Hi there. I'm on the verge of buying my first Prius and could use some advice. I love the Gen 3 but find there's a really good deal on a cerified 2009, loaded (not sure of the package, but it has leather, nav & a remote start(!) 28,800 miles for around $18,900. That's about the value of my Subaru Forester so it would be a good trade. I love the base 2012 Prius IV, but that's a big jump in price from 0 to about $10K. What I'm wondering is this: is the new one worth the cash? I know that it's a personal decision, but I'd love to hear from others. I like the extra power/acceleration button on the 2012 because I have some tough merges. I have messy kids and the leather is easier to keep clean. Are there problems on owing a used 2009 that I should be aware of? Will I make the money of a 2012 back through longer life & better coverage? Also, how likely am I to get the dealer down from the MSRP on the new cars? What would you do? Thanks for any thoughts, Caseous
Definitely go 2012 at that price for the 2009. You get the latest iteration of a gen3 vs a gen2. $7000 difference in price would be worth it to me. I decided that for me, the price jump from the three to the four was too much to justify.
It all depends on your car buying habits, and which of the two cars that you want to marry yourself to. If you keep cars a long time, buy the new one. If you trade in every few years, trade for the Gen II and have no car payment or cash out of pocket. The Gen II is virtually guaranteed to give you years of trouble-free operation, whereas the long term reliability of the Gen III has not been established. The only significant issue is that its HID headlight bulbs are prone to failure. The failure mode and replacement options are among the most written about topics in the Gen II boards. That's it. Otherwise, the car will run for many years and hundreds of thousands of miles on fluid and filter changes. A 2009 Gen II is the most reliable hybrid on the road. 2012 Gen III cannot yet make that claim.
You may want to consider a 2012 Model Three or a lightly used 2010/2011. This would reduce the price gap and you'll still get into a GenIII. The driving modes such as power and Eco will not affect your ability to merge into swift moving traffic. Total power output is the same in all three modes. The only thing that changes is how much you have to press the gas pedal to achieve your desired acceleration rate.
F8L has some great words of wisdom there. Not sure how your Subaru Forester is equipped, but I know it is easy to get caught up in the available tech available for the GenIII Prius. I came away from a Baja and the only thing I would have wanted in my new Prius would have been the sunroof. But the extra $3000-4000 over the P2 over the P3 was not worth it for me IMO. I have an iPhone, so navigation is not an issue with MotionX GPS that I have used for awhile now. Would have loved a P2 with a sunroof of any sort, but all the other tech would have been wasted on me. Fun, but not worth paying for.... Since you mentioned kids, you might want to look at the Prius V for the added space. But in the end you need to look at how you buy cars as seilerts has said. My Baja was a 2003 with about 65k on it. I plan on keeping my P2 for just as long, but with maybe many more miles on it. If needed you could always upgrade or replace when needed the seat covers as with your kids....
The car in my avatar is my first Prius. Do yourself a huge favor, buy the '12 Four, you will never regret it. Mike iPhone
I'm leaning towards the '12 4, even though all the reasons stated to get the 2009 make sense...I like the way the 4 felt, acceleration-wise. I felt there was a perceptible difference but it probably wan't all that much. I'll post again when I finally decide. Thanks again - this is a great forum!
I love my 2012 Prius 4. When did the fuel bladder go away? Was that in 2010? If so, definitely get the 2012.
