2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid vs. 2012 Prius c

Don't know Fusion or C, but there's a large difference in comfort between Prius and Camry, especially for long trips. But you give up the utility of the flat loading floor and cargo area in the Prius. May as well add other cars to your list, e.g., hybrid Camry, Prius v, Lexus CT (small like C, but much nicer car starting around 30K).

 

Why would you want the c instead of a Liftback? Seems like a weird comparison. The GenIII with leather is a closer match to the Fusion and even then it falls short. The Fusion is a nice car.

The latest recall was not for the hybrid model. Only the 1.6L equipped car.

 

The C and the Fusion are not in the same class of vehicle. Apples to apples comparo would Camry Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid. Even though EPA ratings are different, real world averages are very close.

 

this is a very odd thread. no offense to the o.p., but i don't understand what they are trying to accomplish.

 

I understand. My point is that you are going from one extreme to another. I'd consider the Liftback model as an in-between option. You can get asset of leather seat covers for low cost to up the luxury feel so that you don't have to buy the model Four which will keep cost down closer to a c. With the rebates available on the PIP you could try and jump on a 2012.

 

First, I know we are on the C forum. Not trying to dis your cars. I'm just trying to pass along some information I've researched so far....

FWIW... I frequented the C-Max Forum Hybrid (Fuel Mileage - C-MAX Hybrid Owners, C-MAX Hybrid, C-MAX Hybrid Forum) for the last few weeks. Most of the C-Max drivers are getting 40 mpg or less. The general concensus if that most are disappointed with the mpg they are getting but that they love the power,confort,interior, and ride of the car. A few are ok with the tradeoff.

As long as you are not looking at the C-max for it's advertised MPG of 47,but rather as a 40 mpg car that's fun to drive, you will like it.

Also, as others have said, check out the regular Prius (Lift back). If your commute will be mostly on highways, the Lift back will likely deliver better mpg's overal. Look at Fuelly.com .

Here's a link to Motor Trend's "Head to Head" Prius V vs C-Max Hybrid.

 

We know those are the two cars you're looking at, given your explanation as to why. I guess most of us wouldn't do the same, except for maybe out of curiosity. But it's puzzling to think you've narrowed your choices down to those two cars. Why not compare the regular Fusion to the Toyota Yaris? You will certainly have greater difference in real world mpg. They are the same extremes but again an unlikely comparo. I agree with your husband advice on buyer remorse, especially if it's a dramatic change from what you're currently driving. F8L had a great suggestion to look at something in between for size, but as good or better in mpg's as the C.

 

okay, i think i understand. you want a smaller car and your husband wants you to have a larger car.

 

So, is Camry also too much like your father's oldsmobile? And is low end Lexus CT out of your price range?

 

Totally new to this site and the forum, but had to reply because I JUST went through this decision process and bought the Fusion.

I've had a 2007 Prius, which I then sold (moved to Brooklyn and didn't want a car there). Then I moved again and bought a used 2005 Prius, which I was still driving up until two weeks ago. My boyfriend couldn't drive the 2005 comfortably--he ended up driving with his legs bent uncomfortably and had back issues after as little as 30 minutes. With our commute that was a dealbreaker, so off we went car shopping.

We tried the new regular Prius and the C--oddly the C had more legroom for him as a driver--the seat goes back a little further or something. So we eliminated the new Prius (the same cramped driving issue for him). At the time I wasn't considering larger cars. I opened the trunk on the C and was totally heartbroken. I mean, I knew it would be small, but wow, it's tiny. We went home to reconsider.

He has the same issues with the Prius your husband does, I think. In his opinion the Prius styling is for hypocrites who want to advertise that they're tree-huggers while driving a gas vehicle. (His opinion, not mine. There were some animated discussions on early dates.) That said, he was willing to drive a new Prius (officially "my" car but the one we commute with 90% of the time) and learn to love it, and even urged me to at least test drive the C, but I just couldn't face dealing with a trunk that small. So we started looking at other cars.

At this point it came down to the 2013 Fusion Hybrid and the Prius V. I didn't want a Camry because my folks have a Camry hybrid that I drive often and I just hate driving it--it feels very boatlike compared to the Prius. The V was great--I really loved it--and it felt more like a smaller car. You might want to drive it if you don't want the Camry and are considering the C and the Fusion, because it doesn't feel that huge when you're driving it. I realize that's totally subjective, but it was just a lot easier for me to drive than the Camry. And my Prius brand loyalty was tough to shake--I've only owned Toyotas, and I loved my Prius.

But the Fusion was just SO nice. The boyfriend totally fell in love with the style. We got a lot of bells and whistles, including the auto-adjust for the two drivers (I'm REALLY short and he's REALLY tall, so that's useful), some of which weren't available in the Prius. I've found it easy to adjust to the size of the car--it is bigger than the V, and doesn't drive with the same "small car" feel, but it's not the adjustment I feared it would be and I don't feel like I'm driving a boat. It has a slightly unsexy sedan-like look to it to me, but the boyfriend and all his friends are absolutely in love with how it looks, and that's not as important to me. The comfort and functionality are insanely awesome. We have blind spot detection (helps reassure me as I drive the bigger car) and adaptive cruise control, voice navigation, etc.. A lot of that is just me being impressed by upgrading from a 2005 bare-bones car to a sexy new car, and a lot of it would be equally impressive in a new Prius, but still--it is very, very nice.

I am nervous about the fuel economy. We haven't filled the car up twice yet, so I haven't gotten my first MPG calculation for a full tank where all the miles were us driving. The Fusion's calculation has us at about 40-41 MPG since we filled up, which, as a former Prius owner, I find downright disappointing. I regularly got between 43 and 48 in the 2005 Prius. But I did have a mixed trip yesterday (city/highway) where I got 46.9 MPG according to the Fusion. I'm interested to see whether my own calculation agrees with the car's estimate.

I'm sorry this is so long, but I want to close with one final thought. The Fusion has TOTALLY converted my boyfriend to a hybrid driver. The hybrid coaching in the Fusion is much more aggressive than the coaching in the Prius was, and he has become obsessed with learning to take advantage of the hybrid engine. He loves the car, rather than grudgingly driving a hybrid. I'd love to take some credit for converting him to hybrid evangelism, but probably 90% of the credit belongs to the car.

 

wow, great story by a ford salesperson.

 

i buy the car i want and my wife buys the car she wants. i wish you all the best trying to convince each other to drive the car you want them to drive.

 

Fits2at, you avoided the regular Prius because your husband doesn't like the looks and the teasing he would get, but the shorter, smaller Prius C is okay? But enough about that... There are other alternative; given your driving needs, the C-Max or Prius V would seem to be a better fit for your needs.