Before buying Prius, what did you cross-shop?

All hybrids: Civic, Accord, Highlander, Insight.

Civic was too small.

Insight was smaller. Couldn't get past the thought that Car Talk said it looked like a suppository.

Highlander too expensive and not enough mpg to justify.

Accord too powerful, expensive and lacking a meaningful trunk. But an absolute joy to drive.

 

Tried out 3 different hatchbacks before test-driving the Prius -- mainly because I wanted to have something to compare it to:

• Ford Focus: A perfectly good rental car (in fact, very good -- extremely easy to figure out how it works.) Spongy on the pickup, and the engine strained some; but an OK car.
• Toyota Matrix: Better ride than the focus, but noisy. And I really didn't like the way it looks.
• Mazda 3: Probably the car I would have gotten if I hadn't gotten the Prius. Very smooth drive, very quiet, way more pickup than I needed. On the other side, cockpit is way too Top Gun -- not my style at all. And if you can believe it, poorer rear visibility than in the Prius.

 

I need to replace my aging Saturn Wagon. Problem is that Saturn is not making any more wagons. I like having a hatchback - don't really like the sedan. I was hoping that by the time I needed to replace the wagon that there would be hybrid wagons available. No such luck. Will not drive a SUV. Did research on the Prius and liked what I saw. After a test drive - I didn't consider any other car. I am waiting for my prius to come - luckily the wagon is still working.

 

Before buying the Prius exactly one year ago, I crunched the numbers and looked at the mileage factor but the Prius always came out on top. The cars I considered with lots of care: Civic Hybrid (too small), Accord Gas model (almost won out, money was about the same as the Prius), Mazda 3 (a little too top gun and the ride around NY City was very harsh), Toyota Corrolla (too small).

 

I looked at the Accord Hybrid first, I was driving a 2.4l Solara at the time. The Accord Hybrid got about the same mileage as the Solara, so the only gain for me would have been the added HP of the V6. I really wanted a 2 door, and the Accord Hybrid only came in 4 door.

I looked at the Civic Hybrid next. Compared to the Solara it felt very small and cheap (and I'm not talking about the price), but I was ready to buy. The dealer lowballed me on the Solara trade in, so I walked.

I bought my daughter a Corolla LE in the meantime. It is a great car and gets good mileage, but it felt too small.

I did not consider other hybrids because either they were ugly (I included Prius and Insight in this list) or the mileage just wasn't any better than my Solara.

I took my car in for an overnight service and for the heck of it I rented a 2005 Prius for the day. I was sold. About a month later I'm driving my own Prius and I have the California car pool access stickers (this saves me ~45 minutes on the drive home, ~15 minutes in the morning). Oh, and the dealer gave me more than I expected for my Solara.

 

Nothing else. I didn't tell the salesperson that :_>

 

My last car was a 1990 Ford Probe (bought new). A couple of years after owning it, I realized my next car would be a 4-door, maybe a Taurus. I did like the hatchback idea with the fold-down seats.

In 2004 I saw a new Prius at an energy fair. Then it became saw it, wanted it, bought it.

 

The A3 is an incredibly fun car to drive... It might be a bit small. To me it felt "comfortable". The fuel economy isn't that bad either, considering it gets 25/31 mph with a 200 hp engine. It's no Prius, though! The experience with the dealership was by far our best as well.
The quality issues were one of the big reasons I chose the Prius.
My wife and I have already pretty much decided that when we get our next new car (after the Prius), it will probably be an A3.

/end advertisement

 

I wasn't looking untill I got peeved at putting 60+ dollars in to my gastank to only go 400 miles. So not really serious about buying I went and test drove one.... I was expecting the tin can rattle trap that many of the other hybrid attempts have formed in our brain....
But wow was I surprised!.... the speed and takeoff was plenty... top end too!.... Im not looking for a sports car, but I won't drive a dog either.
I realized it has as much speed and get up and go as my grand cherekee, though I don't expect to pull a motorhome or boat... I will enjoy the high tech feel and toys to play with...
It had more headroom than my jeep and it felt bigger inside!.. I was amazed!.. They still look little to me on the freeway... but inside is a different story.

Once I drove one.. it hooked me in about 30 seconds.... once I pulled out on the road and floored it.. I was sold.... once I got it on the freeway and got it to 90mhp without even realizing it.. I was peeved they didnt' have any for sale?.... only to test drive... that was amusing!

Anyway... Ill be driving one soon.

 

I shopped only for a deal on a Prius. My decision for PRIUS had been made and it was only a matter of availability. We had found a used (12,000 miles) at a Dallas area dealer which we were able to test drive which confirmed the choice.

