Was the Prius a step up or step down from your previous car?

For me, Step down from a 2011 Xterra, but only from HP and torque....

 

My 3 previous cars were all Mercedi.
All Diesels.
Lots of power and even more torque (and no smoke....no stone-age-Cummins)
Very comfortable but also costly because of the taxation here.
I payed $200 on road tax every month....and that's only for owning a (diesel) car.
Green cars like Prii don't have to pay road tax.
The Merc wasn't really thirsty, and maintenance costs were very low.

But the Prius is also fun to drive but in an other way.
I'm driving much more relaxed now.....I used to be one of those annoying tailgaters....

I don't know if, all together, it's a step up or down.
Prius is is quite comfortable (I have the full options) and cheap to drive......but the Merc felt solid and was way faster....

 

It was definitely a step up. I had a Honda Civic. I like the Prius a lot more obviously because of the better gas mileage, but I just find it more comfortable for traveling. Yes, the Prius does have a bit of a power deficiency, but having the improvement with gas mileage is a huge plus. I also think that in some ways, it forces you to become a better driver. Although I see plenty of Prius drivers who seem to think theirs is a sports car.

 

I came from a Civic Hybrid, too. It was the worst car we've ever had for traveling. DH would get out of the car at rest stops and literally hobble. We eventually bought pads for the front seats b/c they were so rock hard. I love the Prius and we're finding it really comfortable. The longer I've had it, the more I find that I like in it.

 

Coming from a 2008 FJ Cruiser, I voted neither. That said, several days into my first Prius experience (2013 Prius III), I'm somewhat surprised to find that I am leaning more and more to saying this is a step up.

Why? (Copying from my thread in the newbie section...)

Efficiency: the obvious gain is the MPGs... 15 vs 49, which is shaping up to be a $200 swing monthly.

Utility: certainly the FJ was rugged, robust and capable; but pragmatically, I rarely went offroad and only deal with snow, etc. three-to-four times per year. As a hauler, I didn't hesitate to put much of anything in the FJ - wet dogs, baseball equipment, bags of sand. But for the most part, our Sienna minivan can handle most of the hauling and things like baseball equipment still fit nicely in the trunk.

Technology: as a gadget freak, I am in heaven... basically transitioning from a very analog FJ to a very digital Prius.

I'll miss the cleanable interior, the power and agility, and the solidity of the FJ; but in all other areas, I am very pleased with my decision to move to the Prius.

 

End Of The Road

This poll started me thinking, seriously and over several months, about the Prius and its usefulness in our lives. And now, just about one year after buying it, my wife and I have decided to give it up and move on. Except for getting good mileage on long trips, the Prius just wasn't meeting our needs.

To make matters worse, the person to whom we'd sold our PT Cruiser wasn't making payments on it -- and those payments were supposed to go towards our Prius payment. Without them, we were losing money every month, no matter how much gas we didn't buy. (Hard lesson learned: it's far less frustrating to give money than to lend it, and it costs about the same.)

In June we reclaimed the Cruiser, repaired, detailed and fumigated it, and started using it again. My wife declared that we could keep either the PT or the Prius, but not both, and the decision was to be mine.

I tend to get emotional about my cars, so I waited awhile to let the thrill of "getting our PT back" wear off, before making a decision about which car to sell.

After a summer of riding in a comfortable, quiet car again, with the gauges directly in front of me where they belong, and enough cubbies to bring along more than a phone and a drink without reshuffling the contents of the interior and hanging my glasses on the gear selector, I was, to my surprise, still on the fence. I enjoy the car's gas mileage, and most of its bells and whistles (it's a Four). And the mid chassis brace I'd finally added (thanks, Rude person's!), took a lot of the misery out of venturing away from a straight line. And my wife loves the Prius, and I love her...

But we're finally able to do all the things that we hadn't been able to do in the Prius, again. We took our two dogs on outings. We took rescue dogs to their new homes. Yesterday we went for a bike ride, stuffed two bikes, my Trikke, and a month of recycling into the back of the PT (recycling center was near the trail we were going to ride), and it all just felt right. We've got our active lifestyle back again.

Even my wife agrees that the PT is the better vehicle for us right now.

So unless something very surprising happens in the next few days, the Prius and I have reached the end of our road together. I am sad about this; I wanted it to work. But I don't feel guilty that it didn't. The Prius just wasn't a good fit for our life.

I've learned a lot from everyone on this forum. Thanks to you all.

Rick M.

 

To compare a Prius with a gas car is like comparing a desktop computer with a laptop. The Prius serves a specific purpose so I don't expect it to have a nice ride like I get from a SUV. Life is about making choices and live with the choices you made. It isn't a step up or down, it's a step to a different direction.

 

I had a VW Jetta Diesel. This is by far a better car. More fun to drive, more gadgets and better gas mileage and NO trips to the shop for repairs!

Slider SL101 ? 2

 

one car household? curious in that a car is a car is a car and the PT is a HUGE drop in gas mileage but it does have its utilitarian skills. but saw too many trade them in (along with HHR's) because of that mileage.

cars are always a tough decision and despite our professed love of the vehicles we drive, for the huge majority of us (or at least the ones who dont own half a dozen vehicles) we drive the lesser of various compromises.

