What car did you look at before you bought C?

mustang convertible

 

I considered a Volvo, the Yaris, and a VW Golf. I decided on Toyota due to favourable reliability I had experienced with a Toyota Echo. I rejected the marque I traded in, Audi, due to the fact that it was a piece of feces. I had decided on a Yaris, however, the dealer did not have one with manual transmission. The experienced sales person persuaded me to try a C. After two test drives I was convinced the C was the car for me. I liked the fact it was a Toyota, it got good MPG's, and was offered at a reasonable price. I liked the way it drove. I also read Consumers Reports reviews of the C. The fact that they panned the car also aided in my decision. Don't really like their negative reviews when they fully admit that a car is economical and reliable, I'm a contrarian. I have never regretted my decision to buy a C and will buy another assuming this car wears out.

 

I almost leased 2015 Honda Fit LX...My wife and I really liked the new yellow Fit. But the dealership wouldn't bulge on down payment. In my opinion, paying down payment for leasing a car is like throwing money in the water. We thought about buying too, but their interest rate was high and we were too sour from the earlier leasing negotiation.

I started looking at Nissan Versa Note but the car didn't impress me. It was far inferior to Honda Fit.

We always knew about Prius, but never knew that there was an affordable Prius C. When my wife saw the Lime color and when they offered 0%, we knew we were gonna get it. It was just a matter of when. Negotiation went great, and we talked to three Toyota dealerships and went for the best door price.

So glad we didn't get the Fit.

 

I didn't consider any other vehicle, I did some research and bought what gave the best gas mileage for under 20k out the door.

 

Nissan Sentra much cheaper than a C

 

Long ago I made a spreadsheet to rank dozens of cars by adding weighted points for lots o' car details (cost, mpg, size, subjective reliability, etc). Changing the weighting factors alters the "Top 15".
I update the sheet when we need a new car, and we wanted to have one car in our family with great MPG.
When the C was introduced it jumped to number 1. Three test drives later (first hybrid for me) I bought a 2013 C Two and I love it.

When shopping for the C I checked out the Liftback but it was larger than I needed, and I didn't care for the flying buttress console and split view out the rear window. PIP scored ahead of the Liftback with my mpg-heavy weighting but had the same drawbacks.

 

I considered:

Yaris
Honda Fit
Chevy Sonic
Chevy Spark
Chevy Volt
Prius
Prius Plug-in

 

My aim is to get as good gas mileage as possible, partly to keep costs down but mostly to avoid spewing even more carbon and pollution into the atmosphere. What I'd really like to get is an electric car, since here in Vancouver BC almost all our electricity is hydro-generated and very, very green. But I have "range anxiety". Maybe when next year's 200-mile / 300km vehicles come out.

In the meantime, what I was really interested in was a Chevy Volt, but due to (hopefully) temporary circumstances it won't fit in my garage, so the Prius C was next best thing. I'm pretty happy with it, but when I have room for a larger car I may look at trading up.

I'd prefer having two cars - one fully electric and one hybrid or electric with a range extender for long trips. But silly insurance rules somehow think I'm twice as likely to have an accident if I own two vehicles and require that I pay for two full policies even though I can only drive one vehicle at a time.

 

Scion FR-S but then saw that the mpg was a lot lower than I expected and went to the C.


iPhone ?

 

Well I had 20K in the pocket...

I was looking at all sorts of fast used sports cars including:
WRX
S2000
Genesis Coupe
Miata
370z/350z
FR-S

I also thought about leasing a Fiat 300e for ~100 dollars a month, but I drive 60 miles a day minimum.

So I ended up thinking... well 20K will get me much further in a Prius C than a fast used sports car... Also I would totally regret pumping every week with 25mpg car.

 

You would still be pumping every week, but pay half the amount Prius C has a small fuel tank.

 

Jetta wagon TDI (ultimately rejected as too dull) and Golf TDI(didn't care for the steering wheel/seating position combination. Price of diesel also eventually persuaded me towards the C. Also considered the Mini Cooper until I heard about the horrible experiences with timing belts.

 

honda insight

 

I would buy the Honda Insight if the AC wasn't powered by the engine. If the Insight goes into "EV" mode, the AC and fans would just stop.... Yeah I am saving gas in the summer, but I am being cooked alive as well. HAHA

Also Insight was a few thousand cheaper than Prius C.

 

Honda Insight - price was right but when I went to check one out I bumped my head getting in. Something about the roof line was not right for me. Besides - the salesman seemed less than enthusiastic about selling me anything. Guess they thought I was just a tire kicker.

We have a 2007 Fit and I would have bought a new Fit as it's a great car but the MPG is so-so. If they sold the hybrid Fit in the US - I would have bought one. Looks like Honda is still not going to bring in the hybrid Fit: 2015 Honda Fit Hybrid: Forbidden Fruit Drive Report

Looked at the v and drove a hatchback - didn't like the HB and the v was nice but more than I wanted to spend.

Bought the C and never looked back.

 

Cyclopathic - thanks for the info.

When we visited Tokyo in 2013 - I saw several hybrid vehicles by various manufacturers that are not sold here.

The Jazz Shuttle (Fit) van/wagon would be great - especially in hybrid format:
New Honda Shuttle (City/Jazz wagon) revealed in Japan
Honda has improved their hybrid system but we can't get it here at all. Too bad.