Prius or Civic?

We were almost convinced to purchase a Civic Hybrid from reading Edmunds.com and searching up other web sites. The car looked nice enough and cost a bit less, had better crash ratings and so on...

Three visits to Honda Dealerships changed our minds. Honda Hollywood, no Civic Hybrids on the lot, no demonstrator car. Honda Santa Monica, no Civic Hybrids on the lot, no demonstrator car and one hell of a jerk salesman that didn't know much of anything about the car, how to get it, what it cost and seemed quite irritated that we should waste his time trying to buy one. Miller Honda in Culver City, no Civic Hybrids on the lot, no demonstrator car, a salesman who didn't even know where the battery system was located on a Civic Hybrid. He told us we basicly couldn't get one and he mentioned after a while we should talk to someone else in the dealership.

Toyota Santa Monica, a nice salesman introduced himself, talked about the Prius and their dealership and took us for a test drive in their demonstrator car. He explained many things about the car and how to go about ordering one. The next day we returned with a $1000 down payment to place an order for a Package #3.

That was our exerience.... we look forward to getting the car in the next couple weeks.

 

I bought my Prius a year ago. At the time, there was no comparison in my mind between the Civic Hybrid and a Prius.

I have not had a chance to test drive the 06 Civic Hybrid, though. Here is why I selected the Prius over the 05 Civic Hybrid (in no particular order.)

1. The Prius got superior mileage. My real world mileage on my last tank of gas was 54 MPG combined city and highway.

2. The difference in price between the non-hybrid Civic and the hybrid Civic did not justify the marginal boost in mpg that the Civic hybrid offered(the 06 has a new power and drive train, so that may no longer be valid.)

3. The Prius had much more interior room. I'm 6'3", and with the drivers seat all of the way back I can get in the back seat and still have about 3 inches between my knees and the back of the driver's seat.

4. The Civic hybrid had no real option packages to speak of, everyone pretty much got the same amenities. My Prius has leather seats, 6 CD changer sound system, SKS, auto dimming mirror with HomeLink, power everything, airbags everywhere, etc.

5. The 05 Civic hybrid did not drive in electric only mode at all.

6. The Prius felt more luxurious whereas the 05 Civic hybrid actually felt more like a circa 1980s Corolla (it felt kind of "chinchy" to me.) Toyota has rolled down a lot of features from the Lexus line into the Prius.

7. The Prius did not look like every other "economy" car on the road.

Herb

 

I own a 99 Civic with about 182,000 miles on it and just purchased a Prius. The Honda dealer had nothing to say in explaining why I should buy a Hybrid Civic except, "It's a Honda, enough said." A visit to the Toyota dealer after studying up on Priuschat.com and I was sold. The Prius has a great look and a better drive compared to a Civic. You sit higher; the hatchback makes it versatile and the headroom and rear seat legroom make you feel like you don't have to apologize to anyone who has to sit in the backseat. After three weeks of commuting in my Prius, I couldn't be happier with it.

 

I test drove both back in 2004. I didn't like the Civic from the get go. I didn't care for how it handled, was disappointed that it wasn't a full hybrid (I didn't realize that before I drove it). I also needed lots of space and the back seats didn't fold down - I don't know if that has changed on the 06/07. The thing I hated the most was that it seemed like the interior was incredibly cheaply constructed. The interior door panel was all one piece of molded plastic - YUCK. I have friends with regular Civic's and they aren't nearly as shoddily constructed on the inside as the hybrid. When I test drove the 04 Prius I knew that it was the car for me!

 

My first choice was the Civic Hybrid. At $23,900 (MSRP with Nav), it was a bit cheaper than the Prius. My prior cars have been very distinctive...Subaru Impreza WRX STi...Lancer Evolution VIII...etc. I kind of don't like the attention you get by having a distinctive car. I prefer to blend in, especially after my STi was valdalized in a parking lot.

I think the Civic is a better looking car. The car that came in first was the Prius with Package 7. I had hook ups so I got the Prius in SoCal after about 1 week of waiting. I was told that if I wanted a Package 3, I'd have to wait 4 to 6 weeks. Even though I was able to get the Package 7 for about $27,700 ($600 below MSRP), I still think the Civic Hybrid is the better value. Granted I have more equipment...HIDs, JBL, SKS, backup rear view camera, etc., I don't "need" all the features. I didn't want to risk not getting a carpool sticker (rumors were they were cutting them off at 50k).

Now that I've owned my Prius for about 2 months, I'm very pleasantly surprised with the car. I don't have any regrets getting it but all things equal, I think the Civic Hybrid is a better looking car and a better value given the level of equipment that I require. This is not a flame against the Prius so please don't be offended. I primarily bought a hybrid get a carpool lane sticker so for me I valued getting the car right away and guaranteed that I was more likely to get a sticker.

