2012 Toyota Prius c Review - The Affordable 60 MPG* Monster

I paid too much...

But I paid about $19,000 for my Honda Fit Sport...with a lot of extra's.

Since almost every other subcompact you'd be comparing the Prius C against would NOT have HSD....

Then I'd say it's very competively priced....HSD is one HUGE option...and IMO upgrade compared to a regular ICE.

 

A lot of 2012 Yarii on the lots are 18k, with 4AT .

 

Back in 2001-2003, I thought and commented (on the pre-PriusChat board ?? ) that it was good for Toyota to get the highest EPA numbers possible on a Prius to show off the capabilities of a hybrid car in the US market.

Today, I am so glad they didn't do the same (whether intentional or unintentional). I think that the real world experiences being reported by owners - that is, meeting and easily beating EPA numbers, will get Toyota more credit and buyers than ever.

 

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Also, applying the 83% NEDC to EPA fudge factor that's 57.4mpg*.

 

A 5dr Yaris SE with auto tops out at $20K Cdn. The Yaris LE model with convenience pkg is $17K.

 

I've swallowed my words before, but after reading this review--a great one btw--the prospects of the c for me as a future car have taken quite a tumble.

I think the car will sell well, but basically it's only around $2k cheaper than a normal Prius (standard options aplenty). As the article stated, the entry level one is a gimmick. No Cruise control? What a joke. I have always bought entry level when I've had the choice, but both of my cars now have telescopic steering and push-button start and you'd almost have to drag me kicking and screaming into a car without it, so for me it would virtually have to be the Three. And in that case geeze I might as well just pay a couple thousand bucks more for a more powerful, larger Prius.

 

That's probably what toyota is thinking, they would rather have you buy a liftback than a c, but want to get people to buy a prius instead of a different car.

IMHO the prius one is a non-starter, but many, including myself don't really care about smart key. Many don't care about bigger. But hey less powerful and same mpg, will keep many in the higher profit margin prius. It allows them to segment the market.

 

We do get tagged with sales tax in most states (not quite all) of around 7-10% that is not in the quoted prices.

 

it's not just buying power, it's also no import duties and no federal taxes. and no taxes on size of vehicle/engine (except for the gas guzzler tax, but that affects a very small portion of purchases).

 

I still don't quite get the criticism by some of the "conventional" shifter. On the original Prius? Generation 2? I liked the "dongle" on the dash better than I like the huge cascading waterfall buttress assembly that Toyota decided to install in Gen 3, which IMO does nothing but act to put the dongle in near the same place a standard gear shift would be.

The idea that the standard gear shift is taking up more room? More room than the center buttress in the Gen 3 Prius? It's got to be close.

I've heard other contend that somehow a standard gear shift is "less sophisticated" or less advanced seeming than the dongle? I don't get that either. Either way? Your basically simply moving a lever to input whatever command to the vehicle. P N B R D...??? I don't necessarily perceive one as being any more advanced looking or feeling than the other.

I'm speculating, but with the absence of the Flying Buttress console on the new Prius V, and the absence of the same in the Prius C...my guess is someday Toyota simply admits the flying buttress design was simply a mistake. I'm hoping someday for the dongle to return to the dash. I do see that as a potential advantage in space savings. But conventional shifter vs. Dongle placed on a huge cascading flying buttress? I'll go with the conventional shifter.

 

I completely agree about the flying buttress. Even with the larger shifter, the Prius c seems more open/spacious b/c it doesn't have a flying buttress.

The Gen 2 design was so much nicer where everything was consolidated into the MFD by function, instead of dedicated buttons all over the place. What's the point of the rarely used dedicated climate control buttons since the Prius is equipped with auto A/C?

I was really hoping they would fix this as part of the 2012 Prius refresh, but sadly my hopes were dashed. It's one of my annoyances with the Prius Plug-in.

 

Um, how is the auto A/C unit being shared relevant? The reason the flying buttress exists is b/c there needs to be space for dedicated buttons for things like manual climate control. These buttons are probably rarely used b/c the Prius is equipped with auto A/C. If the rarely used dedicated buttons are removed and made soft buttons in the MFD, the flying buttress is no longer necessary and the interior of the Gen 3 Prius would be more open and spacious feeling like the Gen 2.

 

I actually use those buttons Which one do you never hit? You don't really need a buttress though. The extra buttons are park + ev/eco/pwr. These are easy enough on a new interface or a conventional one.

 

I wouldn't use:
1) outside air or recirculated air mode
2) changes the air outlets used
3) fan speed control

Anyhow, I don't have a Gen 3, but on a Gen 2, the only one on the MFD I use is A/C. The rest of the controls that I need are on the steering wheel. If they replaced the recirculated air button with A/C on the steering wheel, I wouldn't even need that. For a Gen 3, I'm not sure how Eco mode works, but if it does run the A/C more efficiently, then I wouldn't need the A/C button either.

Finally, it wouldn't be that you couldn't use the buttons anymore, they'd just be on the MFD and not taking up space when you aren't using them.

 

On the other hand, this review certainly got me more interested in the c than I was prior. I'm struggling to hit 50 mpg (currently likely around 46-47) on a regular basis in my 2010 (short trips, cold weather and gradual ascending climbs seem to be keeping me down). It would be interesting to see how much better I could get in the c.

Are you suggesting the regular Prius line will have equally as easily achievable MPG as the c?