Cost and Build Quality of Prius vs. Corolla?

Yup, conventional automatic tranny is a wear item and has limited lifespan.
So is everything else. I think you got your money worth.
But, you also paid $22,000-29,000 for gas in that corolla.

 

I drove a near new Corolla rental around San Francisco and Sonoma for a week in 2009 at the time I was looking for a new car. The Corolla did the job for that trip was not remotely close to the Gen 3 Prius as a car.

Apart from mpg, ability to move large items, features, and the items listed above, my recollection is that the Corolla did not handle as well and was not as relaxing to drive on the freeway. The absolute killer was lack of legroom: not enough for me to drive it on a long trip and not enough legroom to drive more than a few miles if both my sons were with us.

IIRC I thought at the time that the near new Prius was quieter on the highway than the near new Corolla, but did not drive them on the same tires or roads. At 255,000 miles, I would expect a Prius to be a lot quieter than a Corolla.

 

I got rid of my '09 Corolla LE and got a 2012 Prius Plug-in base model.

No comparison on the ride comfort. The Prius is like a king-size bed compared to a straw mat for the Corolla. I'm convinced that the Corolla was designed to be uncomfortable, to drive you to upgrade to a Camry.

My fuel costs are now less than half of what they were with the Corolla. While I sometimes got 40 usmpg on the highway, it was around 25 for my city commute. My Prius gets over 50 in both city and highway driving.

My original reason for the upgrade was for more cargo room. The Prius certainly delivers on that.

 

I rode around in the new Corolla while waiting from my Prius to leave the body shop. The Corollla is just a box that gets you from one place to another. It's plain Jane interior and droll driving nature made me long for my Prius. While it did its job decently - I just didn't feel special, or had the same level of engagement as my Prius.

I have to say this - my Prius is waaay cool, whereas with my other cars (other than the Fiat Strada, or the Forester on a really bad snow day) I feel nothing really on a daily basis. The Prius is a fun car.

 

Good choice, enjoy!

 

cary1952 has had the car more than 2.5 years now