Why did you pick the Prime vs Volt or other competitors?

What’s the story behind giving up the Golf R for the Prime? Is it purely the lower running costs?

 

I was researching and deciding for a couple years (yes, I liked my existing cars, otherwise I wouldn't have them).

Electric cars...

"Range anxiety". Yes, I can survive with something like Leaf, however I have to be watching it all the time. I could have it as a commute car, however in case I need to go somewhere for my work or after work, it could be risky. Plus, I have to have another car if I need to go to greater distance.

"It's not free". Yes some people are saying "you buy electric car, and you forger what a gasoline is"... Yes, if I find good source of FREE charge (for example, my employer provides it as a courtesy), then yes, it would be great. However with my current home electricity rates, electric car charge cost, re-calculated back to to the range and to the gasoline price, equals to 35-40 mpg. Which is good, but not that impressive.

Chevy Volt is better than other electric cars, because it solves first struggle. However with lack of "source of free electricity", it's not that impressive. But I like it's inside and outside style better than Prius.

So, I ended up buying Prius. Previously had Scion xA, replaced it with Prius C. Same color, so, some colleagues didn't even notices, that I have different car.

PS. And yes, I've started to moving to "prius-style driving". I hated that when I was driving Scion (with manual)... Now I understand why Prius people drive it that way...

 

I'm not sure what "prius-style driving" is. The Prime is my first Prius. I don't think it has particularly changed my driving style. I still drive like an old bear.

 

Still rolling at 90mph

 

Go Sparkie!

 

Volt has a lousy back seat and mediocre cargo room combined with lousy gas mileage and a tiny tank making for half the Prime's range.

Clarity wasn't out but it also gets lousy gas mileage and has a small tank.

Fusion Energy is a Ford. Not going there again after the last two so I didn't even look at it.

Leaf and Bolt are short-range EVs not suitable for out-of-town use. I've already taken my Prime on 4 out-of-state trips, all four of which had legs on which no current EV (including the two Tesla's below) could follow.

Model 3 and Model S are medium range EVs only mildly suitable for out of town use, both are way too expensive and the Model 3 isn't a lift-back (a requirement for me).

 

Did not even consider Volt or any other plug-in hybrid at the time of my PRIME purchase. I had no interest in purchasing GM models. Thought a little about Ioniq, but plug-in was not out yet at that time.

 

The standard, TSS-P takes some getting used to but it is so great in traffic and poor visibility.

Bob Wilson

 

Personally I went with the Prius because Toyota is known for their reliability plus it was MUCH cheaper. When doing the car builder option on each of their websites the Prius Advanced with all the optional stuff I wanted came in around $33,000 while the Volt was coming in at around $45,000. Add that to the Volt not getting nearly as good gas mileage as the Prius and that I didn't even qualify for the full tax credit on the Prius so there was no way I'd get the full $7,500 for buying a Volt - the choice was pretty easy. Plus I like the design of the Prime better. I have no need for the second row seating let alone a 5th seat so that had no impact on my decision.

 

When and where did you buy your Prime?

 

Short answer - June of 2017 from Family Toyota of Burleson. I know I could have gotten a better deal had I ordered it from California or New York but I didn't want to go thru that hassle.

 

Too bad it wasn't after September because you would have qualified for the $2,500 state rebate.

 

Congrats, Dale! Haven't been watching the group closely lately, so playing catch-up. But to answer your original post, for me it was all about build quality. My 2007 Prius is north of 200K miles now and until a series of wheel bearing failures that started around the 180K mark, I didn't do anything but routine maintenance on the car. Same track record so far for my wife's 2014 Prius V (approaching 70K, I think). I tend to keep cars long-term, so quality/reliability is top of list for me. And my experience is there's just nothing that comes close to Toyota or Honda (and definitely not Chevy).

 

Sparkie hit a semi tire tread and now has a coolant leak and EV mode is disabled.

I’m hoping it’s something simple so he can keep racking up EV miles, he says he still drives the car, just can’t charge the battery

 

Who is Sparkie?

 

The name of the Chevy Volt that has over 450,000 miles on it. I wish Chevy would buy it from him and give him a new volt or bolt.
This Chevy Volt Has 400,000 Miles On Odometer With No Noticeable Battery Degradation

 

Wow, that's really, really high mile. I will never be able to drive a car that long, but sure hope PRIME's battery is just as good. Yeah, this guy being a GM employee, this would be a great PR for them.