for some reason ... instead, they sell Yaris hybrids. I've rented Yarises too (gassers) and they struck me as cheesy little econoboxes. I will be doing some long trips in the States, so I'd be more comfortable in a Prius than a Prius C. But that's just my personal preference. I really liked the couple of '10 Priuses I rented in the States (Hawaii) two years ago. From what I've read about the '12 Prius, I may like it even better. If I was going to live in a large city, it might be the C, for ease of parking. But I'll be in the suburbs in the wide-open Midwest. One thing I did not like about the Jazz/Fit hybrid: Although it's reportedly better sound-insulated than the Fit gassers, the engine gets pretty noisy during hard acceleration and passing ... like a lot of Honda models, it revs pretty high in those circumstances. My recollection of driving the rented Priuses two years ago was that they were quieter in that regard. And contrary to what I wrote here previously, you CAN get the Jazz/Fit hybrid to run in EV mode, even at moderately high (80 kph/50 mph) speeds, for probably never more than a mile, on level ground.

 

Postscript: Am back in the States to stay. Yesterday I bought a year-old ex-rental Prius 2. Love it, even if the manual is almost 500 pages.