Hi all, I'm getting ready to buy my first Prius in the next couple weeks and need some advice. At first, I was just going to go with a Prius II and add the backup camera (the parking behind my apartment is ridiculous). However, I started looking at the plug in and now I think I'm leaning towards that instead -- I think I can almost come out at similar price including a factory rebate and the tax credits (fed and CA state = $4k). Does anyone have any advice one way or the other? If I can get the PIP within $1 or $2k of a II, should I do it? Or is it not worth it? I have a short 2 mile commute to work and I can charge at work for free. Most of my driving is short distances around Los Angeles, with a fair amount of places to charge around town (grocery store, etc.). Thanks for any input! I'm close to going for the plug in, but still wavering a bit.
"(the parking behind my apartment is ridiculous)" Does this mean you could not charge at home? You have to do the hard math on this one.
With such a short commute you'd never use gas. Staying inside your all-electric range is key. Nexus 7 ? 2
The Pip has one disadvantage in that it has no trunk. If you don't care then that's not a real disadvantage. It sounds like you could go months at a time without buying gas. If you want a strictly financial analysis figure that it will cost you about .15 cents to go ten miles on electric, assuming you pay .05 cents per kilowatt hour. You could convert that into miles per year and compare how much your miles per year would cost if you used gas instead. You could also ask yourself if you think it would just plain be fun to be able to drive around in a (short range) electric car. I'm liking it myself.
I put that poorly. It does have a trunk space. A little tiny trunk space. I had both levels of my hatchback trunk full of stuff, for the new pip I'm thinking I'll mount a box on the floor by the rear seats.
My Prius C has tiny trunk space, but I'd say the Plug-in has a huge amount of space in the back. I definitely don't think this to be a consideration against the Plug-in vs regular. I'd say absolutely get the Plug-in. With all the current incentives in California it's a no brainer (HOV Stickers, nav, entune, back-up camera, heated seats, remote AC, likely higher resale down the road, better wheels, ability to plug-in and get better mileage).
Ah, you have one of those little bob-tail rascals. I had the full size hatchback. I'm only counting the part below the floor as being a trunk. The part above the floor I consider cabin. You didn't have either of those parts, so to you it looks huge. If the OP leaves the back seats up and puts on the tonneau cover that would do for an adult sized trunk. I leave the seats down so I can see and put stuff in and out, so only the part below the floor works as a trunk for me. My sympathy is with you, but I needed something better than "I'd prefer" for the OP. I'd say you just provided it.
I have both actually a C and a Plug-in actually, although never owned just a regular Prius. Alright now I got you, I didn't realize you only consider the trunk to be the space under what I consider to be the trunk. I think it's a good idea to provide some pics for the OP and other people interested but who do not know what we're talking about. I think it's a good point to bring up since it might dissuade some people, but I still think as currently stands the Plug-in is a better buy in California than the lower trims of the liftback. Also worthy to note, I believe this discussion would be a different story without the HOV Stickers, $1500 California tax rebate, $2500 federal tax credit, discounted sticker prices, and the combination of the $2000 TFS rebate with 0% APR available. I believe this is the one for the regular liftback, and is decently spacious as you can see: http://prius3.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/2010-07-25_munich-toyota-prius-05.jpg And this is the one for the Plug-in, which as you can see is essentially large enough to put the charger and not too much else: http://asset0.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/07/10/_B4F6453_610x407.jpg
One thing to realize is that a regular Prius will likely not return the mileage on your 2 mile commute that you might be expecting. I'd guess mid 30's on average in good weather, which would tip the scales further towards the plug-in.
In CA get the PIP just for the HOV sticker. I just paid $36k Otd for a pearl white advanced. With CA rebates it drops it below $35k.
The PiP cargo space is just a little smaller than the Liftback. If you look at the specs (from memory so give me a break) it's like 21.0 ft3 vs. 21.5 ft3...basically I think you lose about half of the cubby space beneath the floor (and of course the spare tire bay). A whole nother issue is how the heck they come with 21-ft3, really more like 17-ft3, but that's EPA for you. But the difference (PiP vs. Liftback) is OK in the specs.
Cargo space PiP is almost equal to liftback...if you look at the specs only about 1/2-ft3 less. Of course, the spare tire bay also gone.
