Why did you choose a C over a liftback?

Not to sound elitist, but I see no reason to buy a C. You get less of everything you would otherwise get with the other models.

 

The Prius is a nice upgrade to the Corolla. Since I switched, I'm spending half as much on fuel, much more cargo room, quieter, nicer comfort and handling and more enjoyable to drive.

 

Including the pricetag. Oh wait... that's one reason.

 

Not to be cryptic, but sometimes less is more.

Easier to park in a small parking space, tightest turning radius I've never see since GoKarts..
Not only was it cheaper, we got a good trade-in on the old 2002 Corolla..

The very best part is eco-driving for fun. We don't joy ride too much (being old folks), but we do like it when we can get between 60-70 MPG!
Around here, it's always slow going heavy traffic.. That's when the C does best..
I think it's amazing to go two miles up to the pizza place and get 72 MPG, up and back.. Blows my mind..

 

Well, the 59% EV gives it away. Honestly, I never mix in the EV miles when I talk about miles per gallon.
But that's just me.

 

actually, my wife and I thought the c is a real Prius (and not a Yaris). it was only $19k on sale. i sometimes wish for a v instead, especially when we try to sleep overnights in the c on the volcano. anyway the real Prius looks like a cockroach. yeech

 

While I liked test driving the Prius sedan - I do not like the looks either. Somehow reminds me of a pod of some kind.

OT: robertmaria - please take care with Tropical Storm Ana approaching. Ever the procrastinator - I'm getting hurricane clips installed on Friday! Surprised the contractor agreed to do it on short notice. After Iselle I decided to get it done but we had a bunch of visitors from the mainland. Called the contractor the day Ana popped up - kinda embarrassing.

 

I always tell people C doesn't stand for City, it stands for Cheap.

 

For me it was a matter of how I use the car. My partner has a sedan that we use if we need to transport others/large amounts of cargo. My car, the C, just takes me to work and back every weekday. I didn't see the need for the larger car. Plus I was changing from a small peugeot convertible so it handled similarly re parking etc (as we both have to park on the street and spaces can be tight).

 

mahalo @ewaboy no worries with Hurricane Ana,,, itz a three hour storm then clean up. i figure we will just eat at the shelter,,, every day is a gift, a new day. today our gift is to help others in the storm i guess,,,

 

I wanted the C particularly because it was smaller and easier to park and looked sportier than the traditional prius models. If the plugin had the sunroof option that might have tempted me though...

 

I test drove both and I much preferred the C. I hated the raised center console thing in the liftback, I'm a big guy and it made the cockpit feel cramped. My wife was more comfortable driving the C as well. I traded in a Lexus LS430 for the C which my wife did not like driving because it was too big. I owned a series of cars that were either too large or too powerful for my wife to comfortably drive. We both love the driving the C, I don't regret a thing.

 

You cant get the Bright Colors! I like ORANGE!

 

I recently stepped down in size from a liftback to a C. The regular Prius has always felt big to me and I never found a sweet spot with the seat where I could reach the gas and not be hugging the steering wheel. The flying bridge was neither a turn off or on for me, but the flat control buttons were definitely not my cup of tea and caused distraction. I never took passengers and rarely had much cargo. I appreciated the car but never liked it.

On the other hand, the C feels "just right"for my personal, passenger, and cargo needs. I can rest my arm on the driver door armrest, reach all pedals just fine, and twist beloved knobs when I am not using steering wheel controls. Seat feels great. Enjoy the drive feel much more than the numbness of the liftback. Really enjoying this car and plan to have a long relationship with it.

 

Haven't gotten a C yet, but it's a front-runner.

Was considering a Corolla - there was a thread on another forum about "Is a Prius for me", so I looked at it and didn't like the dash layout. Then I looked a bit more and found the Prius C.

For me:

• Price is only slightly more than the Corolla.
• Blue is a nicer color blue (Blue Streak) than Nautical Blue (Prius) or Blue Crush (Corolla - only on S model, and I don't like the S-model dash as well).
• Shifter is on the floor where it belongs.
• Automatic temperature control (only single-zone, but that's fine for me).
• Less wrap-around interior.
• Two-Toned interior.

Things I don't like about the Prius C are easily worked around:

• I don't like the hubcaps, but there are nice sets for under $50 that I do like.
• I'm not crazy about the basic radio, but it is easily swapped out, and if I am going to swap it out anyway, it is easier to justify than a swap of an Entune unit.
• I don't like not having a coolant temp gauge or tach, but I have an Ultra-Gauge for that and there seems to be a good place to mount one.
  
• Fog lights are relatively easy to add.
• I'm not crazy about the chrome Altezza-style taillights, but I can get LED replacements for $300 or so - not sure if it is worth it, but ...

