2016 Prius or 2016 Volt...Which should I buy?

Perhaps it depends on size and shape.
We were OK in the Prius with 3 tall guys, 2 gals plus luggage from Las Vegas to La Quinta (250 miles)
The Cruze I rented last year couldn't have handled the 3 guys. Isn't the Volt's interior similar to the Cruze?

 

I think you may be confusing softer finishes with quality.

 

Reference 2015: The back seat of the Prius is bigger, but it is not designed to "comfortably" hold 3 adults.

 

My 2004 will comfortably hold 3 normal-sized adults in the back seat. What it won't do it hold one adult and two kids in either car seats or booster chairs. The chairs are so wide they make the center spot unusable.

 

I'd consider these guys normal/average joe's:

 

Why aren't they sitting in their seats? Their heads are clearly far toward the middle compared to the head rests behind them, and there looks to be nearly a foot between the guy on our left's shoulder and the door.

 

What's that, a 60/40 split? One guy occupies 60% and rotated! I thought Prius was taxi-tested!

 

I have family, friends and co-workers ranging all sizes, shapes, weights, ages and gender and NOBODY is comfortable sitting center mast in the back for any period of time...even the youngsters. My comment was merely giving GEN III Prius "advantage over" the GEN I Volt for rear cargo and passengers. Anyone that says the Gen III (I have a 2010 and 2015) "comfortably" holds 5 is BS and/or drinking the Koolaid...or some other liquid.

 

Even if you don't think the Prius family holds five in the rear, it still holds a huge advantage in rear seat room.

SPOTTED! *UNWRAPPED* 2016 Prius spotted this morning! | Page 35 | PriusChat

 

As I stated. In fact shortly after buying my 2010 there was a thread about what you like best and I said back seat room. Now if I was asked now if I would rather be one of three in the back of a Prius vs one of two in back of a Volt...Volt would win that check mark.

 

You think?

I wasn't really comfortable in the back of a Volt because of lack of leg room. And I'm 5'6"!

 

So, the middle seat is not comfortable in any car because most have bucket seats.

 

I'm not going to bother with the 4 pages of other answers.

For ME it would be a left-over 2015 if TCO were the deciding factor.
After that it would be a left-over '15 Volt - although they're going fast.
After that?
It's too early to tell until you can walk up and touch one in a for-real dealership, but I'd probably lean towards a '16 Volt if your G2 and your patience can tolerate the wait.

In the 2015 world - meaning the world that we LIVE IN NOW, both the Volt and the Prius are priced WAAAAAAY below what the early adopters paid. Even two years ago, a plain-Jane garden variety G3 could set you back north of $25,000.
When the Volt first came out it was a $40,000 car.
Now?
You can get them below $30,000 (for now) before the Federal kickback money, which places them about where a G3 was a few years ago.

Here's the thing.
Both the G3 and Volt-1 are as efficient as they've ever been, and each is a known quantity.
How would you like to have a 2015 Jetta GTI right now?

2016 is still in the future for both cars.
That future is still being written.

Now.....having seen what's been published about both the 2016 Volt and the 2016 Prius???
If I had to chose between one of those two, it would definitely be the Volt for a variety of reasons.

Some of these reasons are practical (Volt fits my needs.)
Others are not. (2016 Prius is uglier than a payday Louisiana bar fight!)

Your car.
Your choice.

Good Luck!

 

At 5'8", it was really surprising to me how much smaller Volt is than Prius. Yet, people compare the 2 shamelessly as if they are the same size anyway.

Legroom & Headroom are clearly bigger in Prius currently and continue to be in the next-gen models.

The big question is why did GM keep Volt a compact, knowing the many competing vehicles offer more?

 

^ Probably the same reason that Toyota kept the EV range of the Pip at 10-12 miles with restrictive speed limitations, and yet people compare the 2 shamelessly as if they are the same.
Spoiler alert:
They're not.

The Pip is better at some things, as is the Volt.
One has to decide which is better for them at what.
The real shame is that people make a big deal out of the Pip's 5 seat capacity even though many of them are purchased so that a solo driver can drive in a lane that is normally restricted to vehicles carrying more than one person.
Love the irony.

If the Pip survives as a subtype of the G4, and maybe even a vehicle sold in all 50 states it will be interesting to see how it compares to the second iteration of the Volt.
Toyota stated when the Pip was introduced that it would be temporarily available in a limited market.
Many people presumed that this meant that the initial limited market was the temporary part-----not the sub-model itself.

Time will tell!
Irony...again.

 

The 2016 Volt supports Apple CarPlay and the 2017 Volt also adds support for Android Auto.

The Android Auto support will also be available as a free software update to existing 2016 Volts in the spring of 2017.

 

If we knew what the 2016 Prius actually was, you might get an answer that was informed. The 2016 Volt and the 2015 Prius are different animals. 2016 Prius is not a plug-in. Also, your needs will be different from anyone else answering. What is ideal for you, might not be ideal for others.

 

I suggest wait till they are both out on the market for a while, read reviews feedbacks then compare, test drive , base upon those information, your personal feedbacks which would suit your needs/ budget! Either vehicles are not even on the market to the public! So any suggestions as of now! Would be based on spectaculat ion

 

I would say consider looking at what else you plan to do with the car. Do you shuttle 3-5 people around regularly? Do you need a lot of cargo room for shopping? Are you looking to reduce your gas station visits?

If you're doing a 1 person commute to work, the Gen 2 Volt should be able to get 50 miles or so in EV mode, then you'll burn up about one and a half gallons of gas for your remaining 60 miles on your 110 mile round trip commute. If you manage to convince your boss to install charging stations, you could theoretically make your entire trip on EV alone (so make sure you take him for a ride in the Volt, and remind him that electricity is a lot cheaper than gas. Who knows, maybe he'll decide to get a Volt too).

The Gen 4 Prius will probably burn up about two gallons of gas assuming it gets at least 55 mpg. You'll definitely use less gas in the long run in the Volt vs the Prius.

But if you need a lot of cargo room, or shuttle 3-4 people regularly, the Prius will probably be a better fit, unless you have a truck for hauling stuff from home improvement stores.

Definitely do your research first. I ended up buying a Prius last year, but once I researched it some more afterwards, I realized the Volt would work fine for me since my round trip commute is about 38 miles.

Though I've only owned my Volt for a month, I have yet to visit a gas station, whereas with the Prius I would have filled up twice already. I'm sure I'll burn gas in the winter, but I figure buying gas 2-4 times a year beats getting it 26 times a year with my prius filling it up every other week.