Prius vs Any other car

Get a Nissan Leaf & use Prius for long distance travel.

 

It sounds like you are really doing your homework on your next purchase.

One item that raises a flag for me concerning the Prius is 90% city driving. Is most of your driving short trips (less than 5 miles) with a lot of stop and go driving?

The reason I ask is that this is probably one of the worst case conditions for the Prius. Of course, you are probably talking of a drop of mpg down to about 40-45 mpg versus 50-55 for longer routes.

 

Even on short trips around town - not necessarily its forte - the Prius will get far better mileage than most other vehicles. OK, all other vehicles, unless you're going with an EV. I hunch you'll find the power adequate, though admittedly it's no sports car. It's not a wagon, either, but the hatchback is very practical and surprisingly roomy. I think you've already made your choice. You weren't really expecting us to disagree with you, were you?

 

< 3 miles! Get a bike.

 

How about Lexus RX450h AWD?

Ken@Japan

 

I have to smile, we went through a similar situation last summer. We decided to shop around and test drive many cars (add to your list to drive a Jetta TDI wagon, that had a fantastic quiet sunroof, but reliability is an issue). Our other vehicle is an Audi A4. No, the Prius doesn't have the power and AWD of the A4 and others we drove, but it has a lot going for it. We got to the point that all other cars were measured against the Prius. Like you, we found it's comfortable, has plenty of space in the hatch, less expensive and gets fantastic mileage. Our daily trips tend to be short (it's 8mi and 4 stop lights to work), but there are frequent longer trips. We've put about 10k on it in the past year and averaged 52mpg (calculated) - more than doubling the average mpg of my older Audi.

The only downside, it's not as good in the snow as my Audi is or old Subaru was, but I didn't replace the tires that came on it to see how they'd do (Bridgestone Ecopias). At best, they were marginal on our poorly plowed roads. I've had FWD cars before (Saab & Honda) that were fine in the snow. I'll be getting better tires this fall.

 

Or walk! Three miles is hardly worth changing into riding gear for.

 

I've been doing the "daily @ work with computers" for a couple decades now. Never gets boring

As to Leaf, ofcourse, being where you are, you can anyway only get the 2012 model !

 

should I buy the 2008 Prius with 43,000 miles or a brand new Honda Fit?

 

What are the prices of each?
How long do you plan to keep the car?
How will you pay for your car (cash? financing it?)
Average number of miles you drive in a year?

 

Good questions
I would add.
Both good cars
What model / package of each. There is quite a price range.
What shape is the Prius in? Do you know about any accidents?

 

should I buy the 2008 Prius with 43,000 miles or a brand new Honda Fit?

 

The Prius dealer is asking $17,000 and the Honda Fit dealer is asking $16,500. I plan on driving it around 20,000 miles a year. I plan on keeping it for as long as I can.

 

And dear Lotta, thanks for responding.

Iris

 

I'm sorry, but it's a well known fact that luxury cars sell, and subsequently price, their vehicles based (primarily) on image, prestige and exclusivity. Certainly performance and features factor into the equation...but not nearly enough to justify some of the obscene prices for many of the "luxury" rides.

They're selling image, and to most folks, higher cost means it must be better. Sometimes it is, but then that brings into play the economic construct of diminishing returns - ie, spending more money gets you smaller amounts of "better".

 

Iris, my call would be the Fit. Four years from now, you'll have 80k miles on the Fit. On the Prius, 120K. You'll have plenty of fresh miles left on the Fit, with the Prius, you'll be thinking about major maintenance or trading it in.

If the Prius had lower miles, say around 20K, Maybe I would go with the Prius.