Should I buy a Gen III or a Honda Fit?

The short, 3 mile trips will definitely affect your mpg in the Prius. I'd say a Prius Plug in would be ideal for you.

Get the Fit.



SCH-I535

 

The Fit based on mileage and pay-back time required for the cost difference in price to gas savings.

 

Get the fit!

 

Test drive a Fit to see if you like the ride more than the Prius. My experience was that the Prius is quieter and softer.

 

Recently sold our 2008 Fit Sport automatic which was very functional over 5 years and 40,000 miles. The 2011 is an improvement in every way. The seat configurations are amazing for cargo for such a small car. Good for up to 40 mpg highway if driven for that purpose, though expect to vary from EPA similar to any car. I think it is an interference engine still, so timing belt replacement is on the distant horizon, whereas Prius 2010 has a timing chain. In town you'll have tanks in the 20's mpg. On the road, low 30's to around 40 if you slow down, etc.

We've had our 2010 Prius III/NAV over 4 years with 62,625 miles, still original tires. Oil change interval at 10,000 miles. Other maintenance: changed the tranny fluid, changed the wiper inserts, engine air filter, and cabin air filter. Lifetime 51 mpg with many short trips, though our traffic is less than yours. Another very good cargo hauler, though more in line with its size. Probably out-hauls the Fit, but it would be close depending on shapes involved. There are no belts on the 2010+ Prius, so maintenance is lower than any other gas car. Capable of 75 mpg in town, and 60 mpg on the highway if gas gets really expensive.

In short, we loved the Fit when hauling people or stuff, and we love our Prius all the time, especially at the pump.

By the way, my wife drive's the Prius, my son drove the Fit, and my car is... wait for it... a 2000 Honda CR-V. Cannot seem to beat 25 mpg in it; less in the winter.

You cannot go wrong on your choice. Our next car move is to trade the Prius for a plug-in Prius, hopefully of the next generation.

You drive enough that the Prius is a good choice, but not so much that the fuel savings will pay back all the difference overnight.

 

Where's The Electric Me?

He came from a Honda Fit, so he'd be able to tell you about the pluses and minuses for each one.

SCH-I535

 

How do you compare the driving experiences between the Prius & the Fit? For us, the Prius is like an appliance. It gets the job done. It isn't the most comfortable or the quietest, but it works great if your focus is just getting from Point A to Point B. The Prius is by no means "a driver's car" where you enjoy your time behind the wheel. I don't know what the Fit is like in this respect, or your outgoing CRV, but I don't want you to end up hating the time spent behind the wheel in the Prius because the driving experience isn't what you anticipated.

We really like our Prius, because it serves its purpose well as an appliance mostly used by my wife for commuting and for occasional trips together. We use it more in the winter to protect and prolong the life of our Fusion Hybrid by keeping it indoors through the harshest part of winter as much as possible (the Prius is a lease so we aren't as concerned with doing everything we can to make it last 200,000 miles). We wouldn't like the Prius that much if it were our only car and the vehicle we were driving every day. Before the Fusion Hybrid & Prius, both my wife & I drove Saabs. The Fusion Hybrid is as comfortable & enjoyable to drive as the Saabs, maybe even more enjoyable to drive because of the modern technology. The Prius is not enjoyable to drive, but works great to get my wife from home to work and back at 40+ MPG in the winter and 50-ish in the summer.

In 3 mile trips you won't get the highest of gas mileage in the Prius because of how Toyota has programmed it to warm up the ICE with a rich fuel mixture at the beginning of each drive cycle. But, the Fit won't get the greatest of gas mileage either because all cars run rich at first while the catalytic converter warms up.

Between the Fit & the Prius, I would recommend that you consider the driving dynamics and feel and also how well each car has been taken care of. Ultimately, in your shoes, I'd probably pick between them based on the expert opinion of the mechanic hired to do an inspection before buying. I'd buy whichever one is in the best shape mechanically. You'd never make back the price difference in fuel savings in the Prius, so there would have to be some other compelling reason to buy it. Check out tire wear carefully. If the Fit is still on original tires then you'd probably need to spend $500+ on tires within a year of buying it. If the Prius has recently had new tires installed then you might be able to go 30-40k miles before needed new tires for it. What about brake pads/rotors on the Fit? If they haven't been done then that's another $500+ of maintenance. Prius brakes should easily last 150,000+ miles, especially if you brake smoothly.

The hybrid driving experience is definitely better than driving a conventional car. Below are some benefits of hybrids that I posted in a different thread.

I wish you the best with your decision.

 

One more thing, in some of the safety crash test done lately the fit scored the worth in his class.
I owned one and it was fun to drive but it has a noisy interior compares to the Prius, you could feel in the fit all the bumps in the road. The Prius is not that fun to drive but you feel a lot better than in the Fit.

