Any regrets?

Consider what mileage you would be getting with the Sienna on the same route. It is frustrating to lose mpg's on a hill.

 

No regrets other than I wish I had gotten a backup camera integrated into the dash monitor. I love the 55-60 mpg I am getting.

 

The road noise is pretty bad....I will be on Bluetooth with my wife and if I'm on the highway she can barely hear me....and I have a Prius 2c and honestly i should have gotten a car alarm...it's hard to find your Prius at a grocery store around a ton of trucks...I live in Texas and they are everywhere

XT1635-01 ?

 

I love my little C, I really do...but I need more room, and I really like the flying buttress, noise dampening, and back seat room in the regular Prius of the same year.

Problem is, I paid a little over sticker and took a 72-month loan at 12%, (I'm in the first year of the loan) so I'm kinda hooped when it comes to trading in the C for now.

I'd love to find a way to trade straight across for the regular one, but it doesn't look like that's in the cards.

 

Got my 2016 "C" last year - and yes it's underpowered for those of us who need a little bit more umph. Hard to say now if I'll trade it in on another Prius, but if I had to make a definitive comment right now I'd say no.

 

No and no.
We are on our second C, third if you count our daughter too.

IF the speed limit and conditions will allow it, turn the cruise control off and get a "run" at those hills.
Meaning speed up some BEFORE you actually start climbing the incline.
That should minimize or eliminate your loss of speed going up.......but the gas usage will still go up.

Doesn't that model have a remote for the door locks ?
If so, it should have a "panic" button.

Your profile shows that you have a 2012 model. Something here doesn't match.

As far as the loan goes.......I hope you understand that was a BIG mistake.
If you add up all your payments over those 72 months, the total will likely be close to TWICE the "sticker price".

 

Steep hills and high speeds are going to kill your fuel economy no matter what car you drive - that's a simple fact of life. And the Prius C is pretty much the most fuel efficient car you can get - none of the other cars, even the other Prius models, is going to do so much better that it would be worth the switch. The only way to use less fuel would be to go to a plug-in hybrid or a fully electric vehicle.

 

I'm very aware of the mistake. Of course, it's not twice the sticker, but rather about $7000 (after tax and documentation) I have "fair" credit, and didn't qualify for a loan through Toyota, so I went to a couple of other dealerships. the 12% loan was the best I could do. I was tired of buying cheap vehicles that would cost me in downtime and repairs, so I bit the bullet and took the hit of ~$7000 for the term.

All I can hope for is that it builds my credit into a rating where I can finance at a better rate once it's paid off.

 

Mine does not ....I can use the panic button but that will make everyone...well panic lol...I'm just saying in everyday situations finding the Prius in the parking lot is actually pretty difficult around a ton of bigger vehicles.

XT1635-01 ?

 

You credit must have been terrible...mine was 640 and my wife's was 650 at the time we bought ours....2.9 percent apr and 2k under the sticker price......u should have walked

XT1635-01 ?

 

To be fair, I traded in a clunker...and by "clunker" I mean "sometimes wouldn't start, died at red lights, looked like it should be driven by a nearsighted granny", and while they laughed at it, it had a quarter tank of gas, so I doubled the value on it. Paid 2k under sticker, which put it about on par with the going rate on Autotrader.

The interest rate is obscene though, so I'm looking to see if my credit union will consider bringing the loan over to them now that there's collateral.

 

The difference in highway mileage between the Prius and the Prius C is so small that it's going to be outweighed by other factors such as your driving style, whether there are headwinds or tailwinds, etc. etc. I really wouldn't loose any sleep over your choice.

In my experience if they tailgate you at 65, then they'll tailgate you at 75 too. If someone is tailgating me in the right lane on a highway with multiple lanes, I just slowly and gradually slow down bit by bit until they get impatient enough to go around me. Just make sure not to do that when you're approaching an exit because there's a good chance that the reason they're behind you is because they want to take that exit.

I don't usually get people tailgating me on the freeway because my habit is to follow a relatively slow truck at a respectable distance in the rightmost lane. Most drivers are allergic to trucks and when they see one they'll switch into the passing lane to get by it. This lets me drive slower than prevailing traffic and gives me substantially better fuel economy without angering anyone - they blame my speed on the truck instead of on me.

