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What car did you look at before you bought C?

Discussion in 'Prius c Main Forum' started by cyclopathic, Apr 9, 2015.

  1. cyclopathic

    cyclopathic Senior Member

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    Interesting to see which were your "alternates" and which cars did you look at before buying C?

    What was the reason you choose C?
     
  2. PLSPUSH

    PLSPUSH Active Member

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    Location:
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    mustang convertible
     
  3. citroenjohn

    citroenjohn Active Member

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    I considered a Volvo, the Yaris, and a VW Golf. I decided on Toyota due to favourable reliability I had experienced with a Toyota Echo. I rejected the marque I traded in, Audi, due to the fact that it was a piece of feces. I had decided on a Yaris, however, the dealer did not have one with manual transmission. The experienced sales person persuaded me to try a C. After two test drives I was convinced the C was the car for me. I liked the fact it was a Toyota, it got good MPG's, and was offered at a reasonable price. I liked the way it drove. I also read Consumers Reports reviews of the C. The fact that they panned the car also aided in my decision. Don't really like their negative reviews when they fully admit that a car is economical and reliable, I'm a contrarian. I have never regretted my decision to buy a C and will buy another assuming this car wears out.
     
    Brad K likes this.
  4. iBO

    iBO New Member

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    Location:
    Maryland
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    I almost leased 2015 Honda Fit LX...My wife and I really liked the new yellow Fit. But the dealership wouldn't bulge on down payment. In my opinion, paying down payment for leasing a car is like throwing money in the water. We thought about buying too, but their interest rate was high and we were too sour from the earlier leasing negotiation.

    I started looking at Nissan Versa Note but the car didn't impress me. It was far inferior to Honda Fit.

    We always knew about Prius, but never knew that there was an affordable Prius C. When my wife saw the Lime color and when they offered 0%, we knew we were gonna get it. It was just a matter of when. Negotiation went great, and we talked to three Toyota dealerships and went for the best door price.

    So glad we didn't get the Fit.
     
    Cld likes this.
  5. HeavyUser

    HeavyUser Junior Member

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    Vehicle:
    2014 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    I didn't consider any other vehicle, I did some research and bought what gave the best gas mileage for under 20k out the door.
     
    Brad K likes this.
  6. Nhan To

    Nhan To New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius c
    Model:
    One
    Nissan Sentra much cheaper than a C
     
  7. skayaks

    skayaks Active Member

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    Vehicle:
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    Long ago I made a spreadsheet to rank dozens of cars by adding weighted points for lots o' car details (cost, mpg, size, subjective reliability, etc). Changing the weighting factors alters the "Top 15".
    I update the sheet when we need a new car, and we wanted to have one car in our family with great MPG.
    When the C was introduced it jumped to number 1. Three test drives later (first hybrid for me) I bought a 2013 C Two and I love it.

    When shopping for the C I checked out the Liftback but it was larger than I needed, and I didn't care for the flying buttress console and split view out the rear window. PIP scored ahead of the Liftback with my mpg-heavy weighting but had the same drawbacks.
     
    Sean Solo likes this.
  8. I considered:

    Yaris
    Honda Fit
    Chevy Sonic
    Chevy Spark
    Chevy Volt
    Prius
    Prius Plug-in
     
  9. Sean Nelson

    Sean Nelson Active Member

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    Location:
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    2012 Prius c
    My aim is to get as good gas mileage as possible, partly to keep costs down but mostly to avoid spewing even more carbon and pollution into the atmosphere. What I'd really like to get is an electric car, since here in Vancouver BC almost all our electricity is hydro-generated and very, very green. But I have "range anxiety". Maybe when next year's 200-mile / 300km vehicles come out.

    In the meantime, what I was really interested in was a Chevy Volt, but due to (hopefully) temporary circumstances it won't fit in my garage, so the Prius C was next best thing. I'm pretty happy with it, but when I have room for a larger car I may look at trading up.