That said, the Fit is a lot cheaper adding the monthly payment and gas than the Prius. If you paid both cars in cash, then the monthly payment in gas for the Fit will be higher.

 

if you are asking if the gen III is going to handle/drive better than the gen II, the answer is no. i don't think you'll be happy in a prius, it's all about the mpg's. i have no idea about the fit, all the best!

 

Having owned 2 Fits ( still have one in the family ) I would choose the Fit in the query by the OP.
There is no more versatile interior and the mileage is decent if you drive it for that purpose. Automatic is better than stick in my opinion. We have had both. The gen 3 Prius is bigger outside and a little more quiet on the road. Lower miles and cheaper cost make the Fit the smart choice in this instance.

 

I drive both a 2013 Honda Fit with manual transmission and a 2013 Prius liftback. My constant emotions are that I LOVE the Fit and like / respect the Prius. Most of my driving is in-town in the Fit and I am averaging 28-30 mpg on various tanks. I will see 33-35 mpg on the rare highway trips I take. The Fit is fun as hell to drive, responsive, and has amazing flexible cargo capacity not equaled by any other model, IMHO. The 117 hp engine accelerates just fine for merging, passing, etc. $7,000 cheaper than the Prius.

I bought the Fit after the Prius because the Liftback feels like I am driving a huge boat. (Not that I know what driving a boat feels like, so maybe that is a bad analogy.....) As others have said, the steering is numb but it is a quiet, comfortable ride on longer road trips. My SO can't tolerate the Fit for road trips; he finds the seats way too uncomfortable. The mileage on the Prius blows the Fit out of the water. It truly is a great car. I am in awe of the hybrid technology and love hearing the engine shut off at a stop. It makes driving an automatic transmission tolerable.

I feel for your dilemma. Look closely at how long you plan on keeping the car, budget, passenger vs cargo needs - all that good stuff. You will get a great car either way. My dilemma is the opposite - it makes no sense for me to have 2 cars, so I need to pick one to sell. If my SO was not a consideration, I would probably sell the Prius liftback and see what the 2015 Prius C will morph into.

Good luck!

 

2014 list of the cheapest cars to own | www.clarkhoward.com

Prius and Honda Fit over 5 years are cheapest cars to own @ 40 c

ents a mile...

 

got my 2010 prius with 32k on it for 14.7 =)

although, it didn't come with floor mats

 

Prius is so quiet and comfortable riding on long road trips?? As compared to what? A Fit I suppose, or other smaller, basic compact or subcompact cars.

I find Prius liftback tends to transmit road imperfections on all but the smoothest roads. No surprise as it only has a Torsion beam rear suspension and lacks the pitch and bounce compensation built into Prius v.

I'd think the 'real' midsize sedans which ALL have multi-link rear suspensions offer a more compliant ride.

Even a Honda Civic has a basic multi-link (4 wheel independent) rear suspension.

Prius is fairly quiet until you get it on rough(er) pavement.

 

Is the Fit auto or manual transmission?
I would take each for a test drive and see which one you like more. Neither is really better or worse than the other, they just do certain things, like fuel economy or handling, better than the other.

 

If you are tall, get the Prius. I am about 6'3" and I don't fit in the Fit. It's not that I couldn't drive it, it is just tight enough that I wouldn't want to spend much time in it.

 

On that note, I wouldn't buy a Fit either. See Honda Fit Owners | Page 2 | PriusChat.

If you want to see more evidence, be sure to look at the video at
News releases
and read the text there.

 

In 2009 we set out to replace our Accord with a hatchback. We started by thinking that a Fit was the best prospect but ended up getting a 2010 Prius despite a much higher price in Canada.

In addition to fuel efficiency, important factors in our decision at the time were:

• Safety: In 2009 in Canada, the Prius had VSC and the Fit did not. After looking into it I concluded that this ruled out the Fit even if the following factors had not
• Seat: The Prius seat may not be perfect but it seemed a big improvement over the Fit
• Leg Room: Much more leg room in the 2010 Prius
• Noise: The Prius was much quieter
• Long distance travel: Much better suited to long trips
• Rear seat passengers: The Prius provides far better comfort for rear seat passengers than the Fit
• Air Conditioning: The Prius has far better air conditioning
• Security: The Prius came with a good tonneau cover to hide whatever we left in the car. The Fit did not appear to have a decent way to handle this
• Reliability: I expected both to be good but the Prius to be better

Now, having owned the Prius for over 4 years, I would still value these reasons as highly. I also find that any time I drive a car without smart key, it really seems primitive so that would be another factor if I were looking now

 

Sure, the seat will invite the tall person right on in with its fairly generous adjustment range, but the steering wheel will leave you flat as it sure appears made for shorter folks. But, hey, if you're into stiff arming and reaching far for the wheel, you will dig the Prius. Be sure to check out the power lumbar adjust and enjoy how it juts into base of the spine for tall person, not lumbar area.

Ciao.