2012 Toyota Prius c Review - The Affordable 60 MPG* Monster

why would he buy $14k Yaris, when he can get $3k beater? He will never recoup the cost of Yaris compared to $3k beater.

But what I was getting at is that $14k Yaris is stipped model, it is not same experience. Then everyone should get Versa at $10k, because you cant recoup $60k more you spend on Lexus LS.

 

thats cool .

As to the price, i think competition should be worried at those prices!

 

I think that violates the spirit of the example. There's no beater Prius c to compare with. The consideration of the Prius c implies consideration of a new car. If anything goes, the example commute is so short you could just buy a bike and save on gas too! I would probably do this if my commute were that short.

The intent was not that for the two vehicles to be comparable in features, but rather to find a reasonable concrete example for the conventional subcompact. I stuck with Toyota so that they would comparable/high reliability (which is important in a commuter). I chose the base for the Yaris, to give the most optimistic price since the intent was to save money.

I would argue the $10K Versa is more imaginary, b/c it starts at $11K ($10,990). But a $11K Versa would work as well. It would still be hard to recoup the $11K, much less the additional $8K.

 

Ah. Didn't understand, I agree with that sentiment. I said 21K, since with dealers around here you likely can't get out with tax and destination at less than that on a new prius c.

Seems more than real out the door here. Friend got out of a nissan dealership with a versa for less than $11K. She said the yaris were getting heavily discounted too. It may be regional. I expect that a low mileage 10 year old civic or fit will hold its value much better than a prius c, given the prius would have the potential battery liability over it. Y'all can let me know if the yaris holds its value too. Take a look for a 2002 civic with 50K miles versus a gen I Prius. Of course you won't find a prius with miles that low since no one bought them with tiny comutes.

 

15,000 miles per year is a lot of commuting, which was really my point. If we had one I think we'd put 15k on it, but that's by using it for some of our shared miles.

 

Great Review! I bought my C a week ago today. I still have not driven out my first tank of gas. It is a very fun car to drive, in a nerdy sort of way. I, too, think it will be an aftermarket / mod favorite. I already want to do some things to it. Wheels, handling mods, and tint are just a few ideas.

 

Well, it seems Danny got it right on the MPG front (see my sig).

 

I started out about a month ago looking for a PriusC but they're flying off the shelves so fast here that a)I was having a hard time finding one in a color other than the hideous Habanero and b)the dealers weren't taking anything less than MSRP (in some cases they were marking up). As a result, I wound up getting a regular Prius (pkg. 2, in the gorgeous Sea Glass Pearl) for the same price as a pkg 3 Prius C would have cost me (23k before t/l). While I would have preferred the compactness and nimbleness of the C, I figured at some point I could use the extra space (came in handy when buying a new propane grill). My girlfriend was a little more patient than I was and found a blue C a couple of weeks later, although she paid full sticker.

One point about the article, it has alloy wheels starting as part of the pkg 4. My girlfriend's pkg 3 has alloys.

 

me 2. I went to a Toyota dealer to check out an iQ but I ended up buying a PriusC.