New here and I need help! :D

Prius sounds perfect for you then.

I do the same as you. I commute around 80-90miles a day 20% city and 80% highway. Weekends mostly in town.

1. I get average 50-55mpg per tank, check my fuelly. The ones below 50 were all highway and going 80-85mph
2. Can't get any lower on maintenance on a vehicle than a Prius. Oil changes 10,000miles/1 year. LLR tires run from $80-115 a piece depending on brand and preferences.
3. Prius is pretty safe, check the crash test ratings.
4. Eco Friendly, it is a hybrid
5. Uses 87 octane gas.
6. Prius

 

Sounds like you want everything... But they don't make cars that give you everything!

What are you willing to give up?
How are you going to find a car that meets most but not all of your needs?
Key to it all is: Do you really want to save money?

A three year-old car that's been taken care of doesn't appear much different than a brand new car. Main difference of course is that arranging financing for the buying of a three year old car is only 1/2 as bad of a debt hole as buying a new car.

And when it comes to gas mileage, cars capable of 50mpg don't get anywhere near that kind of mileage if the owner drives it like a race car or simply doesn't care about learning good gas mileage habits.

But if you're the kind of person who likes to think about saving money, who likes to think about improving your driving; if you're the kinda person that likes to understand/study how all your machines work so you can do preventative maintenance, use them sparingly, maximize their value, than you'll very much enjoy being a Prius owner. And if you're not like that a Prius may still work for you, you'll just have to expect less from it.

 

First, the Prius is not for everyone (no car is) so here are some reasons you may NOT be a Prius owner:

considering a Prius | PriusChat

I think you are good with everything in your list but item 2, Here are some unique Prius issues:

The 12 volt battery is an odd size and design, only two aftermarket batteries are common in the US that are safe to use.
Optima DS46B24R Optima battery direct fit replacement for Prius 2004 +
Toyota Prius Starting Battery - Exide Edge 51JIS Flat Plate AGM
In four or more years, you will pay more than average for a new 12 volt battery. Try to avoid every needing to jump your Prius, a lot of horror stories start "I was jumping my 12 volt battery, and..."

The brakes are complex, I would not have anyone but a Toyota dealer do any work that required bleeding the brakes. Thankfully, the brakes are used so rarely they usually rust before they wear out.

Those are the only two common items that are 'special' that may bite you, everything else is very rare, I think.

This chart by Bob Wilson shows steady state MPG, pick a speed and live with the MPG.

 

Actually the only thing that you listed that the Prius doesn't satisfy is the ungodly slow part.

Seriously, it's not that slow and no other car is going to fit the rest of your criteria better than the Prius Liftback. I came from the drag racing scene and 700+rwhp and they Prius is just fine with me.

 

Time for you to use the search function. LOL

 

If you apply your right foot, you won't.

I think the Prius Liftback package 1 has manual windows, it is typically for fleet sales. The Prius transmission defies easy description, the bigger motor is directly linked to the wheels, no transmission at all. The engine and smaller motor are under software control to appear to be a CVT to the driver, although there are no changes in gearing ever. (Reverse is just rotating the motors backward, Neutral is just not powering the motors at all, etc)
Prius I, and Other News | PriusChat

I feel certain you could spend that much if you choose to for the High Voltage battery. Or you can buy a used HV battery for $500 (more folks crash their Prius than ruin the HV battery) Remanufactured HV batteries are under $2000 installed. You do not list where in the universe you are, but the US warranty is 8 years/100,000 miles, while the CARB states are 10 years/150,000 miles. Some taxis have driven over 300,000 miles and not needed a new HV battery. (My personal guess is that time will have a greater influence than mileage) The Prius has only been for sale for 11 years so no where near one half of the 2001 HV batteries have died, we will have a much better answer in another ten years as to how long they last.

I am unaware of any car sold in the US without an electric starter, so they ALL have 12 volt batteries (In the 1950s, some had 6 volt batteries, I think you have to go back to the 1920s to get a car without a battery powered starter) If you clicked on the links I gave you, you would have seen $150 to $200 prices. There are cars with Hybrid stickers with a traditional starter, but they don't save much gas.
BAS Hybrid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Prius was introduced in the US in 2001 and has been through 3 generations, it is now called the Liftback as they have more models this year.

The Prius v is a larger station wagon version, if you need 3 car seats or a great deal of cargo, it is for you.
The Prius C is a smaller, more traditional 'city car'. Easy to park, tight turning radius, inexpensive.
The Prius PHV is a Liftback with a much larger HV Battery, so it can go 11 miles on Electricity, (and then over 400 miles on gas) you plug it in to recharge.

 

You may be interested in the Prius C, it is the most 'normal' but has lower EPA highway rating than the Liftback, so you may lose some MPG. If it was me, I would get at least package 2, but you sound like you want simple, so you may prefer package 1.

The Liftback is more aerodynamic, and has a longer wheelbase, so it does better on the highway and rides better, but is pricier.

 

If you want a hybrid with a manual transmission look for an early Honda Insight (maybe 2006 & prior). It's a compact & you can't beat it for fuel economy. Honda's battery packs wear faster so if you find a car with the original pack you may want to line up a source for a rebuilt pack.

