New Prius for 9k miles a year driver?

get a hycam or hyfus. quality, comfort and style. my wife is getting 49 mpg's on the current tank. and the trunk lid goes all the way up.

 

Here's my take. You live in a warm-climate city, so you should get good mileage with the Prius. Make sure you consider the estimated mpg that matches your driving. Don't be fooled my high highway mpg for manual transmission when your driving is city with an automation. In the case of the Prius, Corolla and Camry, that means51/48, 25/35 and 30/42. If most of your driving is city, you'd be comparing the 51 to 30 and 25 where the spread is 20-25 mpg. That's a difference of 320-400 gallons of gas per year for a savings of $800-$1080 or so per year at current prices. Which model of each you'd buy and what you'd pay for them will determine the amount of time it will take to recoup the cost using fuel savings alone, but my guess is that the so-called "Prius premium" would eventually pay for itself.

I believe reliability and maintenance costs are similar, so that is probably not an issue. Where I think the Prius excels is in the hatchback design making loading/unloading easy and the amount of cargo space, if that is important. I happen to believe the Prius is more comfortable than the Corolla and as comfortable as the Camry, at least for me (I'm 6'1"). I feel it's marginally more comfortable than the Hyundai Sonata Blue my brother has and that's after driving and spending a lot of time in both. I happen to be one who likes the non-traditional interior design and don't have a problem with the plastics some complain about. Would it be nicer with softer materials? Maybe. Would it function any better? I doubt it. Does the steering wheel placement bother me? Not in the least, never noticed it was not absolutely straight. In fact, I did notice that in our Montana van, but it never bothered me there and I don't notice it in the Prius. In fact, after our recent 7,400 mile trip, I didn't suffer any of the discomfort I did with the van's steering wheel on our other trips.

Gas mileage aside, where I think the Prius excels is in the hatchback design that makes loading/unloading cargo easier and in the size of the cargo area with or without the seats down. Going on 68 with back problems, the hatchback is the main reason I settled on the Prius. I would have been perfectly happy with a Sonata, in spite of the lower mileage, but then I would have had to wrestle with the trunk and that was the deal breaker. I considered a Ford C-Max, but they fibbed on the mileage and it's not near what they initially claimed, so that was out. I even considered a Cadillac ATS, but couldn't fit in the back seat.

At any rate, I think the Prius would be a good purchase, but only you can decide. My suggestion is to spend a few dollars and rent a Prius from your local dealer. If they only rent the model Two or Three with standard cloth seats and limited adjustability, then test drive a model Four with the power adjustable Softex seats afterwards to experience the difference. I rented a model Three in 2010 for an 1,100 mile weekend and while it was okay, the model Four is much better in the seat department. Good luck with your decision.

 

I just bought a Prius and drive under 9K a year. Great car for my needs, and I'm saving money. The primary reason I bought it. So if I was spending $1000 a year BP (Before Prius), averaging 28 mpg, I'm now spending $500 a year averaging 56 mpg. I have $500 ($41.66 per month) extra in my pocket. No brainer for me.

 

If the new 2014 Prius depreciates $1500 a year while your old car depreciates only $800 and is less costly to insure and repair. That just wipes out your perceived savings from fuel.

 

OP has said this might be his last car, so it seems fair to conclude he is not on the 3-yr-merry-go-round.

 

Agreed there shouldn't be a financial factor when it comes to your last car. I would buy a Ferrari myself, can't take my money with me.

 

Regarding the comments of low MPG until the engine/etc warm up, they are no doubt true but I have been surprised by the relatively mild penalty in my Prius v(agon) and our Honda Fit. This past week I have been driving the Honda with a ScanGauge attached. Starting with ambient in the 60s F, the Fit engine has reached > 130F after 0.6 miles, > 155F after 1 mile, and my average MPG for a 4.8 mile return trip is in the mid 40s MPG. The same route in our Prius returns about 60 MPG. Now admittedly these numbers are somewhat best case driving technique, but it does highlight an advantage of low weight engines.

 

I didn't mean that he is close to dying, but that he keeps cars long term so that depreciation is not much of an issue.

 

Right on, and if we don't spend some of it someone else will do it after we are gone.

