Before buying Prius, what did you cross-shop?

The more I read these posts, the more I appreciate Toyota's marketing acumen in targeting the Prius---at least the Gen 1, with a base price of $19,995---as a "niche" vehicle. Not just the "hybrid niche", but one between a loaded Corolla and a stripped Camry.

I'd bet that before they decided to give it a unique badge, with a unique look, they strongly considered making it a "Camry option"---but didn't want to risk that people would pay $30,000 for (then) "questionable" technology.

So they made it slightly bigger than a Corolla, but with a more Camry-level interior, gambled on a "radical" look, sliced the profit margin (to get it "launched") and went for broke.

In retrospect, a canny but still chancy decision.

About half the posters here so far "bought down" to Prius and half "bought up", with a handful "going directly at it" (I include HCH and VW TDI in that few).

Again, a niche. Now, of course, they've covered their bet, and can afford to slide the price incrementally up to match the Camry. Now it's more firmly the "hybrid niche".

In retrospect, it might have not succeeded any other way.

 

I test drove a Honda Civic Hybrid. Way too small and underpowered for me.

 

My wife and I moved and gained a 90 mile a day commute (we car pool together). We felt guilty about the increased fuel use and started to talk about a fuel efficient car instead of our Subaru. At first I believed the BS about the Prius being not worth it and considered a Jetta TDI. The HCH was out of the question because we rode in one and it seemed rough and under powered. We have friends that got a Prius in June and loved it. I did the research here and ordered it August 6th and have had it for three weeks. I love the car.

Tideland Pkg 4 MSRP two month wait.
Beaver Toyota in Santa Fe - they treated us great.

At $3.50 for diesel here I am glad I did't get the TDI ( but for more reasons that just that)

 

An '05 or '06?

 

When I was looking for a car recently, I was only considering high-mpg or non-oil-based fuel vehicles. The Honda Civic Hybrid didn't have a hatchback, wasn't a "full" hybrid, and besides my last 2 cars were Honda Civics, for about 20 years, ho-hum. And I needed the family space (2 *growing* kids), 4 doors, as well as really liking a hatchback.

The only other car I was thinking about was a TDI from VW, but you can't get those in California at all for 2005. I was thinking of potentially using biodiesel...but VW unreliability, and not being convinced that biodiesel was reasonable would ultimately have steered me away from it, I firmly believe.

So, even before I test drove a Prius, I was pretty sure that's where I was going to end up. I didn't even bother to test drive the Honda Civic Hybrid...Buying a car is mostly a cerebral exercise for me, lots of research for the lowest environmental impact car that makes sense. The biodiesel thoughts were more like, we wouldn't be in Iraq if it weren't for our "foreign oil dependence", and since the Prius also fits this mental category for me, I was sold.

-Roger

 

In our first round of crossshopping, we tried a HCH and a Prius on the same day. We were sold on the Prius after the test drive.

We wanted to wait about a year to a year and a half to buy, so we didn't put our name on the list. Two months later when my wife totalled my car, we put our name on the list. We put our name on the list with our package info ready to get the car towards the end of the year. (yes, I know I know, I am getting to the point). After hearing it would be another 8 months after waiting four, started looking at the Camry as the only other serious car.

So in the end, we compared a HCH, Camry, Corolla (long enough to sit in and see it was too small). and a Matrix (I considered it, but my wife never did). The only thing we gave up was getting a sunroof, but we got the SE/SS.

 

hm.. Mazda 3 (at many auto-shows), Mazda 6 (aka the really cool Altenza), Audi A4, Subaru WRX, IS300, BMW 5-series, Civic Hybrid. Extremely biased against the Prius because of the ugly looks of an Echo (at least the NHW11).

After driving 8 years with a CVT, I was adamant to never step backwards to auto or manual. That cut down options to the A4 or HCH.

HCH killed itself due to no folding backseat, and even smaller trunk although the test drive wasn't bad; the A4 wasn't exactly great MPG for my commute.

So I took another look at the Prius, and it fit my requirements exactly: CVT, folding back seats, high MPG, 4 doors, and it was nice that it was Japanese too. Then the options like HID/NAV/bluetooth/JBL won me over.

Now I'm upset about the JBL, and I do miss revving to 6.8K .

 

I was looking at the Mazda 3, Mazda 6, Ford Fusion, Ford Focus, Honda Civic (hybrid and normal), Honda Accord (hybrid and normal), and VW Passat before I fell in love with the Prius and ordered one.

 

I was looking at the 2006 Subaru Legacy, 2006 Lexus IS250 AWD, 2006 Honda Civic Sedan, 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid, and 2006 Honda Accord, 2006 Ford Escape, 2006 Acura TSX. Kinda all over the map of models but after some time concentrated on getting a hybrid model.

I then looked into the Prius and was very surprised at what options it came with since I really thought it would be bare bones. Some of the gadgets it has and with the HCH not having rear fold down seats, put the Prius on top.

 

The only other car I looked at seriously was the Mini Cooper. Ultimately I decided it was just too "cutesy" for me to actually drive around...but I built my dream Mini on their website and it was a beaut...

But ultimately I couldn't be happier with my '05 Salsa Package 6. Yeeha!

 

I'm pretty much dead set on getting a Prius and am working to get one next year . I did like the scions, but after test driving one, I knew it wouldn't work when I could barely fit in the back seat (xa) and I wouldn't drive a xb because it just doesn't work to have a box with an echo engine. I just look at other cars than the Prius to keep an open mind.
Honda Civic Hybrid (Too expensive)
Honda Element (MPG isn't that great)
Normal Honda Civic (If I can't get a hybrid, this is my first choice.)
Rav4 (Just an overall unremarkable car)
Matrix (Just because of the hatch)
Corolla ( Who hasn't ever considered a Corolla? )
Honda Insight ( Way too small, but gets great MPG )
The Prius still beats all of these as far as engineering and utility go, but the new civics are nice too.

 

Needed to replace a mid-sized sedan style car. Have always bought domestic, mid sized cars (4 in family). Looked at SUVs but couldn't wrap my head around the gas-hog aspect of them. Decided that fuel conservation was my focal point and went hybrid. Looked at Ford Hybrid Escape and Prius. Of course, Prius won

Interesting that so many posters wanted a hatchback. I've never had a hatchback and am still adjusting to that rear view. What's the appeal?

 

The rear view on the Prius is a bit unusual. The appeal is separate from that -- it's headroom. Something between a station wagon and a small SUV for carrying taller items...

 

I looked at the Acura TSX, Acura TL, 2006 Civic Si and HCH, and then decided on a 2006 Lexus is250 after weeks of research. The car is rated at 32MPG HWY. Would've been my 4th Lexus. Since the is250 was not available yet at that time, I rented a Prius just for fun, to see what it was like. I fell in love with the car instantly. The technology really impressed me. The utility of the car (fold down seats, hatchback, roomy back seat) impressed me too. The Prius has much more rear leg room that the is250. Since the 2006 Prius comes in Leather, I was sold. I put a deposit down on a 2006. I cancelled my deal at Lexus.

 

Wow, Techno, 3 lexuses, then a Prius? Pretty impressive.

MN--granted the rear view is scrambled, I still like the 4-dr. hatchback more than I thought I would. For one thing, I expected the rear seat to be a little flimsy and loose, as I've seen them on some "low-end" 2-dr. hatchbacks. It isn't. And I like the carrying flexibility. I don't need for the rear seats to be folded down that often. But when I do---such as for carrying my bike, or my son's cello---I do.