2nd thoughts about the Prius now...

If it is not in your budget, don't do it. To go into debt for it would defeat the purpose.

 

To tell you the truth, I do a lot of Highway driving, and certainly while I just clocked my first 1000 miles on the car this afternoon returning to work from a meeting.. I get Unbelievably great mileage on the highway, far better than those "Projections" as it were, and this is in the breaking in period.

I'm not dissing the HCH, but It's best effort system for offering fuel savings can hardly compare to the Prius in its highest running 80-90mpg running on the highway in winter.

I'm actually waiting to see those "City" miles beat out the Highway miles, because the highway is doing quite well I have to say.

(This is based on Chicago winters, Chicago/area flatlands with little elevation changes, and lots of crap traffic).

 

I think you should recalculate your numbers. If you shop carefully and get the Prius w/o the Nav system and say a moderate package of features you will probably spend in the neighborhood of 23-24k. There are some features like the truly keyless entry and driving system that is unavailable on the Civic. Plus the Prius is much bigger inside. The Prius rear seat fold giving you a much larger trunck area. Needless to say there are a whole bunch of features that make the Prius way cooler than the Civic.

 

See my post about the tax credit. In your case the Prius will get $1,050 more than the Honda Civic hybrid.

 

I'd suggest you test drive both. Remember that the HCH won't get the promised mileage either. If it's a 5-10 mpg difference it will eventually add up.

And I'll bet if you want a Pkg 1 for MSRP you can find one, no matter where you live.

Personally....I'm sold on the HSD system. I've never driven a smoother car. And I'll agree with the previous poster....I get much better than 50 mpg on the Hwy. But then I don't drive over 65 and drive 55 when I can.

 

I think Prius is worth consideration only if you are already in the market for a "new" car. If you compare a brand new Prius against a used VW Jetta, the used Jetta (or any other used car that cost less than 30K when new) is always going to come out looking better

So, I think that Prius vss a HCH is a fair comparison. A Prius vs existing VW is not.

When I did my calculations, HCH was turning out to be around 21000, a Prius (Package 1) was turning out to be around 22000. After I consider the extra 1000 on tax credit for a Prius and the extra Prius features, I like a Prius better.

Hope that helps.

 

When I bought my first Prius in '01, they sold for $19,995. There have been a handful of price increases starting in '02.

Are you looking for a pkg. 1? $21725 + $580 + $650 (pkg 1) + $185 (mats) =
$23141. Subtract the $3150 tax credit (assuming that's accurate and that you qualify) and you have $19991 (plus tax and license).

Are you sure about the HCH price, including the equipment you want on it? What is that price?

In my own search for a Prius last week, I found a few pkg #1s at MSRP in SoCal and OR.

 

i think i read somewhere that the 06 HCH hybrid was only ULEV

edit: never mind, it is AT-PZEV

 

The Prius will get better mileage than the HCH at any speed, simply because of the engine technology. Depending on how you drive and other conditions (temp, geography, etc) you may get 60 mpg or 40 mpg. But whatever you get, it'll be better than the HCH.

It might be 4 mpg better or 15 mpg better. It just depends.

Anyone who gives you a firmer answer is just guessing. Yes, my 4-15 range is utter guesswork.

One thing everyone will agree on, though, is that you get noticably better mileage at 60 mph than at 80. Slower is better if you care about fuel economy, and there's a whole forum full of examples.

Btw, regarding your original post about pricing...if you pay more than MSRP, it's because you didn't do your homework. It's pretty clear that anyone who's done shopping around has found a place within a reasonable drive to get a car without getting gouged. If you want a certain pkg and you want it soon, you might have to do some serious shopping or take a road trip, but it can be done. Don't pay more than MSRP.

 

The idea that the prius is not good on the highway is just myth. It will keep up with the HCH on any speed and gain/loose as much MPG as the HCH.

They are both great cars. Go for the one that you like in the end. You should be able to find the prius at MSRP but you will probably have to wait for delivery.

The prius stand out more and has the edge on technology. The honda is more of a stealth car (hard to see it's a hybrid) and (probably) drives slightly more like a normal car.

I wanted my Hybrid to stand out (this is a statement to my fellow americans) so the prius was the car for me. If you look at greenhybrid.com you'll see that gasmilage for both cars are comparable

 

Sorry about that, typo, that was meant to be 80-90MPH on the highway and still getting good mileage.
The car in cruise control averages in the 65-70MPG (so it claims) while driving 80-90 on the highway.

I'm still profiling the car though, so I'll have more accurate numbers eventually.

 

i've done 80-ish before for about 200 miles and i'd say i averaged about 45

 

While I congratulate anyone who gets that kind of mileage, I find it hard to understand. I live in OC, CA, get on the 5 fwy and do 75mph to work 20/25 miles away. Even with the pulse and glide (which I think of more like accelerate and then press the gas as little as possible to maintain speed ) I'm getting 41mpg after 3 tanks and just over 1000 miles. This, to me, is more realistic. I've found, by spending lots of time on PC and listening to other drivers, that most on here tend to drive more in the 55 mph area.

my .02$

 

Hi: 2Hybrids suggested that you not go into debt to get a Prius; great, if you can swing a car purchase out of your disposable income. I think most of us went into some sort of debt to get our cars, so my message is "don't go into a greater level of debt" simply to get a Prius if a HCH will do the trick.

I think when people make a new car choice, especially when it costs more, there is tendency to form pseudo-competitive "teams" (Honda Hybrids, Toyota Prii, Jetta TDI biodiesels, etc) and we discredit other teams in order to justify our own choice. No doubt, getting a new energy efficient car and/or investing in new fuel and energy technologies will cost a LOT of money regardless of which "team" you join.
There's room for all of us.

I think you should be applauded for your willingness to make the committment in buying a new-technology car whether it's a Honda or a Toyota or a diesel. Honda makes an excellent product and I seriously doubt you'd be unhappy driving one.

Don't feel you need to justify your choice to others on this chatline; at least not to me. We are all linking hands and minds here as we try to move the sluggish other 99% of Americans to make better energy choices and forego some of the wastefulness.

The really big crunch is yet to come when we all may have to stop driving.
Hugs,
Bob

 

Yes - what Bob said B)

if it means making sacrifices in other parts of your life,...you know. Sometimes different dealers can make different deals - shop around. Who knows what each would have to offer you on your trade in.

For me, when I traded the 2001 Insight, Honda offered me $2000 - Toyota offered $8,200. And, on top of that, Toyota was open to negotiations on the sticker price of the car I was interested in purchasing. Honda didn't want to negotiate, but instead, added $2000 on top of the sticker price.

My shopping was over at that point.

 

Go check out both cars. You may find some other reason (i.e. seat comfort, controls, interior space) that favor one car over the other. It's YOUR choice after all -- you have to live with the choice you make. Most of us have chosen the Prius so we are not unbiased, but the HCH is a fine car too.

 

Regarding fuel economy: IMO the HCH and Prius are equivalent on the highway, while the Prius has a 10 - 20% lead in city driving.