Honda guy going to make the switch! Anybody else out there?

We have both a Civic and a Gen III Prius. The Civic is next up for replacement, and another Prius will definitely be in the running. Now in our case the Civic is a 5-speed, making in the "sporty" car in the garage. That represents something of an emotional hurdle that the Prius may have trouble overcoming.

 

I probably will shortly. I have a Honda Fit and I honestly love it. Great little ICE subcompact. Interestingly, like you, my buying experience with my Honda Dealer was horrific. It's a long, long story I haven't bothered to share in Prius Chat, but the buying experience was also full of a lot of mistakes and no apologies.

I hate dealing with dealerships, and I'm caught between whether I want a Prius C, or simply a Prius. I think I HAVE to sit in a Prius C and compare to regular Prius, and what I have now.

I'm a little afraid The Prius C won't appeal to me, because it looks and seems so much like The Honda Fit. When I make an automotive change...I kind of like a change...and The Prius C...looks like a Hybrid Toyota.."Fit".

I'm afraid if I bought the "C" I'd constantly be comparing the interior and room, and space, and everything outside of being a Hybrid- to my Honda Fit.

So after waiting for years? I might just end up with what I should of bought 2 years ago...

But I'll see. The Fit is nice, and I enjoy it..I don't feel I need to rush...even though I think gas prices are going to spike and then suddenly getting a Prius C...or a regular Prius could become much more difficult.

It's not that big a thing to me. I've always liked Honda's and Toyota's almost equally. But IMO Toyota's HSD is a better product than IMA. So if you are going Hybrid, I think Toyota is the choice to make.

If you want a fun to drive ICE? I'd go Honda...over Toyota.

 

We will be buying a liftback or a "C" for my wife to replace her Acura TSX. It is a great car with 140k no problems except we think it's not responsible to waste energy at the rate of 27 MPG. I have a 2000 Insight that averaged 68MPG since I bought it last March, that I will keep.
Just like "The Electric Me" we want to see and drive a "C" before deciding on which car to buy. We like the Liftback and ruled out the second gen. Insight and Civic Hybrids after looking at them.
The Insight turned us off with poor access through the rear door and very limited leg and head room for two adults.
The Civic we like but it is not very practical without a hatchback, not even able to throw the back seats down.

 

I currently own two Hondas (actually four if you count motorcycles as well), a CRV and an S2000. I've previously owned a couple Toyotas (first gen MR2 and an MR2 Spyder) and in general I feel that I like Honda products better overall. But I am considering a C. It would actually be a replacement for the S2000 (if you want to talk about a shocking hurdle ).


ron

 

I certainly would like a C and have been following info for a year. I thought that might happen soon, but life has turned out differently, so I'll be keeping my Civic until 2013. Overall, I just like Toyota's approach to hybrids better. I thought about trading in for a Civic hybrid, but I just couldn't feel good about its battery life and Honda's corporate attitude about problems. The Insight sure intrigues me (and you can get some for a song now!) but I'm going to be driving a lot in the city, so feel a Prius would be more appropriate.

 

I am a lifelong Honda buyer--my first car being the 600 Sedan of the 70s. I've bought two Honda motorcycles also. I have great respect for both Toyota and Honda but Honda seems to be suffering from old-company disease. Honda has clearly lost their edge in innovation and customer satisfaction; in both auto and cycle businesses.

Props to Toyota for the Prius C. I admire their HSD technology, but the Prius was always too big, heavy, and pricy for my needs. Toyota must have made the Prius C expressly for me. My only wish is that they had offered a PHEV model C with lithium-ion batteries. Even a 5-mile electric range would be extremely useful. I'm very interested in the FT-bh concept car they're introducing in Geneva next week. Maybe I should wait for that one...

 

Traded in my beloved CR-V Friday night on a 2012 Prius FOUR. Told a friend we "went over to the other side"

 

I've owned 3 Honda Accords, most recently an '08 Accord V6 before my '10 Prius IV, and 2 Acura's. All were excellent vehicles, except for the "08 that needed new rear brakes at 20K miles. Buying experience was very good in all but I'm the type that won't put up with crap from a dealer. If they won't treat me in a professional manner, I just say, "I'm done, thanks" and leave. Only had to do it once and it worked. I too was dissatisfied by Honda's lack of leadership in style, design, and features when it seems other auto makes are leap frogging them. Once I sat the backseat of the Insight, there was no way I could buy it. The HCH was too slow and mpg didn't seem high enough. The Prius was the one for me!

