Im in Australia, in 15 years I've done about 248,500 kms in my car. How would a Prius compare?

Yes, same for me. In the six years and 100,000km I had mine, I replaced the 12V battery (@bauhaus , this is the normal car battery that you'd get in any other car, as opposed to the traction battery that is used for motive power - if you're new to Priuses, that's something you'll need to know), and the windscreen wiper blades, and I think that was it. I spoke to a taxi driver in Darwin who'd taken his Gen III 750,000km and had changed the 12V batter, the wiper blades and the brake pads. They are remarkably low-maintenance cars.

In my Gen II, I'd typically get 800km from a tank in urban driving, and about 950km on highway driving.

 

If you're in Melbourne, you might not quite get the fuel economy that I get in Sydney, assuming you're doing the same sort of driving as me, because you have colder winters and more stupidly-hot summer days. But the difference won't be massive.

If fuel economy is a huge consideration for you (and at 16,000km a year, I'm not entirely sure that it should be), then whether you're better off with a Prius or a diesel depends on what kind of driving you do. If it's mostly urban, you want a Prius (or a Hybrid Camry or Hybrid Corolla). If it's mostly rural/highway, a diesel might be better. I've switched from a Prius to a diesel Mercedes. On the highway (I drive to and from Canberra a fair bit, I get about 5.1l per 100km in the Merc and about the same in the Prius). But in the city - in bad traffic - it's 5.2l per 100km in the Prius and pushing 9l per 100km in the Merc.

You'd want to give them a test-drive too, in the conditions you normally drive in. Melbourne traffic can be pretty nasty (although not to the same degree as Sydney), so you might want to experience the joys of stop-start traffic in silence as you run on just the battery. It makes driving in heavy traffic so much less tiring.

The Prius is priced at a fair old premium over the Hybrid Camry and Hybrid Corolla here. So you should really have a good look at all three. The premium for hybrid over normal petrol in a Camry or Corolla isn't massive, and is probably worthwhile.

And if you were happy with your Accent, you could always consider the Hyundai Ioniq. If it hasn't been launched here already, it should be coming soon.

 

Wow. I had no idea about that.

All this talk of fuel bladders and winter gasoline and winter tyres..... It's just not something that we ever consider here.

 

I've had my Gen 4 since June '16, my first PRIUS - though I almost bought one in 2008 and again in 2011. I love it. It is different though, from something like an Accent (I had a diesel Fiesta before). I'm a bit of a techno-freak, so just love the technology - I'm sure my wife would hate it. She'd prefer something with no buttons. The control panel is about as complex as a Jumbo Jet - though, you don't need to involve yourself with all of it, you can just drive if you wish.

I absolutely love some of the features - the RADAR Cruise is amazing, the HeadsUpDisplay (HUD) is really good - it keeps your speed in front of you (and when you use progressive lenses, I find the speedo is often in the wrong spot) - something which I think you'd be conscious of in Melbourne. The RADAR Cruise goes down to 0km/hr, unlike the one on the top model Camry which cuts out from memory about 30km/hr (?).

However, it doesn't have Braking on Cruise Control - like say a Ford Focus (and others) with a Speed Limiter - so, on a hill won't apply brakes to keep you to the EXACT $peed which Vic Police seem to think they need for funding.

I put all my prospective cars into a spreadsheet - you can have it compute fuel use over 5 yrs or 10 yrs if you wish, or just note down the Pros/Cons, warranty, costs of servicing, insurance, expected depreciation etc.

Insurance - was quite expensive, considerably more than a FOCUS.

Incidentally, while I had the Corolla HYBRID on my list, I didn't have the ordinary Corolla at all - it was about the bottom of the list - I drove it, but didn't like it (the Manual was better than the CVT though). As a car to enjoy driving, the Ford Focus (and Mazda 3 to an extent, though the back seat I thought was claustrophobic) was far more engaging, plus it has RADAR Cruise available and is generally better specified. Others which I put in front of Corolla were Cerato and i30 (both of which had much better warranties) - even look at the Peugeot 308, a brilliant drive, and I think I read they've got 5yr warranty now.

