Save for a prius??? Why bother with things like 'saving'.. just remortgage your house, sell a kidney, donate plasma, sell off you children... Do whatever it takes to get a Prius!!!
i didn't bother to read through this whole thread but i just had a 2005 corolla for about a week and a half and here are my thoughts. first of all, i don't know what engineer designed the visor but you can't pull that thing all the way down w/o it hitting your rearview mirror. that had to be a design flaw or just on my rental. but doing my usual routes, and i drive a lot, i got about 25mpg first tank, 30mpg second tank. my last prius tank before i took her in, i got 52mpg. believe me the difference between filling up at 250-300miles seems humoungous between filling up at 500miles per tank. i just about had it w/the corolla. glad to have my baby back.
Clearly the Prius has far more computers than the other vehicles mentioned, and thus much more cache. Though cachet would also make sense
Whoever compares the Prius to a Corolla has obviously never driven the two. The Prius is a much more refined, larger, and more comfortable car. Not to mention it doesn't have any of the "stigma" of being an economy type car because of its unique nature. Not as refined as a Camry, but its also not as boring to own as a Camry...
I just bought two "never owned a prius before" at the beginning of the year 06. I have not regretted it one bit, in fact, I am still thankful I could get them and found out about the prius... I didn't have a clue about prius's before Oct of 05. I have no reason to want to drive anything else unless I go 4 wheeling or carry trash or pull a boat.
Well, you have to calculate several factors: 1. The looks of the Prius vs. the Corolla, the Prius looks cooler (my opinion) and definitely has a lot more room inside than a Corolla. 2. Time savings, in So. Cal. we can take the Prius in the carpool lanes, at least until 2008, which will save me on average of about 50 hours in commute time per month. I do some consulting for computers, the rate I charge is $100 per hour in most cases, which is a reasonable price to charge for your off time from work in my opinion, so we are looking at a value of $5,000 in time per month. The Corolla at 41 MPG does not quaify for the carpool lane here, the care must be rated at a minimum of 45 MPG average between city and highway driving. 3. Gas savings. 4. Improving the air quality by driving a car that causes less polution (potential for savings is vast here for everyone). 5. Saving Gas, although not as much when compared to a 41 MPG vehicle. 6. The Prius is just a realyl cool car. So ultimately for me personally the desicion isn't hard, for others it may be something to look into.
Go with the used Prius and get th Extended Warranty (you can buy one as if it's a new car as long as it has less than 30,000 miles on it, otherwise you will have to buy one that is a little more expensive for a used car, but can still be done).
Not only does the Prius have great cache, it has excellent breaks too. Don't know about "cachet" - sounds pretty French to me.
We pd. $23,800 for our '06 Prius. The govt. will give us back $3,150 next year. It's a tax credit, not a deduction. I personally think Corollas are small and boring. So, my car will only have cost me $20,800 come this time next year. Besides, I think prius's are cool. I catch many people looking at it while I'm out and about.
With apologies for not having read all the way through this thread, I drove a Camry once (loaner) and thought that it was not nearly as nice a car to drive as the Prius. And if a Camry does not compare, a Corolla certainly will not. The Prius is much more car, and worth a lot more money in driving comfort and pleasure. HOWEVER, in my opinion, a person would be a fool to borrow money to buy any new car. You lose $$$ as soon as you drive it off the lot, and you pay big $$$ in interest payments, on top of the car price. If you need transportation, and you do not have mad money lying around to spend on luxuries like a nice car... that is, if you must borrow to buy a car, buy a good, late model used car. A Corolla or a Civic would be an excellent choice, 3 or 4 years old. Sure, it's not as nice as a Prius, but a new car (especially a Prius) is a luxury, and a wise person does not borrow to buy luxuries. The exception might be if you are a VERY high-mileage driver. Say you have a 200 mile per day r.t. commute, 5 days a week. But if you are going to spend that much time in the car you might want something even more comfortable, like a Lexus. Bottom line: if you can't pay cash, don't buy new. If you need cheap transportation, Corolla is a fine car. If you can afford a new car and you want quality and comfort, the Prius is worlds above a Corolla, and IMHO is better than a Camry.
