Trouble deciding prime or awd-e

If I were you I'd get the AWD-e. It wont get quite as good gas mileage, but the awd will be much better in the snow. If I lived in a snow region I'd buy a Subaru, so I'm a bit biased against snow!

 

welcome!
have you figured in the $4,500. federal tax credit, and any possible state?

that being said, i agree that the awd sounds like a good choice for a 200 mile r/t commute

 

Yeah, if your daily drive is this long, your plug is not going to matter much. But as @bisco pointed out, you do get max $4502 tax credit if you do have that much tax liability this year. The cargo space is the another factor, now PRIME comes with 5th seat. I live in New England with some awful snow, but have not felt need for AWD with my PRIME, though I have not driven Prius AWD-e yet.

 

also, with a commute like that, is a spare tire important to you?

 

Does awd-e come with spare? I thought it was booted in all awd-e trims because of the rear MG3 and inverter.

 

I would put my Prime with "real" dedicated snow tires up against a Prius AWD-E with its OE All Season tires ANY SNOW DAY OF THE WEEK.

Moral of this story: Buy a 2020 Prime & then spend ~$549 on a set of brand new snow tires mounted on any new/used wheels that work properly.



Rob43

 

do not know, that's why i mentioned it

 

One of my Subaru's had a turbo -- not a good idea...

 

Would you elaborate on this? Why is it bad to have turbo engine? I am out of the market for foreseeable future, but my daughter and her hubby is looking for a used Subaru SUV to replace their aging PRIUS (Gen2) and HCH.

 

I can only talk about the one Subaru I had with a turbo, so others may think differently, but it just wasn't as reliable as a normally aspirated subaru. Sure, it got a little better mileage and the slight turbo kick was almost fun, but at heart it's a 1.5L engine being pushed further than it was able to do reliably. The turbo went out twice, it ate the oil pump once, the timing belt broke once, ... It's really too bad, as it was a GL Wagon and *really* good to drive in snow! It even had air shocks so I could raise it up higher if the snow was deep.

 

I am confused, he lives in the US Virgin Islands and has a 200 mile round trip commute and worries about snow?

 

Thanks. I will let my daughter know what to look out for a used Subaru. They owned an old Forester before, so they may already know what I don't know about Subaru.

 

I had absolutely no trouble with my normal engine subaru's, my last one even saved me in a wreck that would probably have killed me in a lesser car. (not my fault, a power line guy after a hurricane fell asleep at the wheel of a montero.) And in fact I'm kind of sour on Toyota right now, so I might go back to Subaru's next car.

 

I was wondering if I'd have to be the one to ask that.

As for the AWD and the spare tire, there is no spare tire. So, if it was me, I'd get which ever one I could get the best deal on. The Prime won't be much of an advantage for fuel economy with a commute that long. I've lived in snowy areas and never needed 4wd. But I DID need it on the tropical island where we used to live. And I kept a tow strap with me to pull people out of the mud.

 

Hey, put snow tires on the AWD.