Used Prius vs small gas car (luxury car, vehicle, traction, hybrid)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
With a budget of under $10,000 would most of you recommend a used prius or other used small gas car like a honda fit/civic? Seems like a prius would be a no brainer if you knew the battery was still going to be good for a long time.
The Prius is a good car with low maintainence compared to other cars. The gas engine does not run as much because the electric motor which means increase engine life. The brakes lasts longer because of regenerative brakes reduce the friction on brake pads. And it's a good appliance car if you like quick starts and decent power and a pretty good trunk because it is technically a hatchback.
Civics are pretty good too, better driving dynamics than the Corolla or Prius. You can't really go wrong with either unless you like true 40-50mpg then you go Prius.
Personally I like simple & reliable. For me that has meant proven technologies- let other folks pay for the whiz-bang tech until it's fully developed and reliable.
So of the choices given, I would instinctively go for the Honda FIT or Civic.
That said, Yotas are great vehicles too. I'd be surprised if the Prius wasn't reliable (though I think of them as a rather silly 'statement' more than practical transportation). My biggest concern would be the battery of course.
If it's been recently replaced or if Prius batteries have been proven reliable for years past the age of whatever car you're looking at... then maybe. But I still have my doubts and would do some research. Hard for me to believe that a $10,000 Prius is going to be all that reliable. Whereas I'd have no doubts about a $10,000 Civic or the like.
Prius is pretty proven technology at this point, major reason I went with it over the Volt. Battery going is a possibility but it's not a total disaster and unlikely. New battery would run about $2,600 or so and it's a simple install (2 hours). I mean, it's just something else to go wrong, yes, but it's very rare. There's taxis running around with 300-600k miles on the original traction batteries.
Fit is a pretty good vehicle but it's hard to compare it with the Prius. It's more fun than it should be if you're just using it to jaunt around town but it gets really buzzy on the freeway and as much as the Prius is NOT a luxury car the Fit is even more not one. I looked at one when I bought the Mazda back when I was looking more for in-town runabout that would take the occasional longer trip. I liked the Fit around town well enough but a few minutes on the freeway was all I needed to know it wasn't the vehicle I wanted to be driving to LA or Seattle as I do occasionally. I'm very glad I did as my driving needs changed and I do a lot of 1-2 hour commutes to various job sites now. Prius is better for mindlessly eating freeway miles than the Mazda3 was. Mazda has done a lot refining the newer Mazda3s, but the first generation was a bit on the obnoxious side as far as road noise went, very minimal sound deadening. Eventually I just got to where I got tired of it and went with something quieter, and the Prius isn't a particularly quiet car. If you want something that's fun to drive though, skip the Prius. It's just not. Comfortable enough for my uses but I do wish it was a bit more fun.
I might look at the new Prius, Volt, possibly the revised TDI if that ever comes back to the States and isn't completely gimped by actually having to pass emissions. That or Tesla Model 3. Tough to give up the 50 mpg and 500 mile cruising range though, especially since most of my driving is just freeway, often in traffic.
I knew a guy that had a Toyota Tundra. Big guy that loved his big truck.
One day he showed up with a prius instead, and he couldn't stop raving about how cheap he got it (used), and how little he was paying in gas. It was funny to see a big construction worker talk up his used prius. But hey, if they're practical, they're practical. He still had his Tunra, just drove the prius when he didn't need to haul anything.
Even with gas being cheap, we all know good things don't last forever, I would consider a fuel sipper.
I bought a new Prius a year ago and have about 38K on in now. I told my wife the other day that I'm liking it more the longer I drive it. (I bought it for fuel economy after driving an F250 diesel for the previous 15 years and wasn't too happy with the small-car feel for awhile.) It's been totally trouble-free so far, as one should expect.
But I wonder what you'd get for $10K. I'd originally wanted to get a used Prius when I bought mine but found the used prices to be sky high. At that point, buying new with zero miles and lower interest rates just made better economic sense.
There was a research done on Prii used as taxi cabs. After 300 000 miles, there was only 10% drop in traction battery performance.
There are no Civics - outside of hybrids - that will match that mpg and reliability.
Prius is a no brainer.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