 

Between my wife and I, we have owned five Hondas since 1986. My current Honda is a 1998 Civic. I love it, and the highway mileage is fine (usually around 35-40), but my city mileage is 19-22. I have data on Fuelly.com from when I bought the car in 2001 until now. For about the past 5 or 6 years, I have been doing 95-99% city driving, very short distances (2.5 mile commute to work – all stop and go), and maybe 3-4K per year. The higher 40ish HWY numbers on most cars out there just don’t apply to my driving. I am looking to replace my car and I have focused mostly on the Insight, but I am not thrilled with what the MPGs will likely be given my driving habits. Consumer Reports has city mileage listed as 29 or 30. I know Fuelly has higher numbers for the Insight, but my Civic is listed on there as 30 average and I’m averaging 22, I’m guessing due to my city driving. Also, from what I read on an Insight forum, it sounds like the start/stop engineering can be frustrating in stop and go traffic. I had also considered a Fit, as this seems more in line with all the Civics I’ve owned and I like the price of the Fit, but the city MPG appears to be very close to what I’m getting now. I also really wanted a Fit hybrid and was very upset that we weren’t getting them in the US, but my guess is that with the same IMA as the Insight, the mileage would be similar and not up to what I wanted. My next thought was all electric given my very short commutes. LEAF and Fit EV are way too expensive for me (even after the federal rebate) and the Mitsu i just seems unsafe and toyish, and even that would likely be around 25K once I added a new line and charging station in my garage. Along comes the C. Wow, like another had commented, this car seems designed exactly for me. My next steps: 1) keep reading this forum like a maniac, 2) sit in a C and drive one, 3) evaluate Consumer Reports rating and city MPG rating (plus Fuelly numbers) and 4) wait for crash test results. I want all of this to happen NOW. Thank you all for this great forum. Sorry this is so long. I’ve been reading on here for many months without posting, so it’s all coming out now.

 

Traded in a cr-z for a prius four

 

I don't trust consumer reports mileage ratings after I saw their ratings of the Prius. 35 MPG in the city??? Really??? I can't fathom what they did except maybe drive with the accelerator floored and then stand on the brakes with both feet at every stop.

 

I have ALWAYS wanted a Honda (going on 25 years) and when the opportunity finally came, I STILL ended up buying a Prius!

 

looks like a plug-in Prius, a leaf, or EV Mitsu makes sense. At that distance you cant even get to operating temperatures.
If you are healthy just walk or ride a bicycle.

 

I have a Toyota Yaris with over 203K on it and running great, and at 192K bought a Honda Fit base (in Sep 2011 at 0.9%) as I found out they were not bringing over the Fit Hybrid, and I did not have any information on what Toyota was doing, but now that I saw the C at an auto Show, I am selling my Yaris to my 16 year old Neighbor Tuesday for $4500 and going to trade the Fit in with 3300 miles on it for a Prius C. Waiting for the dealership to call me.

 

PIP, LEAF, Mitsu i too expensive for me. Same reason I decided against the liftback. I'm really shooting for right around 20K. I do walk when the weather is decent, but biking is too hazardous on the route I would have to take.

CR has my 1998 Civic listed as 21 city and that's been true for me. Also, talked to a Prius owner who had driving habits like me and they were getting mid 30's. I know that's a sample size of one. Still, the C seems like my best option when I factor in the cost of the vehicle. Even in the mid 30's (and I'm hoping it would be mid 40's for the C), that's way better than the 21 I'm getting now.

 

One local dealer has a Prius C coming in this week. I hope to test drive it and take some pics! Although it's 18" shorter than the Prius Liftback and 15" shorter than an Insight, but might be a great size for my weekly commute!

 

Don't get me wrong, I love my Gen 1 Insight, but there's nothing exciting at all about new Hondas, hybrid or no. The past 10 years have been Honda's "lost decade." Don't even get me started on the accursed radio security code BS either.

 

I'm strongly considering a Prius C III as my next vehicle. I've owned many Hondas, the last two being a 2007 Fit and my current 2008 Element. I have a 70 mile round-trip commute to work each day so 24 MPG in the Element isn't cutting it.

I have two adopted greyhounds that I need to shuttle to the vet every now and then. They were able to ride together in the Fit (w/rear seats folded down) pretty comfortably. If I think I can squeeze both of them into the C, I'll be on board. Hopefully, the cargo room (w/rear seats down) will be close to that of the Fit.