One last question about my driving conditions and the Prius..

If I were you, and I wanted a Prius ... I'd buy the closest one to what I wanted RIGHT NOW. The leftovers are heavily discounted, and there's ZERO percent financing. Gas is supposed to hit $4 a gallon by Memorial day and stay there all summer, and some predictions have gas at $5 a gallon by year's end.

There sure won't be any 'deals' on Prii then ... OR good financing ... OR good availability. Forget ZERO financing on 2012's for a long, long time.

Buy now or regret it.

REV

 

I agree with you and with Richard--rent one for a week and drive the wheels off it. Considering your driving habits, your many short trips of 5 miles, I am guessing mileage in the low 40s for you.

I love my 2010 Prius, but I have to "Eco Mode it" constantly and also time my arrival to the red lights in order to eek something close to 50 mpg out of it. i wasd also a lead foot driver of my Toyota yaris before I obtained my Prius, so maybe renting the car for a week will change your driving habits a bit in a way that might surprise you. Gaining a few MPG becomes a real game for some of us.

Hertze rents the Prius, so I hope you can locate one to rent and then let us know your experience. Good luck

 

dupe

 

Have your cake and eat it too: find a certified low miles 2010.:rockon:

Toyota Certified Used Vehicles - Search Inventory

To option a 2012 Focus to the same level (smart key, auto air, etc) will cost several thousand dollars more.

 

Our '10 is my wife's daily driver on our 1.5 mile (3 mi RT) commute. We do 1 or more 300 mile interstate trips monthly, also. Our average is 50 mpg through most of our 3rd winter. Severe cold snaps and short commute predominance yield our lowest mpg tanks (40 mpg). Highway trips 50 to 60 mpg depending on wind, barring heavy rain or frozen stuff. Longer local trips 70 mpg is doable by timing lights. If we had a 5 mile one way commute we'd be around 55 mpg.

 

Cindy, I had this weird habit of renting 2010/11 Prius cars for over a year, one day per rental, then driving them on the highway for 150 miles or so, this was at least 10 different rental Prius', the result ...

every one of the cars got a solid 55 MPG highway which is at least 52 MPG actual.

Once you get these cars out on the road for 20 minutes, good and warmed up, they own it on fuel economy, 50+

btw, I'm still on this kick of shorter trips about 3 or 4 miles one way, and the gage is still holding a bit over 50, for about 48 actual.

No conventional car can touch that. The tradeoff? Prius is not a powerful car in terms of acceleration. It has a natural response to accelerate at leisurely pace. So many conventional drivers like to hammer the throttle cause they're in a hurry and many conventional cars tote around excess power that robs fuel economy.

 

Ok, Fit, Focus, Prius, etc ....

Honda Fit - Fuelly | Share and Compare Your MPG widely reporting about 33 to 34 MPG average with Fit. Good efficiency and some useful space for the money, zip around town and some like how it drives. No doubt it's a great compact car. But, that's the thing ... it's 161" long, under 67" wide ... it's subcompact. If you're petite and your family is, maybe it could work, but ...

I don't think the Fit is going to be so enjoyable on those 200 mile trips to St. Louis. I think Prius, although it has more road /tire noise than many would like (hey, we all want it quiet like a luxury car), eats up highway asphalt with ease. Prius cruises 70 MPH without flinching .... while getting 50 MPG (I could get that).

The Focus ... I guess you're talking about the new Focus hatchback that came out last year. I've sat in it, but not that familiar with it. I can say for sure, the rear seat and cargo room does not match Prius, I don't care what specs they put on paper, the Focus has notably less room back there than Prius.

Ford Focus MPG Reports | Fuelly fuelly reporting low 30s average for Focus.

bottom line - no matter what the commercials say and how they brag about 40 MPG highway on the best compact conventionals, they have 0% chance of matching Prius in mixed city/highway. Prius employs every trick in the book - HSD, regen brakes, LRR tires, low Cd, etc, etc ... to maximize fuel economy in a non-plug in car and still manages to be a comfortable, reliable and practical daily driver car.

 

Around here, many Toyota dealers rent Prius. Might be different over there.

 

Try Cars.com with a new car search should help you narrow it down!248 pkgIIIs 66 Red ones within 500 miles of me you should get about the same! You have to have a second color choice.
New Toyota Prius in 55327 - Cars.com
Hope this helps,Take care!