I got the best of both, I bought a used Prius, there are a lot of them in So. Cal. available and no waiting lists!
Notice below is a comparison between Prius & Corolla CE, look for the / every thing to the right side of the / is the corolla info. I hope this sheds light into the conversation.. Pricing Prius /Corolla MSRP $21,725 /$14,905 Invoice $20,006/ $13,787 National True Market Value (TMV®) Price $24,121 /$14,375 Handling Prius/ Corolla Acceleration (0 - 60 mph) 10.37 secs./ Being Researched Braking Distance (60 - 0 mph) 131.65 ft./ Being Researched Turning Circle 34.1 ft. /36.1 ft. Hauling Prius/ Corolla Max. Cargo Capacity 16 cu. ft./ 14 cu. ft. Max. Towing Capacity Not Published 1500 lbs. EPA Mileage Estimates Prius/ Corolla City 60 mpg./ 30 mpg. Highway 51 mpg. /38 mpg. Range in Miles Prius/ Corolla City 714 mi./ 396 mi. Highway 607 mi./ 502 mi. Fuel Data Prius /Corolla Fuel Tank Capacity 11.9 gal./ 13.2 gal. Fuel Type regular unleaded Exterior Prius /Corolla Length 175 in. /178.3 in. Width 67.9 in. /66.9 in. Height 58.1 in. /58.5 in. Weight 2890 lbs. /2595 lbs. Wheel Base 106.3 in. /102.4 in. Ground Clearance 4.9 in. /5.7 in. Interior Prius /Corolla Front Headroom 39.1 in. /39.3 in. Rear Headroom 37.1 in. /37.1 in. Front Shoulder Room 55.3 in. /53.1 in. Rear Shoulder Room 53 in. /53.5 in. Front Hip Room 51 in. /51.9 in. Rear Hip Room 51.6 in. /46.2 in. Front Leg Room 41.9 in. /41.3 in. Rear Leg Room 38.6 in. /35.4 in. Maximum Luggage Capacity 16.1 cu.ft. /13.5 cu.ft. Maximum Seating 5 /5
The Corolla was the first car I considered getting (Prius second) when I walked into a Toyota dealership last year. As cool as it looked on the outside, I felt it was boring during the test drive. No feature stood out to me except the Corolla's wonderful gas mileage. The "wow" factor of the Prius' characteristics is what won me over. I was willing to pay 1 1/2 times as much for its style and the status symbol carried with it.
Think of the resale, gas milege, and "Green"factors. I plan to buy another Prius when I retire my 2003 Accord.
I have told the reasons why I purchased a Prius (long story) Lets just say in my mind the Prius rates right up there with the Jaguar, Cadillac, Land Rover, Hummer ect. ect. the other high end $$$$ vehicles. It really is a status symbol vehicle, It still is the rage with the hollywood actors.. It saves you money on fuel, helps the enviroment & even looks cool! I purchased mine for the savings in fuel which saved me money that I can now spend on other things :lol: I went to a golf country club and saw all the status type cars and yes there where 4 prius's parked among them lol.. I just wish they offered a prius with this body kit installed I think it would attract the younger crowd too. ( Prius X) [attachmentid=2627] [attachmentid=2628]
One thing to remember is that the Prius was designed not as a gas-saving vehicle, but as an environment saving vehicle. The #1 idea on the designers' minds was to design a car with as little emissions as possible. Understanding this philosophy is a good first step to understanding why there will never be a Diesel Prius or any Diesel hybrid from Toyota. When the American car companies start selling hybrids, it would not surprise me if they put out a Diesel hybrid to try to boost the MPG rating, but we won't be fooled by that, will we?
