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Why (Not) the Toyota Prius?

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Comparisons: Toyota Prius Preferred

Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Quietness: Very quiet while driving; engine is quieter than Insight, road noise is less than Insight.
Audio & nav systems: The JBL audio system sounds very nice. Still getting use to the Nav system. There is alot of menu choices.
Powertrain performance: You have power when you need it.
Fuel economy: Who doesn't like 50mpg?
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Honda Insight: Reasons not to buy
Quietness: Too much road noise. Honda has alot of refinement in the Insight. I wanted to buy Honda over Toyota.
Ride smoothness: Felt too much of the road while driving.
Interior styling: The interior seemed very plastic and not put together well.
Dealership practices: Sales people tried to sell us car on lot. We wanted specific color and options. We wanted to know if they had our choice coming in. They wouldn't tell us. Folsom Lake Honda, Folsom, CA.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Available features: Nice range of options. You can go basic or go deluxe with the Prius 5 with the self parking, safety package, and radar cruise control. The Insight has limited options and 90% of the ones I was seeing on dealer lots seem to be the basic edition.
Materials & workmanship: The Prius feels more solid and like a real car, not a go cart.
Powertrain performance: Both the Prius and Insight will not win any sports car races, but the Prius has better power at any speed. The Insight feels slightly sportier, but that is not saying much.
Fuel economy: The Prius 50 MPG mixed driving is realistic. The worst MPG I have seen is 45 MPG and the best was 56 MPG. I can only compare that to tests results I have seen where the Insight is 38-42 MPG
Rear seat room & comfort: I have had people 6ft 2 inches in the back and they had head and leg room. The Insight is very tight and I, whom is 5 foot 10 inches tall had my head touching the roof, well the top the rear hatch actually.
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Honda Insight: Reasons not to buy
Ride smoothness: The Insight has a stiff ride. It makes it seem more sporty, but being more sporty than a Prius is not saying much. If I want sporty, I will get a Boxster or S2000.
Materials & workmanship: I think the workmanship is the usual Honda top notch for the money, but the materials feel cheap. Both the Prius and Insight could use simple upgrades in their dashes.
Quietness: The engine noise is annoying in the Insight. Both the Prius and Insight have engine noise, so if you dead quite inside, you will need to get a Lexus.
Rear seat room & comfort: This is a glaring issue with the Insight. Leg room is for children and my head hits the roof and a little bit of the rear hatch. There is a warning sticker about making sure go watch the heads of your rear seat passengers when closing the hatch.
Available features: There are more safety and luxury options on the Prius. You can tell Honda think the Insight will only be for econo car buyers, while the Prius is trying to appeal to mainstream buyers.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Fuel economy: What is not to like?!
Audio & nav systems: Very modern, all the necessary types supported, CD, mp3, iPod, sat radio. Good sound. Controls on the wheel are very convenient.
Interior styling: it's serene, hi tech looking, practical.
Reliability & durability: what's not to like?!
Control design: I really like the design of the dashboard - far and high, so that looking at it does not take much effort. The controls on the steering wheel are very convenient. Touch screen is great.
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Acura TSX: Reasons not to buy
Handling: Steering is way too sensitive, my wife totally hated it, it was a deal breaker for her.
Exterior styling: The grille is awful, which is a pity. The rest of the package is very nice looking.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Reliability & durability: Toyota's Prius has an excellent track record so I know it won't be in the shop on a regular basis
Fuel economy: Averaging 42-45 mpg in first 45 days -
Brand reputation & image: Toyota quality
Discounts & incentives: Excellent pricing was offered on a new outgoing Gen. 2 fully loaded model.
Audio & nav systems: They are excellent!
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Ford Fusion: Reasons not to buy
Discounts & incentives: Dealer stuck to factory pricing
Reliability & durability: This is a new car in hyrbid that has no track record
Price or payments: At list price this car offered very little the Prius did not, at a much higher cost
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Cargo capacity & towing: Seats fold down from hatchback and allow for larger loads
Materials & workmanship: Consumer reports and online forums indicated high quality and reliability
Fuel economy: Within first weeks average 51mpg. (I've always been a fuel-wise driver, and driving the Prius came naturally)
Reliability & durability: Too early to tell, but everything I"ve read and heard indicate it to be such. Also, Honda Civic hybrid very good, too
Rear seat room & comfort: Fold down seats and rear hatch entrance to place long cargo easily in space. HondaCivic did not have trunk access to rear seats.
Powertrain performance: Quick response, ease in handling. Did not drive Honda Civic, but rear seat was deal breaker.
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Honda Civic: Reasons not to buy
Rear seat room & comfort: No access from trunk area. Also, very strong chemical smell in vehicle...off gassing from fabrics. The prius did not have near the smell.
Interior styling: Just liked the layout of the Prius better. Design more complete. Civic seemed to "enclosed" where Prius felt more open...maybe more glass area.
Available features: Simply preferred style and feel of Prius better than Civic.
Cargo capacity & towing: Trunk only...no access to back seats. That killed it!
Front seat comfort: A little tight and off gassing from new car plastics was much stronger in Honda than in Prius.
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Comparisons: Toyota Prius Not Preferred