    I'd prefer having two cars - one fully electric and one hybrid or electric with a range extender for long trips. But silly insurance rules somehow think I'm twice as likely to have an accident if I own two vehicles and require that I pay for two full policies even though I can only drive one vehicle at a time.
     
    coyote303 likes this.
  10. Motov8r

    Motov8r Member

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    Scion FR-S but then saw that the mpg was a lot lower than I expected and went to the C.


    iPhone ?
     
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  11. Victor Wong

    Victor Wong New Member

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    Well I had 20K in the pocket...

    I was looking at all sorts of fast used sports cars including:
    WRX
    S2000
    Genesis Coupe
    Miata
    370z/350z
    FR-S

    I also thought about leasing a Fiat 300e for ~100 dollars a month, but I drive 60 miles a day minimum.

    So I ended up thinking... well 20K will get me much further in a Prius C than a fast used sports car... Also I would totally regret pumping every week with 25mpg car.
     
  12. iBO

    iBO New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius c
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    You would still be pumping every week, but pay half the amount ;) Prius C has a small fuel tank.
     
  13. cyclopathic

    cyclopathic Senior Member

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    I actually pump twice a week and with temperatures up it gets 450-500mi per tank
     
  14. rjdriver

    rjdriver Active Member

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    Jetta wagon TDI (ultimately rejected as too dull) and Golf TDI(didn't care for the steering wheel/seating position combination. Price of diesel also eventually persuaded me towards the C. Also considered the Mini Cooper until I heard about the horrible experiences with timing belts.
     
    #14 rjdriver, Apr 14, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2015
  15. james cook

    james cook Member

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    honda insight
     
  16. Victor Wong

    Victor Wong New Member

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    I would buy the Honda Insight if the AC wasn't powered by the engine. If the Insight goes into "EV" mode, the AC and fans would just stop.... Yeah I am saving gas in the summer, but I am being cooked alive as well. HAHA

    Also Insight was a few thousand cheaper than Prius C.
     
    #16 Victor Wong, Apr 14, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2015
  17. ewaboy

    ewaboy Active Member

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    Honda Insight - price was right but when I went to check one out I bumped my head getting in.:LOL: Something about the roof line was not right for me. Besides - the salesman seemed less than enthusiastic about selling me anything. Guess they thought I was just a tire kicker.

    We have a 2007 Fit and I would have bought a new Fit as it's a great car but the MPG is so-so. If they sold the hybrid Fit in the US - I would have bought one. Looks like Honda is still not going to bring in the hybrid Fit: 2015 Honda Fit Hybrid: Forbidden Fruit Drive Report

    Looked at the v and drove a hatchback - didn't like the HB and the v was nice but more than I wanted to spend.

    Bought the C and never looked back.:)
     
    #17 ewaboy, Apr 19, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 1, 2015
    ftl likes this.
  18. cyclopathic

    cyclopathic Senior Member

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    I drove hybrid Fit in 2012 in Japan. It felt surprisingly like a normal car, except the steering was on right, so I kept turning wipers on instead of directionals... MPG wasn't great going up Fuji-san, but it went up on the way down. Handling wasn't up to mountain driving but wasn't horrible either. Don't remember but I think it had more space in the trunk than C.

    I would consider one too if they sold it in US. BTW they sell wagon version of Fit (Shuttle) in Japan too. Very practical
     
  19. ewaboy

    ewaboy Active Member

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    Cyclopathic - thanks for the info.

    When we visited Tokyo in 2013 - I saw several hybrid vehicles by various manufacturers that are not sold here.

    The Jazz Shuttle (Fit) van/wagon would be great - especially in hybrid format:
    New Honda Shuttle (City/Jazz wagon) revealed in Japan
    Honda has improved their hybrid system but we can't get it here at all. Too bad.
     
  20. cyclopathic

    cyclopathic Senior Member

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    Most likely after fiasco with Insight 2.0 Honda decided to play safe and start with Accord. After all they sell x5 times more Accords than Fits. Plus it competes favorably against Camry. Fit would compete against hatchback and C, and given with what happened with Insight vs Gen3, and with Gen4 coming out they wanna avoid replay.

    It is possible the only way we will see Hybrid Fit, if it compete favorably against Gen4, either in price, MPG or both.
     
    ewaboy likes this.