 

I bought my Prius C to replace my 17 year old beater car that I use to go to parking lots with high risk of door dings and that I can street park without caring if the bumper gets banged up. My all-in px was $18k (sub $16k before taxes/fees), which I figure is the price of a Honda Fit (give or take). I don't value high mpg much (esp. with today's gas prices) and don't care too much for the eco-friendliness, but liked the price, Toyota reliability, and potential value retention.

As far as space goes, I do not have and will not have kids, and with the 60/40 rear fold down, seats, I have the flexibility of hauling a good amount of cargo in it when needed. Also, smaller car means easier to find street parking.

For a car like this, I didn't take performance into consideration at all - to me, its sole purpose is to get from point A to point B in an economical manner. I purchased the car without even test driving it (had my friend test drive it, who wound up buying another one later that day). My only prior experience with a Prius was driving my brother's 2004 Prius - my impression was that the car's handling was poor (too heavy, body roll, and poor grip on turns), but I needed a relatively cheap car and the C @ $18k all-in fit the bill. I have a sports car if I ever have the urge for true performance. However, after driving the C (and not engaging Eco mode), I found the C's handling to be way superior to my brother's 2004 Prius - better road feel, sharper turns, more "grippy". I was pleasantly surprised by the C.

Looks-wise, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am indifferent about how any of these cars look, but my friend that I mentioned above, said he wanted to buy a Prius a while ago because he liked the concept, but [his wife] hated how it looked. He didn't know about the Prius C, which is much more pleasant to his/her eyes, further prompting him to buy the car.

I can see the need for a regular Prius or a v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon, not an uppercase) for people that have a family or need more space, but not worth the extra $6k+ premium in my mind if you don't require the extra space. Just my take on the subject.

 

OK, keep in mind that this comes from somebody who does own a "Standard" Prius and not a Prius c.

But honestly it just depends on how you look at it.

I'm not knocking my own Standard Prius, but I like compact cars. Sometimes less can be more. I don't know how much of this is psychological self delusion but I always feel more agile and quick in a smaller car. Also in an urban area, I love the ease of parking something smaller.

I think there is an assumption, sometimes even within automotive companies themselves, that bigger is better.

From an economical standpoint it's been a good eccentricity for me to have, because whenever I look for cars I gravitate towards smaller not larger. Frustrating for salesmen trying to up sell me.

This reality may not have as much traction when comparing Prius to Prius in the "Prius" family, but as far as maintenance and tires, often smaller translates to cheaper and thus cheaper to maintain.

Another "advantage"? Not so much with The Prius, but with my Honda Fit, it's compact size made hand washing and waxing a snap. Less metal, means less elbow grease and time when it comes to maintaining the finish.

I suppose I should be honest and admit, that if the Prius c's gas mileage been significantly better than the "Standard Prius"? I'd probably be driving a Prius c today. But primarily I passed on a Prius c because I wanted a change and The Prius c just reminded me too much of The Honda Fit from which I was coming from.

 

I own both and though it is not a clear cut Gen3 wins overall. "C" has a better dashboard layout and driver ergonomics, less solar gain and better handling out of the box. Gen3 has everything else: space, trunk, more power. More bells and whistles.

If you think when Toyota pitched Aqua in Japan, it had significantly better MPG (or km/L) than Prius. So it was a "lesser car with better MPG for less". When they brought it to US and EPA tested, it was a wash (I am btw getting better MPG in Gen3 then "C", but it could be b/c of cold and it is still green). So it is "lesser car with the same MPG for not as much less?".

When Gen4 comes out and if Toyota delivers on promises (better/cheaper) it will be "lesser car with worse MPG for the same money?" that may be the end of the line for "C". I suspect they will discontinue it at that point, and follow the path they had taken in Europe: hybrid Yaris.

Other aspect that "C" is geared toward young/single/no kids buyers. Problem is that insurance on Prii is very high for this age group. Older gen is likely to be married, have dogs, kids, etc and more likely to buy a bigger car. And if you compare equipment the "C" three is equivalent to Prius two, and the difference in price is not that big.

So you'd ask why I buy one? It was a good deal and I just needed a car to commute to/from work. Could have gotten something like Mirage or Mazda2. But decided to go with "C". My insurance is cheap so "C" would be cheap to run anyways.

 

We are talking about Hybrids so that statement makes no sense.

 

RE Insurance, I was a bit surprised how much my premium was. For an $18k car, it was a very close to the insurance premium on my $100k+ car (full coverage on both, Prius C was maybe $200 cheaper/6 months). Any idea on the factors of why this car's insurance is so expensive? High theft rates?