Choose 2012 Prius Five or 2012 Elantra Limited?

The sad thing is Toyota was going to make the faster steering ratio available for the lower trims (apparently via software programming) but they ditched this plan shortly after the SUA media frenzy, according to the Prius Team here.

 

Have you considered a Ford Fusion Hybrid? The first option package includes a moonroof, rear camera, 12 speaker Sony and a lot of other neat stuff.

 

i would get CT200h... still a lot better mpg than Elantra, but with Lexus interior and most important thing - Lexus seats or should I say armchairs.

in fact, thats probably what I AM getting

 

The car would be more expensive with "A la Carte Options". Imagine every car in the assenbly line is a different color, different trim levels with specific requested options by the buyer. It is easier, cheaper, less time-consuming to build 1000 silver Prius II, or III or IV or V at once.

 

Trim levels, colors and options are thoroughly mixed on an most automotive assembly lines now. Some assembly lines even assemble more than one model of car at the same time on the same line.

One of the reasons for options only being available in packages is that if a person wants widget A enough, they will pay a lot more than widget A costs to buy package X which contains widget A and a bunch of widgets they don't care about.

 

The FFH does not have a "trannie". It's a full series/parallel hybrid like the Prius with an eCVT. If you don't like the styling, that's another issue.

 

I don't know when it started, but the above has been going on for a long time.

When I visited a Mazda plant in Hiroshima in 2001, they were doing this. The 626, MPV and Eunos Roadster aka Miata here were all on the same line w/a mix of RHD and LHD drive models. I even posted about this at what factory/plant for right hand drive z350 - MY350Z.COM Forums (post #3). At the time, I thought it was because Mazda was a small company and didn't have the volumes to justify many separate lines.

I visited the (a?) Toyota plant in Tsutsumi in October 03 and also saw a mix (which surprised me, since Toyota is a MUCH larger automaker), which also included the 2nd gen Prius. I posted about it at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-main-forum/19058-where-prius-made-2.html#post234014. I believe the Toyota Avensis was also on the line, at the time in addition to the Lexus ES and Toyota Camry.

 

Back in the olden days when everything was done with paper and pen, typewriters and fixtures they used to have less flexibility, although they had more than someone not familiar with automotive mass production would expect. Now that everything is computer controlled with lots of robotics they have an amazing amount of flexibility on an automotive production line.

Even Ford Model T production lines ran many variations down the line at once.

 

I stand corrected and is great since I signed up to order the Prius PHV. I think Toyota will continue to package all Prii vehicles in Two, Three, Four and V, just like the current Prius or the v. Special Ordering usually means waiting, somewhere around 90 days can be difficult for some people.

 

Back to OP's question: we considered the new style Elantra as well and ended up buying a Prius Two. I thought handling was comparable, but the Elantra's interior seemed to be a cheap looking attempt at luxury. I seriously doubt the Elantra will achieve the 40+ mpg you've been told, based on reports from auto sites and fueleconomy.gov. The Prius is an amazing piece of tech, has greater utility due to hatchback form, and we plan to dress it up the model two level trim over time with Clazzio seat covers, wood interior trim and more. Also we drive about 10K a year, but about 70% of that city, so we calculated the purchase cost difference to even out over a five to six year period, depending on gas prices. We also purchased early this year before the run-up in Prius pricing.

However at 7K per year, as others have said, the operating cost differences are not great and you should buy the car you will most enjoy.

 

My neighbor has one of these Elantra limited, You can tell just like the PriusV it's just a little bit nicer. it's a dark met blue NICE! Never been in it! Just don't know how they stand up! Would like to see an OTD price on both,10k is a lot of $$$.
I wouldn't trade my PriusV for one But I could drive one of these, ya know what I mean!

 

I just ran across this thread and thought I would reply. I find myself in a similar boat to the OP as I've test driven most of the more economical vehicles that are currently available and have more or less narrowed it down to the 2012 Prius (only if it includes Entune) or the Elantra.

Unlike the OP, I am doing a high mileage commute of 15K-18K miles per year, since my wife will borrow the car on off days to commute and run errands it could easily hit 20K miles per year. By my math in commuter heavy driving the Prius gets about 50MPG and the Hyundai gets about 38MPG. So, at 20K miles per year the Prius will use about 400 gallons of gas compared to the Elantra using about 526 gallons. At $5 a gallon for gas (long term) it would work out to be a difference of about $600 per year. Of course a fully loaded elantra with all the bells and whistles is something like $24K. The fully loaded Prius is like $33K. I don't know what other maint costs are on the two cars, but the Hyundai has a better warranty and the timing chain on the car is supposed to last the life of the motor.

In test driving both I noticed that the Elantra had a MUCH nicer interior than the Prius and a slightly better ride, but I would sorely miss the utility of a hatchback.

Both my wife and I each have other vehicles (her an MDX, me an A4) so whatever we buy does not need to solve world hunger, it just needs to be a very economical but fun car with all of the tech toys. I will keep my A4 for driving Colorado roads when we have winter weather (I want to keep from putting the high miles on the A4 as the maint costs and premium fuel will kill me).

 

I will say that, as a big guy, I found the Elantra pretty tight whereas the Prius is quite roomy for me.

I drove the Elantra when I was shopping, I actually nearly bought the Sonata instead of the Prius but my wife lobbied hard for the Toyota and I'm glad she did as I am very happy with the car.