Friday, January 14, 2011

To Prius or Not to Prius

I'm thinking of taking the big plunge.


For the first time in eight years, I'm contemplating buying a new-to-me car.


I want a small, four-door car with good gas mileage.  I'm willing to go electric.  Or partial.  Or whatever.

I'm going to trade in my current small, four-door car with good gas mileage, and I'm willing to pay cash.  (Frugal Professor is frugal.)


Suggestions?

9 comments:

Brigindo said...

We're loving our new-to-us Yaris

GMP said...

My hubby and I are Toyota diehards. Corolla has excellent gas mileage and will last forever with just routine maintenance.

Silver Fox said...

The Prius is fun to drive, you get to watch the battery charge on a screen.

chall said...

oh.. I know nothing about cars but my Nissan Sentra gives excellent milage. If I had the money though, I'd get hybrid and be good to the environment and mix my fuel up. (That said, where I live, not sure I could get the alternative for gas... backwaters and all?!)

Cath@VWXYNot? said...

Many of the taxi drivers in Vancouver are switching to the Prius. My husband's really interested in electric and hybrid cars, so he always talks to the drivers, and so far they've all absolutely raved about them. One guy last month said he thinks he should be on commission because he reckons he's sold at least ten by now!

Our current plan is to drive our existing car (a 2001 Nissan Maxima) until it falls apart, and then buy an electric car. Hubby loves Nissan, so probably the Leaf, or whatever they have once we're ready to switch. Of course we have the advantage that most of our electricity comes from hydroelectric sources, so the environmental trade-off is even better here than in most other places!

irongrrl said...

I love driving my Honda Fit, and I get 38 mpg with a commute that is somewhere between city and highway driving. I don't know much about the Prius, except that I hear that the gas mileage for hybrids in general is extremely sensitive to driving conditions and can vary a lot.

Doctor Pion said...

There are high mileage cars that are not hybrids. What the hybrid offers is better performance under short term acceleration than you can get with a small motor, but it does come at a price. You pay a lot for those batteries!

Actual mileage depends on the commute. You will do better than a conventional car in stop-and-go traffic, but it still won't look great. Hybrids excel if you are cruising at 45 mph through timed lights.

That said, a lightly used Used car that gets 30 mph or more (anything from a Mini to a Yaris) might be a good deal for you. It is hard to find a used Prius and I wouldn't buy one without the full warranty.

Comrade PhysioProf said...

Fucke all this treehugging gibberish. Get yourself a nice fucken SUV and run all those prius-driving douches off the fucken road and out of your fucken way! Life's too short to drive a fucken go-cart!

MuKa said...

If you haven't already, you should watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPor5b7JLLE