My wife wants to buy a new Toyota Prius (the regular one, not the C, V, or what other alphabets). Just started doing a little research on them. She was ok with buying a certified pre-owned but comparing their prices to a brand new one, I think might as well go for new. These suckers seem to hold their value really well. So they come in 4 trims (II, III, IV, V). The MSRP price difference between II and III is $1500. For $1500 you get Navigation and Rear view camera. Is it worth it? Can these two items be installed as an aftermarket unit for cheaper along with a decent car audio. I am assuming the stock audio leaves much to be desired anyways. Any word from folks who have experience with the Prius?
Not a Prius comment, but I recently just got a car with Navigation for the first time. I was pretty excited about that feature, but find I almost never use it. It's really not that big of a deal now that everyone has a smart phone.
I NEVER use my navi, but once you have a rear view camera and get used to it you'll wonder how you ever parked your car or reversed without it. I had a rental a while back that didn't have it and I hated it. You can also pick up a portable navi for like $200 or just use your phone. My navigation is HUGE but I still use Google Maps on my phone.
My mom has a 2010 Prius. I've driven it more than a few times. It's a good car. The C and V look ugly to me, but I don't think people get a Prius for looks anyway. I'm not sure what model she has, but hers has navigation and a rear view camera. She uses the navigation often but complains about the expensive annual updates it needs. I don't think she ever gets the updates, so sometimes there are newer roads or recently altered roads that throw off her navigation. Personally, I prefer my phone. I don't think the rear view camera is a big help either. It's neat, and better to have one than not to (why not?), but I've never used it as a substitute for looking back. My favorite feature is the solar panels that run air through the car when it's turned off so that it's never hot when you get in the car after it's been parked outside for a long time.
No. When going over the possibility of driving a Prius, the air circulation is the ONLY thing appealing to me about it.
Thats a nice feature if you live in a place like Houston. We live in Boston so its not much of a use to us.
I was talking more so about unique features of the Prius. Don't get me wrong, that's awesome fuel economy, but the Prius isn't the only hybrid that can do that now. Both the Ford Fusion and Hyundai Sonata hybrids get similar mileage and are much more aesthetically appealing to me than the Prius.
Yup, I'm a big fan of the new Fusions. The new grill, the interior and the gas mileage are all excellent. I'd choose either of those two over a Prius every day of the week.
The grill, styling, etc. isn't really on the top of the list for my wife and countless others like her. There is a reason why Prius is the best selling hybrid and obviously those are not it. Also, one thing does gets overlooked a bit when comparing cars and none of the reviews seem to mention it. Based on my research, although both the Ford Fusion and Hyundai Sonata Hybrid look and drive very good, their resale values do not come anywhere close what a Toyota Prius holds over the years. And lastly, selling anything Ford to my wife is going to be close to near impossible task given her two bad experiences with that company in the past.
Hyundai already got blasted for exaggerating the Sonata hybrid's mileage. They lowered it. Actually the government busted several of their models as having inflated mpg. I'm not sure about the Fusion, but Ford was forced to lower its claimed mileage on the C-Max after people complained they weren't getting the claimed mileage. The new Honda Accord Hybrid has a 50 mpg rating. We'll see if it holds true. I'm still not sure any of these hybrids have hit the point where the added cost of the price is overcome by the gas savings. I haven't done the math in a while, so who knows.
Provided the Prius's 48/52mpg claim holds true and based on the calculations I did taking these into account: 1) my wife's commute 2) the current gas prices in Boston 3) The discounts she is getting for a brand new 2013 Prius ($22k for Prius II and 23.5k for Prius 3). Sometimes these cars go over MSRP. 4) 0% financing for 60 months 5) how well the Prius holds its value she definitely comes out ahead if she gets the Prius II or Prius III model. I am not so sure about the IV or V models. More than likely, the gases prices are only going to increase in the future, which will make it even more worth while.
My wife had one a few years back. Bought it new, got rid of it a year later, she hated it, had numerous mechanical issues. I know several people trying to unload a Prius as well.
