Wife Woes. She thinks it's hideous.

Haha it's the Stage10 shifter Stage 10 announces development of LHD PRIUS Electronic Shift Switch | Stage 10 Productions Inc.
...a little pricey but worth the $$ imo. not touch screen, but buttons rather.

I haven't listed out my mods, just pics in my album. Check out this thread for true mods JDM / Japanese VIP Styling: My Prius III Build | PriusChat. Hawaiianbuilt ftw!

 

Look at the Ford Focus SE hatchback. 5 year cost of ownership after all of the Ford incentives is better than a Prius Three. 10 year is similar.

People will say that the Prius will have lower maintenance costs. Maybe. But you can get a nice Focus SE for low $20K and they'll do 34-38mpg highway. We chose the Prius over the Focus because in my case my wife felt more enamored with the Prius. I actually liked the Focus better because of the better road manners, quicker, much better stereo, and I also have access to Ford A-Plan pricing (so I'd be about 8% below invoice).......but, as someone else pointed out: Happy Wife = Happy Life.

So far so good as she absolutely loves the Prius. No regrets.

 

It might help if you show her a Persona Special Edition Prius. The black interior, black seats and special finish 17" wheels could help the situation.

Bit more expensive hybrid, but has she seen this commercial? Very similar drivetrain to Prius in a more sporty wrapper :

 

Get her a lolly pop and start licking

 

But, didn't he make it clear that their financials were a mess anyway? You can argue that point with someone that has a good grasp on their financials, but it is a little difficult when they don't. Believe me, no valet parker gives a crap about what car you drive. IF that is a factor in the decision, it may just motivate you to seek out the more affordable parking. Most hotels give you the option to self park. You can always ask to park in the employee lot if it is such a horrible experience to have someone drive a car they probably drive in real life.

 

He needs to get his financial house in order and not concern himself with shifter knobs

 

No offense but improving your credit should be your main priority. Buy what you can afford, be realistic and don't over extend yourself.

 

But the Focus is EPA rated at only 31 mpg combined vs. 50 mpg combined for the Prius and Prius c (Compare Side-by-Side).

In Consumer Reports, the '12 Focus sedan and hathback both have far worse than average reliability and both have much worse than average predicted reliability (62% below avg and 169% below avg, respectively).

A bunch of hits mentioning the Focus' reliability:
2013 American Top Picks: The best cars born in the USA
New Car Reliability | Best & Worst Reliability - Consumer Reports
The 10 least reliable cars

In contrast, the Prius and Prius c have much better than a average predicted reliability rating (67% and 92% better than avg, respectively). Every single year of Prius and Prius c I see w/reliability ratings is much better than average.

 

Bought my 08 Prius for $10.5k with 101k on the dial. 6 months later, sold the wife's 19mpg Ford Flex and bought the 2012 Prius. My wife is so pumped on the gas savings she offered to drive the 08 since she drives the kids a lot and it's going to get dirty. "Why ruin the leather in the new one?" Wow, I love her.

 

Gas is cheap. 328is are fairly reliable. Hybrids break as well, and when they do, it's much more expensive than a 328i. Divorces are expensive too.

Just forget the Prius and buy what the wife wants.


iPhone ?

 

Sorry I will have to respectively disagree on a few points. I purchased a new 2006 3 series from the dealer. The car had many issues. Just saying that new run flats it's $300 each, Prius tires cost about $60 each. Expect new brakes every 45,000 miles in city driving. Prius brakes can go over 100,000 miles. Bimmer brakes $300 a wheel, Prius brakes under a hundred. Bimmer tune up $1,200 Prius about $300.

It seems every time You go to the service guy you dropping another grand . The older the car the more you go. Oil leak top gasket was $600. New shifter knob several hundred.

The car just starts falling apart at 100,000 miles. Starts burning a quart of oil every 10,000 miles. Was burning oil from day 1. My plan was to hod onto the car for 15 years, made it to 7 and sold it. It did hold it's resale value well. The turbo models have issues. I did no have a turbo my co worker did. He also had electrical issues. Car would not start from time to time. New battery etc. Mechanic called t gremlins. He sold it.

Toyota is tops in reliability and cost of ownership. Bimmer is near the bottom per CR.

Look the biggest thing that can go wrong is the traction battery but Toyota as a decade long warranty and you can pick up a rebuilt for under 2 grand or a Salvage for $500. Master brake cylinder or transaxle can be up there also. Those are rare

 

I don't disagree that you can have lower reliability with a Ford Focus, but, for the price difference you could buy an extended warranty. From what I saw, most of the issues w/the Ford Focus have been rough shifting on the dual-clutch automatic that seems to be better on the 2013 I drove, and the MyFordTouch that is a pain in the butt.

That being said, here is why I said to at least give it a look. We ended up with the Prius because the wife just liked it better (visibility and cute shape....), but we were cross shopping the Focus Titanium hatchback and ran numbers. The SE which has standard equipment similar to the Prius Persona would be another $2K-$3K less.

• Focus Titanium: $25814, Toyota Prius Persona: $28520
• Ford Rebate: $2250 + $1500 dealer discount, Toyota Incentive: $1000 + $1500 dealer discount
• Purchase price: Ford $22,064. Toyota $26,020
• Tax and license (~10%): Ford $2206. Toyota $2602
• Total out door: Ford = $24,270, Toyota: $28,662.
• Ford Gas @ 14K miles/year @ $4.00/gallon and 31mpg - $1800, Prius @ 45mpg - $1250
  • Note: I used 45mpg instead of 50mpg for the Prius because my wife's commute is over a hill and so I guesstimated. In reality, she is getting 43-45mpg on her commute so not bad. The EPA highway on the Focus is 38mpg....but when I did an extended test drive I saw 34mpg....and so I estimated down for my wife's commute here.....
• Five (ten) year cost of car + fuel: Ford = $33270 ($42270), Toyota = $34,912 ($41,162)

Therefore, at the 5 year point you would be ahead with the Focus, and at the 10 year point you would be ahead with the Prius. But, if you got the Focus SE you would be ahead with the Focus at the 10 year point as well.

