Farewell to my PriusChat friends!

I have not been a big poster here on PriusChat, but an avid reader and have found many helps, hints and tips on making the most of my Prius journey. I owned a 3rd gen 2010 Prius II and (until this week) a 4th gen 2016 Prius 4 (ATP & PCP). That was 12 years of Prius bliss with a very enjoyable car and Prius community.

I just want to say this up front — my lifetime MPG on the 2016 Prius was 55.1 mpg for ~63K miles. My 4th gen Prius was essentially bulletproof and reliable. I spent very little on routine maintenance and enjoyed all the tech and safety features. Never in an accident and no special repairs required by a dealer or other mechanic. I replaced the windshield twice, but the third windshield was much thicker than the cheap Toyota glass from the factory.

When this Prius turned 7 years old I began to consider replacing it because of age, potential repairs and also because it was at its prime trade/resale value. Nothing wrong with the car, but having grown older (me, not the car!) my back has more trouble with ingress/egress in such a low-sitting vehicle). I considered the new Prius, but when I found that it is 2 inches lower(!) crossed it off my list of potential candidates.

Because of the ridiculous markups (and wait times!) on vehicles I’ve had to navigate the new car market while investigating the value of my 4th gen Prius. I settled on 4 candidates: (1) Honda Accord hybrid (2) Camry hybrid (3) RAV4 Hybrid and (4) CRV hybrid.

I recently retired to different state and in my new area it was the reverse of my former location — a HORRIBLE Toyota dealership and an unknown Honda dealership with a good local reputation. I cross-shopped all 4 of these vehicles and whittled it down to the RAV4 hybrid and CRV hybrid. The Accord and Camry were just too long to fit in my garage.

I was initially set on the RAV4 hybrid, but when I discovered the wait list and markups on them, I paid the Honda dealer a visit. I found that the local Honda dealer had several new CRV’s coming in. I figured that I could at least see if the CRV would was a viable option. Just for fun I drove an Accord Touring and a CRV Touring (both hybrids) to check out the ride and seating. Both were nice, but the Accord was almost as low sitting as my Prius. That left the CRV. (I have many friends and family members who have owned CRV’s and loved them — all reliable, enjoyable and functional vehicles) When the sales rep and I returned from my last CRV test drive, the dealership had just gotten a delivery of a dozen CRV’s. All were pre-sold but 1 which did not yet have a deposit on it. TLDR — I ended up buying the CRV Hybrid Touring. It ticked all my wish list boxes and I got what I thought was a decent price with an excellent trade-in allowance on my 2016 Prius 4. So here I am learning to hypermile a totally different vehicle.

 

For those interested ... the new CRV Hybrid Touring factory sticker says 40 city / 34 hwy / 37 combined.
It lost a little for the AWD feature. I have always been able to coax better numbers out of all the cars I've owned. If I can do 40 mpg combined, I will be happy. It shouldn't be hard because most of my driving is city/suburban and the weather here is very mild.

 

Future Honda plug-in CRV hybrid.... All I have heard is speculation. BUT. ......
The compartment under the floor for the hybrid battery has a TON of space. Some analysts think that is in Honda's plans. Honda is a very good company with excellent engineering and planning. They are taking baby steps. But I bet that is where they are headed.

 

The CRV hatch area is huge. The handiness & utility of the Prius hatchback is one of the great things that I didn't have to give up!

Here's how the CARGO VOLUME compares between my Prius 4 and CRV Touring Hybrid:

VEHICLE behind 2nd row / TOTAL w/ 2nd row flat

Prius 27.4 cu ft. / ???
CRV 39.3 cu ft. / 76.5 cu ft

 

It's 75" from the back of the front seat to the hatch door. So that's 6' 3" total.