 

I don't understand. If you do NOT have wireless remote door locks, how is it that you have a "panic button" ??

Anyhow......have you ever been in a parking lot when someone sets theirs off by mistake ?
Everyone does NOT PANIC; quite the contrary, pretty much everybody ignores it.

 

If you have a 12%, 72 month loan, there's no mistake choosing a C over a regular Prius. There is no way any noise, lack of power, lower fuel economy, etc that will bridge the gap in price between the two cars. Due to your interest rate, you absolutely made the better choice financially.

Allow me to be blunt. That is an incredibly high interest rate and no one should be buying new cars at that rate at today's low interest rate environment. I would think $7000 in TTL + interest will buy you a nice used Gen 2 Prius. Finance for 24 months to rebuild your credit. Then trade in for a new 2019 Prius at 0% for 60 months.

But what's done is done. Drive that car until it dies. Don't even think of trading in for something else, that's how you make a bigger mistake. Good luck.

P.S. My parents made an even bigger mistake than you. They leased their car thinking in 2 years, things will be better and they will buy it. Well, their credit didn't get better. After 2 years they have to pay overmileage fees to turn in the lease. Keep in mind, they planned to keep the car so they didn't care what mileage was allowable. Or they can go to the bank for a ~72 month loan on a used car. If you think 12% is high, you'd be shocked how much higher it can go on a used car. And that's what my parents did.

 

Hmm, that's interesting. You're right - the 2017 ratings for the Prius C are about 10% worse than for the regular liftback. I have a 2012 Prius C and for that model and up to the 2015 model year it and the regular Prius were very close to each other. The Prius C hasn't been refreshed since it was originally introduced, but perhaps a new generation of the regular Prius has made some fuel economy improvements.

Still, I wouldn't loose any sleep over it. If you drive 20,000 miles a year the difference is only going to amount to maybe about 50 gallons at the worst, which should cost well under a couple of hundred dollars. You'll loose far more than that by switching cars just through having to pay the sales tax again. You're really a lot better off sticking the the "C".

If you're really concerned about saving fuel, spend some time learning to drive more efficiently - that would almost certainly give you bigger savings than switching. I regularly beat the new EPA ratings by about 20%, which is a lot bigger than the fuel economy difference between the "C" and the liftback.

 

That's too bad. Because most people within the first 500 to 1000 miles or usually really like their new vehicle. If you already are questioning it or having regrets I don't expect a long relationship.

What I would ask, is steep hills aside, what is your tank to tank MPG? I wouldn't get too hung up on what your trip to trip MPG might be, or whether your MPG drop in one section of the drive.
Just drive it, and figure your MPG manually from tank to tank. You might find yourself much happier with the purchase.
As far as anything that requires fuel be put in a tank, you aren't going to find too many vehicles that will return the MPG or efficiency of a Prius c.

I'm probably NOT the best person to ask about Prius c vs. Standard Prius. I originally bought a standard Gen 3 Prius, because at the time they were selling for about the same price as a Prius c, and since the EPA mpg, is pretty comparable, I went with the standard Prius.
But for myself? I honestly like smaller vehicles. Believe it or not, the whole time I drove my Prius, I felt I was driving something a little bigger than I really like.

I really like a sub-compact, especially in the suburbs or city. I like the feeling of nimbleness a smaller vehicle can provide, and also just being able to park anywhere I can find a place. The easy maneuverability of a smaller vehicle.

The only reason I mention this, is to point out, that there are advantages to a smaller vehicle.
I hope you get to enjoy your vehicle.
Give it more of a chance...I think a Prius c...or any Prius...is a great vehicle choice.
I never wanted for Power from my Standard Prius, but engine power was not a big factor in my decision to buy a Prius period.

I would give your Prius c more of a chance to prove itself to you. If you find yourself still dissatisfied? Changes can be made in the future.

 

Well you kind of missed another good option, given his credit and objective to not keep buying "junkers":

There are several really good small cars with great fuel mileage out there that often can be had new, or nearly new, for about half the price of a new Prius, even a C. A Corolla just for example.

In my opinion, anyone in his position should NOT be considering a new Prius........or a new anything for that matter.
You can save thousands with low mileage used.....and more thousands in interest.

And maybe that's enough comment about his unfortunate buying decision. I'm sure that he thought he was doing the right thing......at the time.