Yes, this does NOT take into account depreciation, reliability, etc..... I know this. But it is something to consider. That's all.

 

Problem is, if a car's unreliable (extended warranty or no), it means inconvenience due to visits to the shop and out of pocket costs once the warranty is over. Prius brakes last forever (100K+ miles on original brakes isn't unusual) and there are no drive belts.

Here are examples of 5 year TCO:
New 2013 Ford Focus SE 4Dr Hatchback Research - IntelliChoice.com
New 2013 Toyota Prius Two 4Dr Hatchback Research - IntelliChoice.com

What That Car Really Costs to Own | Cost of Vehicle Ownership - Consumer Reports puts the Focus under the highest cost column for small cars. They also say "The Toyota Prius is one of the least-expensive cars to own in our estimation, and most of its costs go into insurance, gas, and maintenance..." but don't list the value for the liftback, only the c and v wagon.

Intellichoice also gives the Prius 2013 Toyota Prius Two 4Dr Hatchback Best Overall Value of the Year Award - IntelliChoice.com whereas at Ford Focus | Research New Ford Focus 2013 & 2014 Models at IntelliChoice.com, I didn't see any award tabs for the '13 Focus hatchbacks I selected.

 

Look the bomb deal is the Honda Fit EV, lease $259 a month, zero down, lease covers liability insurance, maintenance included, and get this Unlimited Miles!!!!!
Must have good credit

2013 Honda Fit EV Overview - Official Site
Honda Cuts Lease Price on 2013 Honda Fit EV | Edmunds.com

 

Reliability is relative to both the type of vehicle and to the individual. For the performance that a 328i sports pkg would deliver, I think its reliability and operating costs are fairly reasonable.

Yes, tires are more expensive, but Prius tires are not $60, either. A quality LRR tire, such as the Energy Saver A/S, is about $115/ea. There are now runflat versions of the RE960 A/S available for the 328i, which should last longer than the original RE050As. Still, you are paying for more grip and better handling, which is always welcomed.

Brakes every 45k or so isn't that outrageous. I don't see the big deal. I get cars in from friends/family all the time that need brakes before 50k. Pads and rotors are genearlly $200/axle, and the BMW OE parts are not much more. While the Prius may be above-avg for brake life (though you still have to lube the slide pins and clean the pad contact points regularly if you don't want the pads to hang up), the 3-series is certainly not below-avg in this area.

Lastly, the non-turbo 3-series, from my experience, are relatively reliable cars. Sure, their suspensions do seem to wear out a bit sooner (control arm bushings and shocks) but they return a more enjoyable driving experience. The reliability does not seem to be exceptionally poor compared to the norm, so I don't think the OP should be too concerned about buying one to satisfy his wife. Consumer Reports actually has the 07/08 models as average for reliability, and the 09+ are above/avg.

PS - 1 qt every 10k seems perfectly reasonable. I'm at 64k on my 2011 right now, and at the 40k and 50k oil changes, I was 2/3 qt low at the time of each oil change. Perfectly normal.

 

I've owned 3 Ford's since 1995 with very good reliability. 1995 Mustang Cobra that I autocrossed 20+ times and tracked 3-4 times. Not a single problem over 92K miles of ownership, and the person I sold it to now has 152K and still no issues. 1998 Mustang Cobra that I also autocrossed and tracked 5-6 times had not a single problem over 70K miles of ownership. Our 2002 Explorer that I used for towing had 1 transmission replaced under warranty, but nothing else over its 130,000 miles of ownership. So, a total of 320,000 with only 1 issue isn't bad..... I do realize my 3 Ford's are a small sample size vs. your sources that average in many cars - but I was hardly easy on them.

My wife's prior Acura TL Type-S on the other hand lost a transmission at 76K miles, had a caliper and sway bar break(?!?), and had the whole EGR system clog up on us. Again, small sample size but.....

My point is that you can get lucky or unlucky with any brand of car. There are many threads here of people unhappy with issues on their Prius. But on the whole the Toyota will statistically be more reliable and one of the key reasons we went with the Prius over the Ford. But, if "jump-in" money is an issue, the Ford may be an easier step.

 

Whoever has the money gets to decide. Sounds like she needs a dose of reality.

 

Good afvice here.

SCH-I535 ? 2

 

My wife thinks the Prius is hideous as well. No way I'll ever convince her to buy one. Heck, I agree with her. Prius is quite ugly. My pragmatic side usually wins. She cares more about what others thinks. So what? My car my decision. Her car her decision.

Sounds like you guys are sharing. If that's the case, happy wife, happy life. Luxury cars are expensive but divorces are more so.

Think about it this way. Say you get the Prius. They are generally more reliable than Mercedes and BMWs. But there are the unlucky few where the battery craps out early or something else breaks. All it takes is one thing and YOU WILL NEVER hear the end of it. For the rest of your life she will point out that time you went against her wishes and bought an unreliable Prius and the transmission fell off.

And if you get the BMW, I'm pretty certain the passenger seatbelt chime will never shut off even if no one is there. The dealer won't be able to fix it so you'll just drive with the passenger belt buckled at all times. If you play your cards rights, she'll never give you grief on your car choice after this unreliable nightmare.