I love the new 2016 styling and barely put 10,000 miles on the car a year. I figure I should be able to keep the car 15 or 20 years that way. I currently have a Prius C and fill up about every 3 weeks. Can't wait to get my 2016 and see how often I need to fill up. Probably every 5 or 6 weeks. For me it's the looks, the tech and the environment not necessarily in that order. Why pollute and use gas when I don't have too. I was going to go electric this time, but still have range anxiety. I wouldn't be giving up my C except Toyota won't negotiate on a lease buyout. I haven't loved a car this much in a long time and I've had lots of cars. I get a good feeling driving it and how often can you say that these days.
I should have tempered my criticisms with the fact that Fit was my first choice before I discovered the gen 4 Prius (via this forum). In fact, I was a day away from buying one. As an economical multi-function people and cargo mover, it's among the elite. On an 8 hour road trip? Not so much.
January, I paid under $5000 for a 2007 base Prius with a good battery pack. If you want to get your money's worth but don't drive that much, just have someone here to opin on the battery on a used car.
Overall, it really depends on your daughters driving needs. In my humble opinion, the Prius is supposed to be a car that gets you from point a to point b with minimal costs. For me it does that. 0-60 speed? sucks. Snow driving? It will work, but not like an All wheel drive vehicle. If one tends to want to go hiking, or other extreme trails, the Prius may not deliver the same results as a 4 wheel drive or truck. I really liked my 2006 Scion XB, but all my friends thought it was a waste. I didn't. 9 years and 163,000 miles of Toyota fun, 27 mpg average and low maintenance was what I got and to me, it was worth it. I chose the Prius as my next car for the same reliability, plus 45-47 miles to the gallon. Whether you pay 2 dollars per gallon or 5 dollars, I don't want the majority of my monthly income going to gasoline.
I tend to drive about 10-12,000 miles a year, including roadtrips... and I have another car to split the mileage with (although that's the fun car, not the daily). While I've done a Miata as an only car, it has its drawbacks - cabin noise on roadtrips is deafening, fuel economy is surprisingly poor for what it is (short gearing, cams set up for high RPM power, and poor aerodynamics will do that), and cargo space is poor (although you can adapt). And then there's the winter problem. No, not traction, I find that that's not a problem at all, but rather, salt. And Mazda's not known for good rustproofing... So, I wanted to have a second car. (I had a 99.5 Golf TDI that I ditched due to it becoming a moneypit, and it not being that well suited to my driving patterns.) Why the Prius? I've always found the power split device to be an extremely clever piece of engineering (and it's the only automatic I've driven that gets out of my way and just delivers the power that I want, when I want it, without having to decide what gear to be in), I like to be efficient even if I don't have to be, it's got plenty of cargo flexibility (I don't care about the back seat, tbh), the Wth of its styling grew on me, the hybrid system seems to be very well suited to my driving patterns, and the Gen 4 really seemed to be vastly improved over previous generations in terms of driving dynamics (although it's no Miata, that's for sure). Sure, I could've gotten something like a Mazda3 2.0 with a manual, and liked its driving dynamics better, but the engineering behind the Prius impressed me, and I do like the efficiency.
i had a summer miata for over 10 years. i agree with everything you said. i drove it one winter when i gave someone my dd and didn't get a new one until spring. never again. i think that's when i lost my hearing.
I bought mine because I wanted it. I drive around 12K miles per year. I did want good gas mileage though. I had an SUV that got about 16 MPG and I hated going to fill it up every week, sometimes twice per week. But I love this car and love driving it.
I bought my first Prius Gen 2 because driving and car that got 50MPH was the right thing to do. The new Gen 4 was bought for the same reason and the fact that the first Prius was the best car I ever owned.
If one is looking for a pure financial play - a car is always a bad instrument. In the end, you always lose money. I'm at about 22k miles per year, and that is about where I feel the fuel economy of the prius starts to fit in. So, in that respect I agree with the salesman. However, what are the other car choices? Configure the "next best options" and price them out. And then the pricing "premium" will be clear. In my case, I'm not sure if I would or wouldn't buy a prius at 8k miles per year. But that isn't my case right now, and I've got to say that I love this prius. I had my 2010 6 years, put 130,000 miles on it, and ONLY ever paid for gas, oil, tires, and light bulbs. That was it. Now - I love the fact that I can go about 650 miles or more between necessary fill ups... To each their own. If your daughter likes the prius more than the comparable alternatives and it's within her means - go for it!! For winter - just buy 4 extra wheels, put snow tires on them and you'll do just fine.
Another thought - if she's low mileage - now might be a good time to get a lease - probably some great deals out there - and she'll also have the peace of mind knowing that her car will always be in warranty...
I was at the local grocery store and this beautiful turquoise car drove by..my heart stopped and I knew that is the one I wanted...had no idea it was a Prius c but I started looking for the car on car lots and on the internet....I searched and searched and finally found her....I had to have a moonroof, navigation and low miles and the price had to be right.....I have owned her now for three months and it is a wonderful and interesting relationship..had a horrible rattle that was my fault when I put a metal license plate cover on the back....took it off and no more rattle....the mileage is around 46MPG lately....it went up two MPG...not sure what I did differently...I chose this car because I love the color of her....reminds me of Hawaiian oceans.....makes me smile when I see her...my last car was a Toyota Camry xle.....she is still in our driveway with 166,000 miles on her....she was a wonderful car too....so my reason for buying my Prius c was love at first sight....had no idea about saving gas or the planet I just wanted to drive a turquoise dream......
Us too - we drive less than 10k a year. I bought one because I wanted one! We try to minimise car use (so I cycle the 11 mile round trip to work every day). But all those shiny lights and buttons… <drool> …I like to pretend I'm flying a spaceship.
I initially bought a gen 3 in 2010 as I had a knee operation and I needed an automatic (most cars are stick shift over here). It was the easiest to drive and most economical auto available and I loved the technical side of the hybrid system. I bought the gen 4 because of it's looks and it's features. I now do around 4K miles a year so economy is not such a priority, although the aim to get high mpgs is a good game at times. The insurance is low and the servicing cost are low too. I read somewhere last week that the Prius (specifically a 2005 Gen 2) is the cheapest car to run/own over 10 years.
Thanks for posting that Eric. That's great to hear. My main priorities for buying a new car, were reliability & low maintenance. (the 60 mpg I get is just frosting on the cake! )