 

I can only speak for myself but here's my 2 cents. I am retired and I only drive about 8k miles a year. I bought my car new and have it for 5 1/2 years. I like it. It is economical and dependable. I like the hatchback utility. I can put my dogs back there or golf clubs or whatever. I like the smaller size because I can zip around and squeeze through places other cars can't fit. It is a good car for me but other people have different needs and desires. Every generation of the car is improved. I might be in the market for a new car when the fifth gen comes out. Or not. Check out different cars and decide what you like and what is best for you. Good luck.

 

Part of purchasing a car is about practicality, and part is about emotion. If you create a spreadsheet, you'll wind up with a cheap economy car.

The first answer to your question is that Corolla, Camry and Prius are all excellent choices. They are all incredibly reliable. My Prius has 50,000 miles and has needed zero repairs. Amazing! My Prius before that got to 40,000 and the only repair were gas struts that held the hatch up.

Camry, Prius and Corolla are very different in terms of size. The rear seat area of a Camry is substantially larger and more comfortable than Prius. But it's a larger car, and more difficult to parallel park, for example.

One thing I strongly urge is the backup camera, especially with Prius' poor rear visibility.

I personally enjoy my Prius. Mine is a Plug-in, so it is often completely silent. If you live where you can plug it in, and if your drives are short distance, you'll almost never go to a gas station. The Plug-ins occasionally go on sale which makes them cost about the same as an ordinary Prius.

The battery you're asking about is called the "Traction Battery." It isn't a battery, but actually dozens of batteries that all work together. If one or two individual batteries fail, the system keeps working flawlessly. As the pack degrades more significantly, mileage decreases. But if your traction battery completely fails, it must be replaced and that isn't cheap, around $3,500. But first check the warranty: In California and other CARB states, the warranty on the battery and other hybrid components is 10 years/160,000 miles.

Overall, Prius' hybrid technology is well-proved and extremely reliable. They use Prius in thousands of taxi cabs, which is about as tough a use as it gets. I encourage you to test drive one and see how you like it. You certainly won't make a mistake with one. They are very high-selling, dependable cars. And they're very easy to sell used, because used car buyers love the high mileage.

 

Just to add to what has already been said. The best place I have found to do basic comparisons is the Edmund’s website, just expand each category you want to study more.

Based on advertised EPA mileage numbers, compared to the Focus, there may not be any savings with Camry, modest savings with Corolla and the most savings with Prius. You will see people brag about the mileage they can get in their much larger cars, but in most cases, they are bragging about freeway mileage and that is simply not a good comparison unless that is the majority of your driving.

Each car has models with various levels of trim, so be sure to compare comparable models when looking at prices. A base Corolla might be the cheapest, but may not be the one you’d buy and various options might be standard on other cars.

The impact of interior measurements are subjective. For example, when it comes to the front, Camry has 0.2” more head room than Prius, 1.8” hip, 0.9” leg and 3.1” shoulder. In the rear, it’s 0.5” head, 3.1” hip, 2.9” leg and 3.5” shoulder. But none of those mean passengers are going to be bumping hips and shoulders. So while I agree the Camry is marginally more spacious, I submit most passengers won’t know the difference between the 3 cars while they might if you were comparing to something like a Dodge Caravan or Chevrolet Suburban. My take is the 3 cars are very comparable and actual experience would note much difference. The Camry is 14.5” longer and 200 lbs heavier though, effectively meaning you are always carrying a 200 lb passenger.

Anyway, I turned 67 in March, am 6’1” and weight in at 190. My wife is shorter, but about the same weight and we have no problems at all seating in the front or the rear. To be fair, we have no problems in my brother’s Hyundai Sonata Blue hybrid either. Besides the better mileage, the single biggest advantage in my mind for the Prius is the hatchback design. I came from a mini van and saw no difference in the ease of loading/unloading or capacity for the things we always take on our trips. We just completed a 7,400 mile trip with the same number of bags and other gear we always take. To be sure, there were some things we had to get used to, like the location of the cup holders, but the only difference that had any real impact at all was the great gas mileage and its $500+ savings. I considered a Camry, Sonata and Ford C-Max,I picked the Prius and do not regret the decision even though the others would have been cheaper in the short term. Even though I expect to be around to recoup the cost difference, I’m already considering trading up in 3 years or so for an newer Prius to get the latest technology.

