Prius among compact cars flying off dealer lots

Looked last week at the Elantra with intent to seriously consider purchasing it. Instead went to the Sonata for a test drive because it was ultimately only $30/month more (lease) and yet much larger and more powerful. Elantra gets very good mileage, though. Current Elantra looks very nice and is quite a lot of car for the price, however.

 

Sorry copy cat brand car is not my cup of tea.

 

Yes interesting...I wonder if that will hold up as gas prices drift back down a little...
I never considered my Prius a compact car

 

What is a copy cat brand?

 

I drove the elantra at the gm main street in motion event this weekend.

handles very nicely!! Interior is weird though. Dashboard looks like melted cat vomit.

of all the little cars I tried, I liked the handling of the elantra the best and the ride of the cruze the best.

 

hyundai's styling is totally unique. It looks good (at least the exterior)

 

Yeah, it's really not. I know a lot of people think it is, probably because of its shape -- not realizing that it has a higher roof than "standard" cars. And also, of course, because they can't mentally separate high mpg from small size.

But it's all good, because I get to say "It's bigger on the inside." Combine that with the color, and I have a Tardis.

 

As I remember my 2006 was maybe an inch taller than my Intrigue measured from the ground.

I'm not sure what else is "flying off the lot". What other cars have a discount program price above MSRP?

 

The only vehicles I've ever owned are multiple Nissans, one Toyota, one Mazda. I'm sure I've mocked Hyundai severely in the past. However, if I had to buy a compact now it would be an Elantra, hands-down. It looks great, has very good standard options (e.g. blue tooth, steer wheel controls, usb), and is rated at 29/40, which is better than everything except the Cruze Eco Manual. Also, Consumer Reports rated the Elantra their very best small sedan. Even the Sonata--which I feel looks better than any of its competition--was rated a close fourth by CR (1st 2nd are altimas and 3rd accord).

Reliability I didn't realize that in the past several years it's actually very good on the elantra and sonata.

I did find the 198 HP Sonata very brisk in speed and felt nice behind the wheel. Even their 274 turbo motor gets over 30 mpg on the hwy.

Anyway, I ended up getting a V6 altima last week because the incentivized price was literally impossible to give up. I would have gotten another Prius but with the prices they are now I'd never be able to live with myself, so instead of gas I went for fun

 

Too bad you didn't get a NAH, since it's available in your state and Nissan usually puts huge incentives on them (from http://local.nissanusa.com/syracuse-area/altima-hybrid.html, I see a $4500 incentive right now). It's plenty quick enough and gets so much better combined mileage than a V6 Altima.

The big downside of the NAH is the HUGE loss of trunk volume.

 

CR gave the NAH only a 78/100, whereas the Altima V6 got a 93/100

CR complained about the NAH having an "abrupt transition between electric and gas modes"

 

Yeah yeah... I don't recall the reasons why they gave the NAH a lower score. As for the abrupt transitions, yes, it's true, at least on my mom's 07 NAH. It's not as refined as any of the Toyota/Lexus hybrids I've driven.

NAH did ok to well at Most fuel-efficient cars, Best & worst cars review, fuel-efficient vehicles and Consumer Reports - Fuel economy vs. performance.

 

I did look at one at Christmas but wasn't quite ready then. And on jan 1 I believe the $2500 tax credit disappeared. The mileage is better but I think the Altima and camry hybrids are disappointments, their highway mileage sucks badly (no better than a sonata--in fact, worse IIRC by a mpg or two). City is ok I guess. And yes the loss of trunk space is bordering on hilarious, you can barely fit a gallon of milk in one. Also no folding seats. After owning a Prius they'd just feel like such a compromise. But also there were no lease incentives on a hybrid that I was aware of. Even after all that I'm not sure why they don't sell better but I bet when people lift the trunk it turns a great many of them off. I'd be quite surprised really if you could fit two suitcases in one.



non-hybrid:


In any case in the end it would likely have cost a touch more but gotten better gas for a wash give or take a few bucks here or there.

 

. . . . and don't even get me started on how the Prius isn't a compact car anyway -


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