Interested in upgrading my Prius. Thoughts?

welcome to priuschat! classic was a great ride, but other than a museum, you're missing out on some sweet hi tech, depending on your budget. 11? i see 11 in less than an hour around boston.

 

Don't forget we now have a $1500 MA rebate on the Plug_in Pip as well as $2500 Fed tax credit.

 

What type of driving do you do? if you do A LOT of highway driving, then i would stick with the classic. if you do a lot of city driving, then get the C. im happy with the C.

 

It really depends on what you need to do with a car, though this is honestly a question everyone looking to buy a car should ask themselves.

If you're just looking to drive to work and back, don't want to spend a ton of $$$, and have a city commute, the Prius c is an excellent choice for that, especially if you don't have access to a parking lot and have to parallel park. It struggles a little on the freeway though, and whines anytime you need to go uphill fast. Every pothole, bump, or crack you hit on the road will jostle you around a little due to its short wheelbase and mediocre suspension system, so keep this in mind if your city has a habit of not maintaining their roads regularly.

The Prius v is a good car if you haul a lot of stuff around regularly, or take a lot of family trips. It gets much less mpg than the other models however, so keep that in mind. That said, the mpg is probably still better than most other cars out there.

The Gen 3 liftback (aka the "original" prius) is also a nice choice if you want some hauling capabilities as well as being able to drive on the freeway without too much struggling. There's also a "plug-in" version, which lets you go approximately 11 miles or so on electric mode. Sure, it's not a lot compared to say, a Volt or a Leaf, but when in hybrid mode, it's a regular gen 3 liftback and you still get 50 mpg, compared to the volt's 37 mpg.

That said, if you don't absolutely need a new car right now, I'd wait until Toyota announces the Gen 4 prius, most likely in January at the Detroit auto show. Then you can snag the newest model when they become available, and get all the new toys and better mpg they'll have.

If you don't care for a gen 4, wait until the announcement anyway. Then dealerships will probably start discounting the gen 3 models shortly after the announcement, or within a few months, and you can probably get a really good deal on them.

 

There are two potential reasons to get a Prius hatchback instead of a C:

1. Limited cargo space in C.
2. Worse freeway mileage in the C (but, of course, better non-freeway mileage).

If you can live with #1 and you do more of your driving at 55 mph or less, then I heartily recommend getting the C.

To me, the C has plenty of power and is much quieter than my old Saturn. It handles 75 mph with no problem on the freeway even though its mileage will be "only" around 46-47 mpg at that speed. Around town, you have the potential for some amazing mileage in a C.

 

My c easily gets better than 50 mpg hwy every day during my commute (30 mi). One trip from DC to Jersey all hwy I got over 60mpg. This is cruising 65mph+.