LOL That's exactly why I bought the Prius C With what I save on gas when compared to driving my Mustang I pay for my Prius C! So I got a free car!
I too pay less for gas and payment than I did for gas alone in my 'substitute' daily driver of last summer. Not true of the xB which had a catastrophic failure last spring.
I congratulate you on driving a car for that long before replacement. IMO most cars can achieve fairly high mileage numbers if well taken care of in their lifespan. Even though I certainly don't want to discourage c buyers, it does not make any economic sense to buy a new car just for an uptick in MPG. I cant wait to replace my current vehicle, but that is probably because it is on its last legs (don't really know that because I was not the original owner) with 200k on a Jeep. I tend to hang on to cars a long time like you, they only improve in their value the longer they are on the road. I certainly hope that you achieve 400k in the c. That would be impressive .
I bought mine on April 28, 2012. 45k+and not any issues to date. Oil changes every 10k and tire rotations every 5k. I put ecopia tires on at 25k due to a sidewall cut and they are really smooth. I drove 34k miles from May 1 to December 31 delivering pizza. My overall is 46mpg; a little low probably due to a bit more agressive driving than a commuter. Interestingly though, I always get 52-53 mpg on highway trips.
I did a spreadsheet to show gas savings for 2 vehicles over a certain milage and any gas price. I punched in my savings with prius c (46mpg) vs. navigator (15 mpg) for 45,ooo miles with gas at $3.50. I saved $7,000, so the prius looks like a pretty good investment. If I punch in 300k miles, it's a no brainer. Click link to punch in your own scenario with miles driven and gas cost Welcome to Google Docs
22,000 Miles since June 30th of last year - just breaking in. ( I live in Iowa, and play in the mountains - lots of driving )
Here's a tidbit for you: I just got back from Europe and found that gas in Copenhagen is about $10 per gallon!! I hope we never get there
I have had my car a year and five months and just hit the 53,000 mark. Luckily, most places I travel to have affordable fuel prices.