Incidentally, the "CVT" in PRIUS is nothing like the belt drive "gear"-box in Corolla, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Nissan. A petrol engine and 2 electric motor/generators drive through a "simple" epicyclic gearset - efficient, and long-lasting.

Take a PRIUS for a drive and see whether you like it - a couple of drives if necessary, drive the Focus, Cerato, Corolla, Corolla Hybrid, 308, i30, Impreza too as well. At high $30k range, you've got a lot of other possibilities too, so check the market.

As far as fuel is concerned, I tend to drive for economy - but will still stick the boot in when necessary so I'm not annoying other drivers. My Prius is averaging about 4-4.1l/100k, my FIESTA Diesel averaged 4.6l/100, previous FOCUS Diesel 5.4, my wife's petrol FOCUS averages about 8.5-9.0. My 2006 Kia Rio 1.6 averaged 7.4 l/100 - as I said, I drive for economy, I know others who would use considerably more fuel than me.

As far as diesel is concerned, I didn't consider it again after 2 diesel cars. Mine were fantastic, but they didn't have the new-fangled diesel particulate filters - I've read about some expensive costs for maintaining the filters, particularly with stop-start driving. If I were doing mainly country driving, I'd have considered diesel again - but I'm retired now, and my usage is likely to slow down over the next few years.

 

i doubt it will save you money, unless gas prices are over 4 or 5 dollars.

 

per litre? definitely.
I assume you meant per US gallon, a measurement that is only used in the US. an Aussie would buy their petrol per litre.

 

We use PETROL here, and it's $1.40/litre at the moment. Which I think works out at over $5/US Galleon.

I calculated about $5000 fuel saving over a Focus/Corolla over 5 yrs/80,000km with fuel at $1.60 per litre - which it's likely to average over 5 yrs.

 

We also measure by ships? That is a lot of Petrol!
i thought Galleons were Spanish. I guess my Canadian education was lacking...

 

I personally thought about the end of last year would see it start to move - what with OPEC & Russia trying to get some more $$$ (or whatever they call them). But apparently there is a flock/herd/armada of FULL Oil Tankers out on the high seas at the cheap price, and there were other reasons why the promised price rises didn't happen.

It has crept up about 20% here over the last 4 months. This year could see some settling, but you're right - it will go up, but I suspect not too much for 2017 now. Local $$ exchange rates will have a local effect though in some countries.

 

Depends on the grade - the PRIUS is well equipped with RADAR Cruise, lane change warning etc.

In a similarly equipped grade, a Ford Focus, for instance in Titanium grade with RADAR Cruise etc etc will have leather seats, but generally similar spec - both $38-39,000 ish. Top grade Mazda 3 is similar. Though, the FORD dealer is likely to talk discounts more than TOYOTA who wouldn't budge with me.

A Corolla isn't very well equipped - no RADAR or Autonomous Emergency Braking is available for any $$$ - and as such could well be $10,000 cheaper in the best grade it's available in - similar with Cerato/i30/more basic Focus etc. The new Impreza comes with EyeSight on all but the most basic model, and RADAR Cruise is available on the base FOCUS now.

I'd start by driving a few and see what you think you can live with for 15 years.

Bearing in mind that in 15 years, the automotive landscape will be dramatically different, with autonomous cars starting to become the norm, more electric & hybrid cars on the scene.

 

what is the hybrid warranty there?

 

Makes a significant difference. Folks, unless you intend to keep a car until it falls apart, one of the biggest costs is one nobody seems to have mentioned, which is depreciation!

A Prius costs more initially yes, but this is more than offset by the way that it retains its value. My 10 year old Gen 2 Prius T4 with JBL sound and cruise control etc is still worth over £4,000 GBP after 10 years and 94,000 miles. (Any UK folk interested in buying it please message me! I have a 2017 Prius PHV on order.)

And it will be good for another 10 years and 100000 miles probably before it even needs a replacement water pump!

A car that is cheap to buy and cheap to run can still prove very expensive to own if it's used value nosedives and you want to sell it.

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