One more thing I should mention is that the Prius has forced me to be a more economy-minded driver. It’s accelerator response is limited, so it automatically saves me gas by keeping me from making jackrabbit starts at traffic lights, etc. When we returned from our trip, I drove my Dakota truck after over 37 days of driving just the Prius and I immediately missed the slower acceleration as well as the regen braking. I couldn’t believe how quickly I took off at traffic lights and stop signs and how much more I had to use the brakes, it was that much of a difference. Since then I’ve gotten used to the truck again, but I was amazed just the same.

Good luck with your decision.

 

We were barely 9k miles per year when we bought, new, about 15000 kms per year. Our use has gone down, this year likely around 10000 km. Don't really care; the car is garage kept, carefully maintained, waxed twice a year. I expect we'll be holding on to it a good while longer, time will tell.

 

Prius offers unique combo of practical, roomy family friendly car and high MPG (and reliability).
We're looking at child car seats to fit 3 across in there for grandkids, and using Prius Chat you can do that and see how from other's experience. Sort of funny when you look at one on the road, looks small, but interior is huge...not sure how Toyota did it. Optical illusion?

At <10000 miles per year, you may get to a point where the extra cost of a hybrid does is not paid off by fuel savings. But since Toyota does not offer (yet) a non-hyrid Prius, you may still want one for the utter practicality of it.

Now for comfort, you might go with Camry Hybrid, or Avalon hybrid, or Ford Fusion hybrid or Accord hybrid. But none of these has this fine website...so you're sort of on your own in those cases.

 

I forgot to add that we bought the model Four partly for the heated power adjustable Softex seats. I rented a Prius in 2010 with standard cloth seats and to me, our seats make a world of difference. The standard seats were okay for the 1,100 we drove the rental over 3 days, but we both said we'd opt for upgraded seats if they were offered.

 

My situation is similar; I've been retired for a long while and I'm now 77. My wife and I have a 2003 CR-V and drove it less than 6500 mi/year over the last 2-1/2 years. But I did buy the Prius and I like it! Much of my driving is short hops in town, 3-10 mies. On most of those I'm getting around 40 mpg, some more some less. The CR-V gets around 17 mpg in town and 23 mpg on highway. So I enjoy the gas mileage and the rest of the car. I did get a level 4 to have the power driver's seat since I've had sciatica issues in the past in some cars.

Loving my Prius (and my wife prefers to drive the CR-V, OK with me!). And it's good to have a car I can count on being reliable over likely the rest of the time I'll be driving (my wife is 17 years younger, so she'll end up with it).

Phil

 

If you're willing to wait another year, Toyota is expected to announce the gen 4 Prius, probably in the Detroit Auto Show in January 2015. They may possibly show it off at the LA auto show next month too however, since the prius is the most popular vehicle in California, so it would be logical they may show it there too, and avoid having to compete for spotlight time with the gen 2 Chevy Volt.

This way, you can see for yourself if waiting for the gen 4 is worth the wait. If its stats don't impress you much, then you can probably get a good deal on the gen 3, especially if you can wait till August-September 2015, which is probably when Toyota will start giving huge incentives to move the gen 3 out of dealerships to make way for the gen 4. Assuming you don't already have enough cash saved up to purchase one outright, waiting a few months will let you save up a little money for a nice down payment too.

I have the trim five, the top of the line one, and the only thing I really don't like about it is the 17 inch wheels it comes standard with (the other trims have 15 inch, which is slightly better for mpg). Wasn't a deal-breaker though, and it's still better mpg than most other non-plug-in or electric cars.

Toyota has a good reputation for reliable, if somewhat "boring to drive" cars. But I'll take a "boring" car that doesn't break down often over one that spends a lot of time in the shop, and doesn't get nearly as good mileage either.

But if you must absolutely get a prius now, then the gen 3 is a good car. See if you can rent one, especially a trim four, and see how you like it compared to a lower end model that doesn't have the power seat adjustments and lumbar support.

 

My understanding is you can order them separately on the less expensive model Three, but chances are you won't find one in stock with them. If you don't want to pay the cost, then I really suggest to at least test drive one with standard seats. If you don't drive a lot or very far, the seat might not make much difference. We take several trips a year, so seat comfort was important to us and I wish we had a power passenger seat too.

FWIW, I also 2nd the notion of waiting to see what the Gen IV is going to offer. However, I've read that the new battery technology and it's better mpg performance is going to be an extra-cost option, so the standard model may not be much different than the 2014/2015. Also, new models generally mean even higher prices, but who knows what Toyota will do now that others are kind of catching up in the mpg department.