Prius Versus Camry Hybrid or Ford C-MAX?

Fuelly website has C-Max at 41 MPG median MPG.

 

Hi PapaJ, thanks for the info. I was not aware of the Fuelly data. I have nothing against Ford, the Fusion is a well recognized success. But I have read multiple reports of subpar mileage on sites that I thought were trustworthy, including the Autoblog story I linked above. Glad to hear you are getting good mileage!

 

Your wife's car is a 2012, hardly even used. I have a 2012 Prius with over 30K and I wouldn't consider it bullet proof until it has withstood the test of time. A couple of years does not necessarily mean that a company has come around and if they did improve, what did the other companies do in that period of time? Don't get a false sense of security!

I wish you luck with your car, but change in these type of things is usually evolutionary not revolutionary!!!

 

I took delivery of my new TCH yesterday and love it. I got 52MPG on a trip last night and 40MPG on a different trip today. Both trips were around 12 Miles each way but in different areas and different terrain.
So far I love the ride quality above all else, this is the main reason I traded my 2010 Prius in for the Camry.
regarding price, I was happy with my deal, paying about $2000 under sticker and 0% interest financing which was what made it all worth while.
And I got $10.25k for my 2010 Prius II with 92k miles on it so I was happy with the trade in value. (at 92k with nothing but tires and regular maintenance I think I can proclaim "Bulletproof" on the prius.)

**** EDIT****
One additional thing that I have noticed is that the TCH electric only stage seems to be a lot more powerful (more torque), I find myself driving unintentionally on electric-only quite frequently and for surprisingly large distances before the ICE kicks on. - This is all compared to the Prius which seemed to kick the ICE on at a much slower acceleration rate.

I have one large complaint and that is the lack of an easily viewable battery state of charge indicator. I have only been able to find this information on the display audio unit in the center console.
Adapting to Analogue gauges was also an odd feeling yesterday but on the second day I seem to have adjusted and the uncertainty-feeling has subsided.

 

Look at my Dad's gas mileage and it does not get in the 30's except for rare occasions. He has over 30,000 miles on it. His average is well over that and he doesn't piss off many drivers. His record is over 53 mpg. ptjones's profile | Fuelly

 

i think they are shooting for non hybrid drivers and keeping feedback to a minimum. i also wish the display were more priuslike, especially the hsi.

 

re: Camry one thing you can do is try the site CarMax.com where they have no-haggle pricing. In a couple of locations including Laurel MD they sell new Toyotas. So you can check out the cost of new Camry's to make sure you are getting a fair offer.

 

The C-max and Fusion are suffering from Ford's, within the rules, playing with numbers. They probably felt pressure from the newly released Camry hybrid's number, and wanted to blunt some of Toyota's sales and keep some customers on the Fence until their new hybrids came out.

Long term, they would have been better off with more realistic EPA ratings.

That said, Ford choose the worst time to release a hybrid, or any model with fuel efficiency as a major selling point. In the fall, where anybody that has tracked their fuel economy knows is when the numbers start dropping before hitting the bottom in the winter. It would take a year, and a summer, before we have a fair idea of what the cars will get in the real world, with typical drivers.

The higher power and heavier chassis don't help the mpg numbers in the hands of most drivers.

It is also a carrot to get buyers into the pricier XLE with its more informative display.

 

Looks like that number has dropped since you posted this...

 

I choose it this way
1- Prius
2- Camry
3-anything but a unproved Ford or GM Hybrid

 

i was not aware the xle had a more informative display. we drove both and didn't see any difference. what are the nuances? there is no hsi, it is very much like our gen I hycam. it doesn't even have automatic trip distance like the gen I.

 

My experience with the TCH begins and ends with a friend interested in one, and, having once owned a 2005 Prius, I went on the test drive with him. Sat in a turned off LE for a couple of minutes. I wasn't even aware there was some type of energy efficiency display in it. We drove a XLE, and I dug around a bit on the LCD display. There are energy monitor screens similar to what my Prius had. Unless I was simply wishing it were so.

The friend hasn't decided yet, so I might get another chance to explore the screen.

 

as far as I am aware, the LE and XLE both have the same 6 inch display audio unit that has some info screens. My complaint is that that info is not displayed on the regular dash and requires you to exit Navigation to view the energy display information. There is a 7" premium info display available for the XLE but I don't think that alters what is displayed on the regular drivers dash gauge.
- I have the XLE with 6" display audio/Entune/Navigation

 

I suspect he was quoting the tallest bar on the graph. Mileage has been increasing a percentage point every few days. I'm guessing it will peak at 41-42mpg overall once the warmer weather tanks get added in. Fuelly has non-hybrid European CMax's as well as diesels included in the avg.

I've owned all three vehicles in question but only had the 08 camry a couple of months due to a failing and very expensive brake system. Overall I like it alot except for the smallish trunk and limited pass through. 36mpg was the best I could get out of it but the new generation is much better. I rarely match EPA ratings.

The CMax being a hatchback has, of course, more utility. I get 38-52mpg in it (worse case-best case). In SEL trim, it has darn near luxury car features: 5 door keyless, auto-wipers, hands free lift gate, leather, etc. Car is nice, quiet, roomy, and comfortable. EPA classifies it as a large car.

 

You are correct on the display being in both now. The 2012 LE I sat in didn't have it. I've heard it did have a little display in front of the driver that gave some energy monitor function. Didn't get to see it though.

Leaving Nav was how it was back in the day. Ford's eco display are seperate and more customizable, and since it was on the previous gen Fusion hybrid. So no reason for Toyota to be caught off guard by the idea of a seperate display.

Scangauge can be your friend. The Ultraguage is cheaper and more stylish, but is made in China. The scangauge is assembled here, and they have great customer support. It might have a steeper learning curve, but is more flexible.
ScanGauge - Trip Computer + Digitial Gauges + ScanTools
Be careful about where you buy, there are Chinese knock offs of it. Usually they display slightly differentinfo, but they look alike.

 

dup.

 

you're correct, there are some similar displays to the gen II prius, but the gen III is much better.

 

Just hit the Apps button on the lower right hand side of the radio bezel when viewing the Energy screen to go right back to the nav screen. It remembers where you were. Hit the Apps button again to get into the other apps provided by Entune.

 

at least the 7" display has split screen so you can have both at the same time.