With Prius availability and price being strange in September 2004, I found a used '04 Prius on eBay with 4,000 miles on the clock - had been originally purchased by a Toyota distributer employee for a family member who died. I was able to bid it in for what amounted to MSRP, the "penalty" being the 4,000 miles. Other new Prii were immediately available with ~$3,000 or more "market adjustments," which I refused. My "wait" was 6 days, then a one-way flight and drive back home.

 

i decided that i wanted a hybrid... the insight was wayyyy too small, the accord didn't sound like what i'm looking for. so we test drove civic hybrid and the prius. liked the prius better.
-bill

 

I had decided to buy a Honda CR-V or a RAV-4. For some crazy reason I thought I needed ROOM for me and my 35 pound dog. I was against a Prius because I didn't want a hatchback. Then California opened the carpool lanes to some hybrids. Then gas prices skyrocketed. Then I spend 2.5 hours in traffic because of an accident, and watched the carpool lane cars fly by.

Once I researched and test drove the Prius I was sold.

 

I looked at:

The Audi A3 (priced myself out with the options I wanted, plus no Quattro on it, so forget it!)

VW Jetta GLI (nice pep, sat radio packages, sunroof, heated seats)

VW new GTI (in Feb - same as GLI, but with 2 doors and the hatch)

edit:
forgot about the Subaru WRX Wagon and Saab 9-2x

I'm a current VW Golf owner - love my car, but this time around VW didn't have anything that fit me.

I also considered a certified used A4, but was scared away by potential repair costs after the 2 year certified warranty was up. That and my gas mileage would have gone down with that car (I get high 20s in my Golf)

I also looked into the HCH (never really checked it out), but I prefer the lift/ hatchback style over all others (got spoiled with my Golf).

I think I'll miss the little extra pep my little rurbo engine has, the heated seats, and the sunroof the most, but I get Nav, bluetooth, and I'll probably get Sat Radio, not to mention the environmental plusses, and the tax credit to make it not so bad on the wallet in the long run...

 

I researched & test drove these before putting my order in for a Prius.
Honda Civic Hybrid
Volkswagen Jetta
Saab 9-2x
Mazda 3

I wanted a Prius, but wanted a back-up in case the waiting list was unbearable.

 

My wife had been so unhappy at her last job as a grammer school bilingual administrator. She had been out for interviews with other districts and landed a principalship in Hayward Ca. That would mean a 30 mile each way commute. She currently is driving a Toyota 4runner. Great car and all the features, but a dismall 15 MPG. Hayward called her on Sunday memorial day weekend. I was in the garage block sanding the 70 GTO hood in preparation for painting it and heard a radio add saying that Concord toyota had the Prius in stock. Monday, we bought the only one they had left at MSRP - 150$.
We did not shop or look at other cars except while standing around at the dealer. We talked before buying and just said that 50 MPG would sure be nice and they have a better then average repair frequency. So we just bought it.
I don't think that in all our married life <24 years>we have agreed on any single decision like we did with this car. The only add on she wanted was leather interior. So, we sprung for the 2000$ leather interior 3 days later. We got the maintenance agreement ,and extended warrenty ,leather ,and car all wrapped under the financing umbella with my credit union at 4.25 % 0 down and signed on the dotted line. We have not stopped smiling since. I would also add that this is the first time we bought a new car for her... Not the family needs or my needs or the kids needs. Just hers. She liked that and the bonus is I get to drive it occasionally.
-Paul R. Haller-

 

The Prius was a considerable step down from all the other cars I was considering:

Acura TL - FWD in a "sports" sedan? I don't think so.
Infinity G35 - lovely car, ugly interior
Lexus RX400h - Didn't want to wait or have to pay over sticker. Might still buy one.
Lexus GS450h - was only a rumor when I was shopping

In the end, the high-tech gadgets and ability to brag to my coworkers about my fuel mileage won me over.

 

The three in the running for me were the Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, and the Jetta TDI.

I knew that I absolutely wanted something with very solid MPG. Power/luxury was not even remotely an issue. I was kicking around the idea of making my own biodiesel and that's one of the main reasons that I was considering the Jetta. Then I realized that I already have too many hobbies and the thought of handling sodium methoxide wasn't too appealing. The only car I looked at in depth was the Prius. I had heard nothing but great things about it and a buddy of mine in Phoenix gave me a lot of good information (including telling me about this site). So really, in the end I hardly considered anything else. I'm just glad that I didn't have to wait for my car (bought it the day I walked into the dealership) because my '90 Civic died the day I was supposed to trade it in. I had to have it towed to the dealership. Talk about fate and timing...

 

My wife and I drove the Honda Civic and Prius. There was no dought Toyota has a much better car.