 

Little has changed in Canada except Toyota upped their base Prius to $31,400 and Honda dropped their price of the 06 HCH to $25,900. Add another $1000 to the Toyota in Victoria BC because the dealer sells 1K above MSRP ! The price of the Honda is rather reflective of the CDN/USA Dollar but the Toyota is another story. :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

My last car was a '98 Cavalier convertible with a Z4 engine. It was responsive, and a nice 'snug' little car. It had no room in the back seat - I used to joke that it was a 5 passenger car but only if the 3 in the rear seat were amputees - but I'm single and almost never have more than 1 passenger.

Two weeks ago, I got T-boned at an intersection - my car went airborn, flew across the road and down an embankment, where I thudded onto the ground and got stopped by a tree a second or so later. The 'thud' caused my head to go sideways and hit the side window, raising a bump that's still swollen and bruised today. Luckily I wasn't killed - if he'd hit me closer to the front of the car I'd be dead for sure. So my priority in looking for a new car was to get one with side air bags.

I called several dealers and found one who had a Scion xA, a Corolla, a Yaris and a Prius for me to try. The Scion had the 'snug little car' feel I'd loved in my old car, but I felt sure the rubber band was going to break. The Corolla was better, but after driving a coupe convertible, I found the side pillar obstructed my vision. The salesman talked me into test driving a Camry - it was MUCH better, but a lot more than I wanted to spend. As soon as I drove the Prius, I fell in love - almost as responsive as my old Cavalier, but with lots of room inside, excellent visibility, and not that feeling I was driving a huge marshmallow with an undersized engine. I didn't take the Prius - it was last year's model and had 5000 miles on it as a 'dealership' car (used as a loaner and rental).

I called some Honda dealers, but no one had a Civic Hybrid I could test-drive. My son, who lives 250 miles away, test drove the Civic Hybrid and told me it was 'ok, but the pillar blocks my side vision when I need to merge into traffic'. So I called other Toyota dealers.

6 days ago I drove home from a dealer with my 2006 Super White with package 5, which added stability control to the other safety features and also had a better stereo/cd player, and I got it for less than MSRP. I love it. This morning, I also noticed that it's big enough that if I ever got into an accident (knock on wood!) where my head went to the side, the window's too far for my head to hit before my seat belt would jerk me back (and my side airbags would help!)

Bottom line - I loved the Prius as soon as I drove it, couldn't even locate a Civic Hybrid to try, and I was able to get one quickly. With the Prius tax credit ($3150 vs around $1700 for the Civic), I felt that they were roughly the same price. Simple decision for me - expediency and some emotional considerations <g>

Happy car shopping!

 

I was honestly actually going to purchase the Civic Hybrid, without even considering the Prius. Call it ignorance, I suppose. My mother called me and had said that the dealership near her house was having a special on their new and used vehicles, so to Toyota I went.

I didn't even pull the vehicle out of the lot, and told the salesman that I had wanted it. I walked in with no intention of purchasing a vehicle, and walked out four hours later, a proud owner of a 2005 Prius. Greatest investment, ever.

-Box

 

I looked at the Civic first since I liked the looks of it but after a test drive I was not impressed with the ride, it felt really stiff and acceleration was a bit slow for my taste, since I travel with the family rear leg room is very important to me and the Civic did not have much. Drove over to Toyota dealer and after looking over the Prius I ended up driving the car home.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ravenlocks @ Apr 20 2006, 08:57 AM) [snapback]242619[/snapback]</div>

Our first hybrid: 2003 Honda Civic, now with 44000 miles.
Our 2nd hybrid: 2007 Prius #2 pkg, with 4800 miles.
Its difficult to compare a 2003 againts a 2007, even if you compared the same brand against itself.
The 2007 Prius has much much more now than what was offered by Honda then.
The Honda drives me nuts: whenever the traffic just creeps and crawls, the motor will not turn off
to save fuel. Its transmission stick: From Park to Drive -- NO detent. You can go from P to the
bottom of the shift travel and stop at 2nd gear, leaving you suddenly saying, "what gear am I in? . We have had a few repairs with the HCH, all under warantee.
The HCH has very good driver's vision. The sound system is 2nd rate. As for cabin cubic inches concerned, Prius has it. We seem to get better mileage on fwys with the HCH with straight away driving. Whereas, the Prius gets better [excellent] mileage on the fwys, when its crawling.
Back in early 2003, the HCH was a lot cheaper than now, since no one wanted one then, when gas
was a lot cheaper at that time.
Now, the HCH is priced about the same as the Prius, and for what you get, go Toyota. With the Prius,
you get a 4 door passenger car with the ability to convert it into a mini wagon, with seats folded down
from back to front, for bringing large packages home. Prius also offers a touring package, and a SKS.
The list is a long one, in favor of Toyota.