Prius c disappointments

What a modern subcompact is it? My friend has a 2014 Nissan Sentra, not sure it's subcompact or not, and he has no where near that mileage with his normal driving. Another friend with 2013 Cruze with 42 MPG rating is worse than Sentra.

 

Wow, it's too bad you're disappointed with the C.
I too have 2014 C2 model that I just bought new last weekend. And, I have to say that I'm pleasantly impressed with the car!
So, I've been commuting from Maryland to DC, 75 miles daily drives.

I've been averaging 55 MPG combined and have yet to fill up the first tank. I'm hoping I can exceed 450 miles or close to 500 to tank.
My driving style is moderate meaning I don't floor the gas pedal, mindful of not exceeding to the power bar and trying to exceed my MPG previous records!

As a reference, I used to own a 2010 Prius lift back (the regular Prius) and I could only average about 42 MPG trying. And, at times I felt the power lacking when climbing hills. But, with the C I really don't notice the lack of power. I guess I try to be mindful I bought a gas miser so I adapt my driving form... I suppose.

I appreciate C's front and side visibility with lowered front windows providing open feel.

BTW, this is my daily commuter and my former DD and now weekend warrior is 14 Evo X MR rally car.

Hope you find peace w/ your C!

 

I took out the 2 large headrests in the back seats, made a much easier car to see out, 99% of the time there is no one back there and can put them back in when needed. you have to "learn to drive a prius" for the best gas mileage

 

Dimitrij, me thinks you protest too much and are a little too fond of the opinions of so called car experts who are sometimes legends in their own minds. The C is a normal, somewhat small, and very efficient vehicle. The C serves as my only vehicle with the exception of my 3 wheeled sports car. I take it on long trips including two across the country. It is more than a niche vehicle for many who own them. It serves 99.9% of my needs from an automobile. When I have to haul something large I either borrow a friend's pickup or could rent a truck. Almost any car can be called a niche car, it really depends on your personal niche needs (bad English I know). For me the C's reliability and excellent mpg's is all the niche I need, plus my girlfriend thinks it's quite cute.

 

The "c" stands for city.
For the sort of miles you're piling up the standard hatch is the better car.

 

i agree with you, but don't really understand how you missed all this in the test drive. it's really quite obvious.

 

He is disappointed........with himself for buying the wrong car for his situation.

It happens fairly often for various reasons and some of them are not very objective.......like a couple of his.

There seems to be a gap between expectations and reality.

 

Honestly not to be rude, but why would you buy a prius C? I would much rather buy a 1 year old gen 3 for the same price. The worst thing to be about the C is small cargo space.

The regular prius is already small for city driving but it has an incredible amount of passenger and cargo room, oh and the ability to pass any hill or mountain at 100 mph to boot! From what I've seen the same if not better fuel economy, not to mention all the available features and good looks.

Again, sorry C owners! I know it's a great car for certain people but the lift back is even greater if you can afford it or buy used.

 

My three previous cars were a Scion Tc, gen II Prius hatchback, and a VW Golf. I like my Prius c just fine. Since I drive mostly in town, I DO get better mileage than with the gen II. It also behaves (handles) better on both the highway and in town than the gen II, while coming nowhere near the Tc or, especially, the Golf.

I bought it for gas mileage in town and, for the price, I can't think of anything that comes close. If OP had given any thought to what he wanted prior to purchase, he probably wouldn't have the mentioned complaints.

As to "normal" subcompacts that average 40-42 MPG,.... Go to fuelly.com and find them for me. You will find that the average Prius c returns pretty close to the EPA figure of 50.

 

Your complaints are the exact reasons I never considered a C over a regular Prius. Fuel economy would be worse with a C for my commute as I am 90% highway.

I never drove a C but I have driven a Gen 2 and I know the 99 hp engine is seriously lacking power. What instant torque? My Gen 3 PiP is hardly quick but it's a vast improvement over the Gen 2.

It's too late now but next time, you should do some more research. Despite agreeing with your complaints, I'm looking at a C for my next purchase as I won't have a long commute anymore and the purchase price is appealing enough to downgrade.

 

well I went from a prowler and a Miata to the prius, so to me the window is a landscape, I guess it's all in what you are used to before!

I also bought a prius v and kept it for only a few months, so get rid of your c.

 

The 40-45 mpg (advertised) regular ICE cars are a load of bs.

I know as I owned a couple of them back to back. Unless you live next the the freeway and solely commute freeway you will never ever see those 40+ mpg numbers…. Unlike a Prius where its hard to get less than 40-45 mpg no matter how or where you drive it!

Skyactive Mazda 3, Chevy Cruze Eco (with full CAI Intake) manual trans = high 20's maybe very low 30's mpg wise if your lucky with 50/50 type driving like most commuters do…

I also owned two Mazda speed 3's (turbo'd fairly high performance cars) that if driven like a civilized person would yield 20-28 (highway) mpg and tons more fun than the "Eco" cars.... lol


I just yesterday bought another Prius (my 3rd, 3rd gen Pri) This new one is for my wife and we opted for the last brand new leftover 2014 Prius v three in clear sky color. We had intention of looking at the only other leftover Prius at the dealership which was a tangerine c three and we did so but only momentarily…

The tangerine c was in the showroom and my wife walked up to it and her first statement before opening the car up was "there is no trunk", and she seriously thought the car had no trunk… Until I showed her. I could see how a c could work for a single person or a couple w/o kids or as a straight commuter car, but it would get very cramped as a family car very quick. No way would there be enough room in the hatch area for my daughters after school sports equipment and my wife's work and volunteer stuff, so the c was scratched off the list…

As a commuter or City car it is everything its cracked up to be and them some. nothing out there touches the MPG. A cadillac it is not, but then again it never was marketed as such..

 

agreed. not sure about the delay reason though. low gas prices are not helping, as well as a robust economy,(even though it's smoke and mirrors) where people feel free to drive $40,000. suv's no matter the mpg's.

 

I traded the v in

 

Am I reading right that you had a c, which you traded for a v, which you just traded in?

What did you buy this go around? Reasons pls if you don't mind sharing. Thx.

 

I had a v and traded it for a dodge caravan over 2 years ago because I found the seats too uncomfortable. the new c is my wife's daily driver and our weekend car so i'm not in it enough to suffer from the uncomfortableness although I haven't found it uncomfortable yet!

 

Oh ok. The caravans are wonderful family / trip vehicles. I rented one for a week and we were impressed. Mpg was not the greatest but it is what it is.

We just traded our rav for the v yesterday. No complaints yet. I also have a persona with the softex and have done a few couple hundred mile trips with no complaints in the comfort dept. My wife seems throughly impressed with it too.

Our main gripe with the rav besides the terrible mpg (we averaged 8-10 mpg under the combined rating in mixed driving and that's my wife driving conservatively) was how jerky it was taking off. Granted I do know of folks getting quite a bit better mpg than we were in the new style Rav's but those people were doing tons of highway.