What about upkeep? Is the car cheap to own? Can most mechanics work on it without specialized knowledge? Are parts cheap like with most Toyotas? Do parts break often? Insurance costs?
The Prius is one of the cheapest vehicles to own in terms of maintenance costs. - Regular cars with automatic transmissions require a brake job every 20,000 miles or so. Prius on average will go past 100,000+ miles before needing a brake job, due to the use of electrical regenerative braking. - Regular cars with automatic transmissions usually require a transmission fluid change every 30,000 miles or so. Prius uses a simple planetary gearset as its transmission, with no gear-shifting wear-and-tear. Toyota recommends no Prius transmission fluid change for the life of the car, though here on Priuschat we recommend a drain-and-refill every 60,000 miles or so. Still cheaper than a normal car. - Regular cars have timing belts, alternators and starter motors that eventually wear out and require replacement. The Prius has none of those things. As far as normal maintenance goes, changing oil and filter on the Prius is done the same way as on normal cars. Engine air filter and cabin air filter you can do yourself without any tools. No specialized knowledge necessary for normal maintenance. Prius is mechanically SIMPLER than normal cars (see what I wrote above regarding the transmission and absence of a timing belt, alternator and starter). The complexity is in the control electronics. The mechanical simplicity means less potential failure points, so the Prius is just as, if not more mechanically reliable than normal cars. As far as insurance costs go, in my state (New York) hybrids don't cost more to insure than normal cars. Bottom line: Total cost of ownership for Prius is awesomely low.
No data yet on the C, but here's how the big Prius stacks up in 5 year TCO on consumer reports. Note that the Prius is an IV, and still does well against much smaller stripped vehicles. Based on that I'd think a C should kick butt in TCO. Honda Fit Base: $26,250 Toyota Corolla Base: $26,250 Smart ForTwo: $26,750 Scion xD base: $27,000 Toyota Yaris: $27,500 Mazda Versa Hatch: $28,000 Toyota Prius IV: $28,750 Mini Cooper Base: $28,750 Mazda 2: $29,000 Chevy Aveo: $29,500 VW Golf TDI: $29,750 Ford Fiesta: $29,750 Toyota Matrix Base: $30,000 Honda Civic LX: $30,000 VW Jetta TDI: $30,000 Fiat 500: $30,350 Mazda 3 sedan: $31,500 Hyundai Elantra: $31,750 Toyota Camry LE: $33,250 Kia Soul: $33,500 Hyundai Sonata: $33,750 Chevy Cruze LS: $33,750 Honda Accord LX: $33,750 Nissan Sentra SL: $34,250 Ford Fusion SE: $34,500 Ford Focus Hatch: $34,750 Chevy Malibu: $34,750 Nissan Altima S: $36,000 Chrysler 200: $42,500
TCO takes the following into consideration: Depreciation, Financing, Insurance, State Fees, Fuel, Maintenance and Repairs. If you skim through this blog you can see what things fail on Priuses and at what mileages: http://lusciousgarage.com/blog/cat/repair/
