Okay everyone, my old girl is gone. White, 2002 Prius, went through one battery change but trooped everywhere. One stint: Death Valley northwest up to Eugene back to LA. Three tours from LA to New Orleans and back. A handful of tours to San Felipe and potholes from hell roads. Last : to home state MI a couple of Christmases ago where we had a shutdown ice storm(had to sleep in hotel, no power for days at home) where she incurred scars from ice stripping off paint from her hood. Still she forged on. She was totalled. Parked on the street, me in her reclining all the way back, a car ripped through her driver side rear end and wheel, taking the wheel off. She protected me. Door bashed in I felt less than I should have. She had to be flat bedded she could not roll. She did not deserve to go out that way. So I come to you for advise on her replacement. The C. Looks like the three is best, want the pushbutton start. Want a rear window windshield wiper and Bluetooth. Any advise you can give me as I move to replace the Old Girl with a C. Thank You with a heavy heart for her Mandla
Im not sure about the new models, but I know the 2012-2014 have bluetooth and rear wiper standard. Push button start used to only come with the model 3 but maybe now it changed?
The regular lift back is a better proposition than the C, both for travel and for the "extras" you want, it is quieter, more powerful, faster, roomier and virtually as fuel efficient as the C, if you are buying new I suggest you make the stretch to a Prius2, or better yet a 3, a decade from now you will be glad you did.
I'm very happy with my C3, preferring the smaller size, so I'd suggest an extended test drive in both the C and the liftback before you decide.
True but you have to realise the manoeuvrability of the Classic Prius is unsurpassed. It has as tighter turning radius than a Gen 2 Prius. The Prius c is about the size of the Gen 1 (ok it's a bit shorter but it's a hatch!). In addition, the Prius c has standard LED low & high beams, the Prius Liftback does not (You have to stretch to a Five to get LED low beams only), so from a nighttime driving perspective, it is a bit better. That being said, the OP may be able to find better deals on the Liftback because the 4th Gen is around the corner.
I love my C. However, I would recommend the regular Prius if either of these apply: 1. You need more cargo space than the C offers. 2. You will mostly do freeway driving, especially longer trips. For me the C is perfect (okay, except for maybe the navigation system), so if 1 and 2 don't apply, definitely check out a C!
As an owner of both C and liftback, concur liftback is better family car. However if you single/no kids live in the city, "C" may suit you better, it is smaller and easier to navigate. But then if you travel C isn't really suited for carrying gear, slipping in or climbs like Towne pass out of Death Valley. There is just not enough power for long steep climbs and C is too short to lay down and stretch. And the cargo area is much smaller then EPA numbers suggest.
Glad you're OK. Right now you can get into a G3 (hatch) for less than 22 OTD, and it seems to be more of a like-for-like for what you had. Good Luck, and let us know how it shakes out!
Note that I did not mention anything about the C's power. I have never once found myself wishing my C had more power; it has plenty.
Yeah, w/ gas prices they way the are, and w/ the 4th gen being revealed sometime soon, the delta between a liftback two and a C3 isn't that big. $2k cashback on liftback and only 1250 off C's. Dealers have lot of inventory to move.
