"C" is out! Gen 3 is a maybe. v is crazy!

I believe an extra 4 miles per gallon is a big difference. Another 40 plus
miles per tank. Car manufactures go through extreme measures just
to gain a 1/2 mpg.

 

Which makes sense if you sell a million Prius, worrying about it for one Prius makes less sense.

If they need the room, no car sold in the US does has as high an MPG as the Prius v, if they do not need the room, Toyota makes a liftback version.

 

OP, fair reasoning. I would try to hold off car purchase to have a look at the Ford also if I was in your shoes. A couple of comments, fwiw:

1. The Ford is likely to sell at MSRP (or above if the dealers can get away with it) for a while after introduction. The 'V' has reached a sort of market equilibrium -- for now at least

2. Functional interior dimensions are very much influenced by design. When I went car shopping 6 months ago, a long and flat cargo space was a priority. I was amazed to find that the Prius 'V', the Prius, and the RX400h all had the same flat cargo length. The longer cars used the space for expansive rear seat leg room. So ask your doggie what really matters, and take along a tape measure. I'd go so far (and did!) as to fold the rear seats up and down and crawl into the spaces.

3. The Prius family has a well developed and volume market and network for repairs. It WILL make a difference to your TCO down the road.

Fruitful shopping

 

PM me, I have a bridge to sell you.

 

It's not that big of a difference once you are over the 40mpg mark. It really depends on the number of miles you drive each year.

Here is a list of comparable cars at a similar price point. Listed is EPA Combined mpg and cargo room with rear seats down/seats up. The difference is compared to the Prius v annual fuel cost.

12,000 miles/yr @ $3.60/ga
Prius v 42mpg (67.3cu.ft/34.3cu.ft.)=$1,028/yr
Jetta Sportwagon 34mpg (66.9cu.ft/32.8cu.ft) = $1,341 ($3.80/ga diesel)
Escape 27mpg (67.8cu.ft/34.3cu.ft) = $1,600
C-Max 47mpg (52.6cut.ft/24.5cu.ft.) = $919/yr
Prius Liftback 50mpg (39.6cu.ft./21.6cu.ft.) = $864/yr
Difference = +$313, +$572, -$109/yr, or -$164/yr

20,000 miles/yr @ $3.60/ga
Prius v 42mpg (67.3cu.ft/34.3cu.ft.)=$1,714/yr
Jetta Sportwagon 34mpg (66.9cu.ft/32.8cu.ft) = $2,235 ($3.80/ga diesel)
Escape 27mpg (67.8cu.ft/34.3cu.ft) = $2,666
C-Max 47mpg (52.6cut.ft/24.5cu.ft.) = $1531/yr
Prius Liftback 50mpg (39.6cu.ft./21.6cu.ft.) = $1440/yr
Difference = +$521, +$952, -$183/yr or -$274/yr

 

My hands hurt just to look at all that typing you did Justin.

4 mpg less (in 40 - 50 mpg vehicles) is about 10% more fuel costs.

 

You always make my math look silly.

 

Not silly, awed.

How do you have time to churn out posts like that and hypermile in the same day ?

 

I was already in numbers mode. I am doing a spreadsheet for a project that involves 10s of thousands of dollars worth of native plant seed. lol

 

SageBrush, as per your second comment, one thing I don't really like about the V is that the seats don't truly fold flat. There's a slight angle up when the back seats fold down, and there's the odd plastic backing that doesn't completely cover the whole back of the back seats. As somebody who really appreciates and uses true fold flat seats right now (in my 2009 Toyota Matrix), I find this design choice odd. Obviously, Toyota is capable of making true fold flat seats, but in the Prius line, they only really did it in the Liftback.

Frankly, what I've always said since owning a Matrix is that I wish Toyota would make a hybrid Matrix! It's a great car, and I love it, but my last tank of gas netted 23.7 mpg. I like the fact that the Matrix is not-too-big, not-too-small, with great headroom, adequate rear visibility, and a true fold-flat seats. When I put all that together, the C-Max is actually the closest in dimensions and style to the Matrix.

 

Que?

 

No worries, Steve. I'm not a Toyota fanboy. I just like to keep things honest. My boxer/lab mix is a lot smaller than your dog yet the C-Max looks like a killer deal even for Oliver.

 

As mpg's go up the differences are less. Looking at a Fuelly listing at 45mpg - if they had increased the mpg's by just 3mpg they would have saved $2 over 389 miles at $3.70 a gallon for the gas.

 

Here is the first substantive review of the C-Max I've seen:

2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid First Drive

One mystery revealed: why Ford never has a picture of the rear cargo area on their website.

 

Ford has put Michelin energy saver tyres on the hybrid. Anybody care to guess how much of the mpg delta from the Prius 'v' is due to OEM tyre outfitting ?

 

It's a tough call because the v uses a narrower tire than the C-Max's 225/50/17. It may be a wash due to the size differences but between the 17" equipped v and the C-Max we know the tires are sealing the deal.

 

You know, I pity the fool who decides to replace those ESAS tires with a standard non-LRR tire. Talk about an instant 6mpg decrease that will never get better. lol

 

That is exactly what went through my mind, that people used to 'performance' would find the OEM tyres wanting and then have quite the wake-up call when they saw their MPG plummet. FWIW though, the review linked above said the handling was crisp.

 

Yup. It would be harder to lift heavy objects up higher over that ledge. At least the seats really fold flat.