Newbie - 1st post seeking thoughts

Hi All,

I've been spending quite a time on PC lately and reading many of the posts and reviews on Prius.

I currently drive a new gen Honda Civic (great car) and am averaging over 33 mpg. I spend much of time time in traffic going nowhere with some highway.

I have recently become very interested in the Prius. Where 60-70% of my driving for my business in city driving, I'd like to do better than my Civic gas mileage. Thus, I am debating between the Prius Four Touring and the Prime Advanced.

Some concerns/thoughts:

- I currently can expense gas usage for my business, so I may not be able to expense the cost of electricity for the Prime as I can gas for the PFT (Prius Four Touring);

- I enjoy the way my civic handles and am concerned lugging 275 extra pounds around on the Prime vs. the PFT will be felt and a detriment - I am sensitive to handling having had performance cars in the past;

- There are only 2 Primes within 60 miles of my home and I am in a very large metro area with 6-8 dealerships to choose from - this concerns me from a resale and service point that the Prime may be a fringe car;

- I use and like trunk space, and fear the smaller hatch area of the Prime may be an issue from time to time;

- But I still like the idea of partial EV of the prime;

- The new Honda Insight looks cool, but all my research shows (I am very OCD) that Toyota seems to be superior to Honda on hybrid tech.

- I'm really concerned the extra weight of the Prime with more narrow tires will be a turn off.

Has anyone else faced any of these concerns / thoughts while going through their decision making process? Any insight would be appreciate.

Thank you!

 

I agree it may not seem logical in my case to go with the Prime. I wondered if maybe I wasn't considering all the facts correctly.

I like the looks of the Prime better, and sometimes there are days with the 25 mile range of the EV will be enough. I also like the idea of an EV without range anxiety. And being a Gen X'er, and remembering how bad the American cars were while growing up that I owned, I will never, ever, ever own American again.

But not being able to expense electricity as I do gas is a negative, and knowing I am in tune with how a car rides, I can't image not feeling the extra weight of the Prime batteries. I liken it to when I go to the nursery and put bags of soil/mulch in my trunk - I can definitely notice that extra weight.

The Civic is a fantastic car. I just go practically mad when sitting in traffic going no where or spending my life at red lights every 1000 yards thinking of how it is killing my gas mileage.

 

Yeah - Civic has the radar cruise though I never use it. I just don't trust the system.

I will need to test drive but nearest Prims is an hour away. I was really interested in what other people's thoughts and experiences are/have been.

I also will need to adjust to much slower acceleration as every once and a while I like to step on it getting onto the highway. But, I can get beyond that so long as the Prius can get out of it's own way.

I will say the LED headlights on the Civic are not the best as the reflectors have a lot of scattered light and are not as clearly defined as some others I have owned.

 

Yeah - Some people love it. I understand why it works for you in traffic.

My Civic has a brake hold feature. It's for people that are too lazy to use their foot on the brake pedal. I never could figure out that feature. I mean, you need to hit the gas to go, is hitting the brake to stop so difficult you need to use the brake hold function? LOL

 

WOW - THIS is the info I was hoping to find out! Can you please explain how it is a better handling car than the Prius 4?

I've called and visited all the dealers in my area and they want nothing to do with me when they find out I am interested in the Prime. I emailed corporate and they first said it's because the Prime is so popular no dealer can get it in stock. I reposed back and told them that is an outright lie that all the dealers in my area I spoke to told me point black they want nothing to do with the Prime. Then Toyota responded back again (same person) and then claimed dealers order based off what they are told to order.

Any info you can share with me comparing your 16 4 to the Prime would be very much appreciated. Do you notice the extra weigh out back?

 

Thank you! Did you ever feel the rear battery weight made the rear bounce or alter the balance of the car?

I do competitive shooting, so I often have the back filled with long guns and/or the gear for the range. I also am an instructor so I often have the boot filled with lots of gear for class. That is why I the boot space is necessary. The Civic trunk size can be a bit tight at times.

 

Hmmm...ok. Curiosity peaked.