 

My previous car was a 2008 BMW 750i. Definitely a step up. No worries about which hugely expensive item will go next, no worries about $90 fill up at the gas station every week, I feel so much better in my new v. Peace of mind. Priceless.

 

why is it wrong to expect a good ride from any car in this price range?

 

I enjoy the ride, nice and smooth, no expectation to autocross, just nice and easy.....

 

Driving the Prius gives me a headache and backache. I use it mainly for work so it's tolerable since the drive is not that far away. I would not want to use it for long trips unless I knew ahead of time that the roads are perfectly smooth. In addition, it's fortunate that I don't live in a city where the roads could be full of bumps and pot holes.

 

^^^
FWIW, my Gen 2 Prius' ride is fine and comparable to that of econoboxes. It's not Lexus-like and was definitely a step down in ride from my former 02 Nissan Maxima. That said, I've driven my Prius to WA state (over 860 miles, one way and back). On the trip up, I did some sightseeing, so it was probably ~1000 miles of driving.

I've driven it to So Cal a few times (>350 miles, each way) and to Vegas at least once (~500 miles each way).

If you want a rough and bouncy ride, you should try my former 04 350Z.

 

I traded in a Lexus RX 300 for my first Prius. Yes, the Prius is a step up. No, I do not need a Lexus for its statement. I really like the styling of the Prius, the technology of the Prius, I find the Prius moderately comfortable, at least as good as the last many cars I have owned, and like the mileage. I have driven the Prius's from Washington State to North Carolina and return 6 times, including going to Nova Scotia and back across Canada twice. Yes, I like the Prius.

 

I have three dogs. I had a RAV4. After watching my wife get 50mpg and well over 400miles to a tank. I traded the RAV in for my Prius. Actually I didn't see that much difference in room. There is some, but nothing huge. The RAV got 23 mpg and was a rocket. It was a 6 cyl. 4WD limited, the Prius gets 49 mpg and although not a rocket certainly more than a addiquit pick up. 3 years of free service. It's just really hard for me to not love this little car of he future.

 

I had the 2007 750li as well, although I loved the ride, fit an finish I couldn't stand the $90 fill ups. I commute +300 miles twice per week (leave on Monday and come back on Thurs.) I was spending nearly $700 per month on gas alone. Although I miss the fit and finish, the quality of the BMW I don't miss the expensive oil changes, tires, maintenance and the like. I casted the vote of step down but only because car to car there isn't really a comparison. Yes, they are two completely different cars, but I have to say I love filling up the Prius or the lack there of. I do miss the BMW sometimes; I'll see a nice big luxury car or SUV and dream but I really enjoy the hybrid vehicle. I might look to a lexus 200 next time but who knows. Right now I'm enchanted thus far, I do like the C Max though for some reason they keep catching my eye...

 

We seriously considered a C-Max after driving, and loving, a rented 2013 Fusion Hybrid on a trip out west and getting 44mpg for the entire trip. What put us off of buying a new C-Max was the Ford MyTouch, which we'd have to have if the car was otherwise equipped the way we wanted it, and the additional debt we'd be taking on. When we could get most of the same comfort and more usefulness, without the unwanted technology, just by going back to our paid-for PT, dropping $30k on a new car just felt insane.

I should add that I prefer the car's user interface to be made up of physical knobs, buttons, and switches, and I don't want to talk to my car or have it talking to me. That's getting very hard to find these days. I find modern car UIs very distracting, and I've seen articles that point to people much smarter than me doing research that shows the same thing. Ford claims it will be putting physical knobs and buttons into future versions of MFT; I will wait and see.

That said, this is the second hybrid that didn't work out for us and cost us many thousands of dollars in the attempt. We're unlikely to try a third time. My wife finally rescinded the "must be a hybrid" rule in favor of "must meet our needs and get better gas mileage than most" and although I'm not looking at this point -- can't afford to -- the Mazda CX5 looks to be a strong contender in that area. I'm hoping they'll make the diesel available here.

To the person who asked, "one car household?", no, we each have our own paid-for "toy" car plus one car for the household. Neither toy car is leaving.

 

stepped down from a BMW 328xi to a Prius v. there were a number of negatives associated with the 328:

• high maintenance
• run-flat tires (harsh ride in our pot-hole riddled city)
• low clearance (winter might not be able to leave our street)
• expensive gas
• golf clubs in trunk a challenge
• dealership, with which I had dealt with for 20 years, became non-customer oriented

the Prius v solved all those problems, with the possible exception of the dealership which is still TBD but first impressions were not positive.

So why a step down? Winter is coming and no all-wheel drive. It gets cold so mileage will be seriously impacted. Once upon a time I had a Camry hybrid and winter was a big mileage hit so I'm expecting more of the same. My driveway is inclined and in winter AWD can be required. It's an open question how often the Prius v will be used but it will most definitely be less than the 328 in winter.

you'd think I was unhappy since I stepped down but I'm exactly the opposite. I find the Prius v fun to drive as I enjoy the challenge of minimizing fuel consumption, I am no longer inclined to humiliate those who have cars they think are hot but are not, I have to drive more cautiously given the lack of emergency power and this is really big, my golf clubs easily fit with lots of room to spare.

 

both for me but i voted step down.
Its a step up with MPG and factory installed features.
Its a step down from a F150 IMO.