2016 Prius vs. 2017 Elantra

I was watching a review of the 2017 Elantra that was just launched. (Launch party was yesterday). I knew that the compact cars were coming up in price. They're adding more features and giving buyers a wider price range to equip their compact cars the way they want. In addition, they're getting fairly big (Sit in the latest Corolla, Civic or Elantra. They're not the small cars that you think they are).

In Canada, most compact cars top out around $26,000. The Focus Titanium is $26,499 but the Elantra takes the crown at $28,790. (Side note, Hyundai's also pushing the boundaries in the compact SUV segment with the brand new Tucson cresting $40,000 before taxes. For those outside of Canada, taxes range from 5% to 15%. Delivery ranges from $1,400-$2,000).

The Elantra GL at $20,349 adds RCTA and BSM. (Of note, the Civic at $20k adds Honda Sensing which includes adaptive cruise and forward collision warning so it's a more complete package). The Elantra Limited jumps to $26,249 and the Elantra Ultimate which finally adds collision warning with pedestrian detection and autonomous braking.

The Prius in Canada starts at $25,995 and TSS-P and heated seats cost a mere $590 extra, totalling $26,585. It's actually cheaper than the Elantra. The Prius Technology ($28,730) is the equivalent to a Prius Three w/ TSS-P is on par with the Elantra. The Elantra has leather, dual-stage heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, hands-free smart trunk opener and power driver's seat with 2-position memory and auto-slide driver's seat entry/exit function.

The new Elantra does have a 2.0 litre Atkinson cycle engine which is why its power output is only 147hp and 131 lb-ft.

The Prius is definitely priced competitively and the Elantra is definitely a strong competitor to the Civic, Focus, 3 and Corolla now.

 

Wow. The Elantra is cheaper in Australia than it is here lol. The exchange rate is almost 1:1 today btwn AUD and CAD. The prices I quoted are MSRP (RRP) and exclude delivery, fees, levies and taxes.

Here, 3 years/60,000km is the standard for "bumper-to-bumper" warranty (That is, full coverage). Prestige brands (incl. smart and MINI) provide 4 years/80,000km. Hyundai and Mitsubishi have 5 years/100,000km full warranties (with Mitsubishi covering their powertrain up to 10 years or 160,000km for all except the Lancer Evo. It gets the standard 5 years/100,000 for powertrain and 3 years/60,000km bumper-to-bumper).