Hi! I'm new to Prius chat forum. My name is Mikey the Mailman in northern California. I've never owned hybrid cars before but am considering one albeit harder to find with the price I like to pay. Right now I have aging 2000 Civic which gets me average 32 mpg according to my Fuelly.com page as well as my iPhone app called Fuel Log Evo. I've always driven gently in the last 5 or so years including vary of postal vehicles (since they get around 9 to 15 mpg from running engine all day and stopping for mailbox every 15 or so feet Yikes!) Anyway, I originally was looking for nice cars $15 to 18K such as Hyundai Accent, Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, Chevrolet Sonic, Kia Rio5, Nissan Versa and Mazda 2 with the final top 2 non-hybrid cars with Hyundai Accent and Honda Fit...BUT even if spending extra few thousand to get Prius c (either 1 or 2) which has been tugging me to lean at Prius! My mother got Prius 2 (or was that 3?) few months ago and she's been getting about 58mpg combined, yet she won't let me drive her "Baby" LOL! I know probably you're biased for us to get Prius but wanted you to be honest to get feedback on which cars I should get... 1) Will I be able to offset little higher monthly payment due to less gas cost? (If anyone knows what's break-even point?) 2) If Not, which cars should I get as stated above (non-hybrid) while getting high mpg? (I think Prius owners are laughing at this ) 3) If you wanted to know daily mileage, it's 48 miles round trip on mostly flat with the last few miles of 150 to 200 feet gain in elevation towards work). 4) Does Toyota accept no down payment loans? (I can pay for $2,000 in sales tax and DMV fees with my Visa since it has almost $-2,000 credit balance on it LOL) so that way I can manage nearly $360's per month out of 21,000 purchase price for trim 2 or $19,435 for trim 1. 5) LAST question: Since I owned a pick up truck in the last 12 years and within a last year a civic, both without cruise control. Is it better to own Prius 1 without CC? or is it better to get trim 2 with CC? Mucho thank you! Mikey
1) It will take you 2-3 years to offset the extra cost of the Prius vs. standard ice vehicle so if you plan on owning the car for longer than that then the Prius C is the right car for you. Now keep in mind that this is based on the 53mpg on the window sticker of the Prius C. As you can already tell, there are many people getting close to or even over 60MPG out of a Prius C which means you recover the difference in cost quicker. 2) See above 3) See Above 4) Yes Toyota accepts zero down loans if you qualify. This all depends on your own personal credit. 5) The importance of CC is entirely up to you. I personally use it daily but I can't say whether or not it would be of value to you or not.
Thank you, Grappas! My mom has Prius C (trim 2) and she said she gets average 58mpg (She's somewhat half way to lead foot on highway!). Does anyone know what Toyota use to check credit report? All 3 or specific company? and also anyone know what's the minimum score to qualify zero down loan and best rate? Thanks again! Mikey
What score is used depends on the bank that ends up buying the loan but as it stands right now there is no 0% financing on anything hybrid atm. If there was an offer of 0% you normally need 720+ to get it though that isn't always the case either because a lot of it depends on your gross income as well.
I don't like the sound of putting a down payment on a car from a credit card. That is just too much extra interest unless you are able to make large payments on the card and get it payed off very quickly. It is probably a better idea to save up the down payment then get the car. If you are into hypermiling then you may be better of with something like a Fiesta. The low initial cost coupled with good mpg (if you are careful) may make this a more economical choice. Depending on how well you drive and how many miles you drive each year the fuel savings may only be in the $500-$650 range (estimated 20k miles/yr and $3.80/ga and EPA ratings). If you do mostly city driving then the Prius looks better.
We were considering the "C" too but in the end we just opted for gen.III instead. The C is too noisy and cramped, especially if you have kids. Plus going home I have a 4-mile uphill climb everyday. Not an easy task for the 99-hp Prius C.
I agree with F8L - you do NOT want to put a down payment on your credit card. You pretty much don't want to put anything having to do with your car that's a major expense on a credit card. That indicates you should be assessing your personal finances on what you should really be buying, to my mind.