In the Prius family the v is a bigger vehicle. It'll carry more stuff but won't produce the same fuel economy. The c is a smaller car so it'll hold less but be capable of better FE. The liftback is the "standard" & has been sold with electronic upgrades since Model Year 2010 (calendar 2009). The Plug-in is the liftback with a larger battery under the deck so you lose the spare tire & some storage but gain the ability to plug in & recharge the battery.

If the range works for you an EV is a possibility but don't expect to save much. Using the price of gasoline at my last fillup, my lifetime FE for the Prius, Tesla's numbers for charging, and my electric rate, their Model S would save me $1.50 per hundred miles. The Model S has a one year wait time but other manufacturers have their cars in inventory but they have shorter ranges.

The only other hybrid players are Honda (the Prius beats the current Insight in every category) and GM's Volt.

Fuel economy is going to depend on the climate, terrain, trip length, and driving ability. These factors affect every car but are more noticeable in a Prius.

 

No new car meets all your requirements. You'll have to set priorities on which is most important.

EPA rates the Prius at 48MPG highway and the Plug in prius, the closet to your constraints, is 49MPG highway. Of course you may be able to beat the EPA but you said you did not want to drive it slow which is how you beat the EPA.

The Insight-I would meet your requirements but they are only used (repair costs/reliability?) and its and 2-seaters, so small and light in a crash.

You defined some constraints that preclude the Volt and the upcoming C-MAX Energi.. (Volt MPG on the highway is 40 and it uses premium, C-MAX energy only gets 47 MPG), but I wonder if those maybe misguided "false constraints".

People often use MPG and fuel-type as stands in for cost.. If your goal is low cost per mile to drive, then your constraints may be off the mark. Your commute description is time, not miles, but it sound like about 10miles city, 40miles highway, 50miles each way and 100miles each day.

With that possible that your commute fuel (electricity +premium) (and probably have more fun) in a Volt. And if your could charge at work, its almost assuredly going to cost less. For R/T without charging it would be 20miles city and 80 city, so with EPA estimates it would be 35 EV miles (use them in the city) and so about 1.6gallons of premium, for an overall 61MPG. If you could charge at work it would be about .75 gallons and 133MPG overall.

If the price premium for premium is .25 per gallon, (say 3.75 vs 3.50) without charging at work that is $6.00 in gas and probably a $1.00 in electricity, so $7.00 overall.

If you can charge at a Volt at work (and say pay $2.00 to the office for the charge), it would be $2.8 for premimum gas, $1.00 to charge at home and 2.00 to charge at work for $5.8 in fuel costs.

The Prius@48 MPG on the highway would use 2.08 gallons, for 7.28 in fuel costs.

The Plug in Prius@49MPG would get 11EV miles and 49 MPG using 1.81 gallons for 55MPG overall for
6.36 in gas + $.33 in electricity for 6.68 in total fuel costs. The lowest cost option if you cannot charge at work.
If you can charge at work (say .66) it would be $5.57 for regular gas and .66 for a total of $6.23.


And come this fall the C-MAX energy may also be a viable choice.. 20 miles EV and 47 MPG (still not EPA numbers).
which would be 1.7gallos or $5.9 in costs and .6 in electricity, $6.5 in fuel costs. If you could cage the Energi at work it would be $4.46 in gas plus $1.2o in gas for $5.6 in fuel costs.

This is using EPA estimates, and your milage may/will very on all three vehichles. I get better than 35miles EV, this time of year I get 46-47 EV miles if I do my commute on the highway (higher if I take side roads).


Of course price is only one element, and this analysis shows that for a 100miles they are all pretty close, and the PHEVs do better if you can plug in at work. But YMMV so so you might want to drive all four to see what you really like to drive.

 

You need to calculate the monthly payment on the car. A $35,000 loan payment is going to be much higher than a $25,000 loan payment and after 50mpg the average annual fuel savings starts to diminish rapidly such that the difference between 50mpg and 100mpg for someone driving the national average is quite low. It would barely even cover one car payment.

 

Just as a add in V8 would be a hobby not transportation, an add in PHEV battery will make the car a hobby, much less a car you just get in and go.

Since (if we use Bob Wilson's graph as gospel) you will only get 53 MPG cruising at 70, you can't average 50 MPG on a route that is all freeway, since you have to accelerate up to 70 and that costs gas. I would seriously look at a Prius Liftback two. Best highway mileage of any Prius but the PHV. In your scenario you can only get 11 miles on electricity daily, so the PHV adds up front cost for minimal gain. The Prius C will get slightly less MPG on the highway but cost less. (no c owner has made us such a neat graph)

 

Sounds like a Prius is best your choice then. And yes ta PHEV kit would allow plug in and even if you just plug in at home it could improve your MPG. One of my friend put a PHEV kit in his 2006 prius and averaging about 67 MPG (before adding the kit he was averaging 45) on his mostly highway 80mil R/T commute to south denver. He has no problems keeping up with CO traffic at 75+ mph (though he does stay at/below the speed limit so is still relegated to the right late). He only plugs in at home. The 10KWh packs are tad pricey, but in Colorado the qualified for some decent tax credits. Another friend with a 2001 and a 4kWh pack loves his as well (and in CO that is really cheap to add).