Nissan cube: Reasons to buy
Price or payments: I purchased the car for $15,200 (with some options and shipping). That is about half the cost of a Prius and less than other in-class cars. If the economy was better and my job more secure, I may have purchased the Prius.
Exterior styling: Very unique styling; I can turn heads without having to spending a fortune. I like boxy-curvy shape, wide stance, wrap-around rear window, side opening rear hatch, cool looking front end.
Interior styling: Very roomy, comfortable driver's seat, easy to get in and out, fold-down rear seats, and finally a dash that is truly unique and a break from all the other cars that have the same massive black plastic sloping dash with the same basic instrument panel.
Reliability & durability: I am hoping that reliability will be high because it is currently manufactured in Japan. My last car (1997 Camry) was the first car that was made outside Japan (North Carolina). Reliability was poor and ended my love affair with the Toyota brand.
Fuel economy: Approximately 30mpg is good and meets my personal "green" threshold.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons not to buy
Exterior styling: Too skinny. The car would be much more appealing to me if it had the wide stance of the Nissan Cube.
Price or payments: Price is too high in this uncertain economic time. Plus I tend to keep cars 10 to 12 years. I do not want to be faced with the cost of replacing the batteries (well over $1,500) eight to ten years from now.
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Honda Fit: Reasons to buy
Driving position & visibility: The Fit drives better than the Prius, although you probably feel the bumps more.
Color choices: More youthful colors, especially in the blues.
Cargo capacity & towing: With the seats down, there's a lot of storage room. Also innovative design for the rear seat positions.
Control design: Speedometer is nicely laid out.
Front seat comfort: The seats are just more comfortable.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons not to buy
Driving position & visibility: Can't see out the rear window.
Color choices: Hard to coordinate the exterior with the interior colors.
Cargo capacity & towing: Cargo area is too high so you can't put tall items in.
Control design: Center mounted displays.
Front seat comfort: Only the leather seats come with lumbar support, and only for the driver's side.
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Honda Insight: Reasons to buy
Fuel economy: It's EPA rated at 41/43. That's around what I'm getting.
Brand reputation & image: Honda has a good reputation for dependable cars.
Safety & braking: It's bare-boned, but it has good safety features (assorted airbags, and VSA). You can turn off the VSA, which you can't in a Prius. The Insight depends on VSA less, which avoids problems Prii are having. Also, the Insight isn't silent, so walkers hear it
Price or payments: The 2010 Honda Insight is probably the cheapest new hybrid currently available.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons not to buy
Safety & braking: Numerous reports of over aggressive Traction Control shutting down Prius engines on slippery/snowy/icy conditions; e.g. http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/prius_winter.html It didn't sound like Toyota was going to fix this in the new model.
Price or payments: Even the low end Prius was a few thousand more than the mid-range Insight EX.
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Honda Insight: Reasons to buy
Exterior styling: Front end look, tail lights and overall shape
Control design: ECO feedback is a great feature. High bright speedometer is easy to see. Easy to switch display modes. Tachometer, charge/disarge gauge. Over all colorful asthetic is well designed.
Interior styling: Seats are comfortable, head rests rear go down for better rear visability. Spilt seat folds flat for plenty or room. Storage bins under rear floor a useful. Placement of cup holders and storage are well layed out as well.
Handling: Feels like a responsive small car. Good feel of road, tight turning radius.
Price or payments: Lower price is a bonus on what is a nicer car
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Toyota Prius: Reasons not to buy
Control design: Dashboard in the middle is a no go, too high and far away, must look to the left, hard to read. Flying buttress console in the middle looks ridiculous and takes up to much room. Cup holder placement too far back.
Interior styling: Rear head rests obscure view. Bland looking color of dash display.
Handling: Sluggish on acceleration from stop. Feels heavy.
Exterior styling: It looks like an egg. Clear tail lights are too big. Front looks boxy.
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Toyota Camry: Reasons to buy
Ride smoothness: The Camry is exceptionally smooth - it glides over the roughest frost heaves and pot holes. Extremely comfortable for long trips.
Quietness: This is one of the quietest vehicles I've ever been in. Honestly the stock tires are the weakest link - replace them and it is even quieter.
Front seat room: Plenty of room for my 6'1" frame in the front.
Front seat comfort: Front driver's seat has excellent support and good adjustment.
Rear seat room & comfort: Plenty of room for my 6'1" frame in the back... Without needing to move the front seat forward!!! I never need to adjust the driver's seat to be able to comfortably seat adults in the back. More room than my Buick Riviera...
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Toyota Prius: Reasons not to buy
Front seat comfort: No height adjustment and a bizarre seating angle.
Front seat room: The front seats feel like they should slide back another notch or two... but they don't. Waaaay too close to the steering wheel for me.
Driving position & visibility: Due to the lack of height adjustment on the seat I was pitched forward and my head was precariously close to the roof.
Materials & workmanship: The plastic on the dash and doors feels cheap. The entire car seems to have cheap materials - it doesn't feel like a car that costs as much as it does...
Quietness: The Prius is rather quiet in the city, but on the highway it had far more road noise than the Camry hybrid. It also suffered from a lack of sound deadening that allowed noise from other vehicles to enter the cabin.
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Single Vehicle Reviews: Toyota Prius Pros and Cons

Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Past personal experience: Reliable, low cost for maintenance. Comfort and interior space. Technological advances.
Fuel economy: The new Prius is even easier to drive in a responsible manner and has improve MPG from previous models.
Handling: The steering is so effortless, you can turn this car on a dime.
Safety & braking: VERY sensitive brakes! Side air bags and many other safety features. The rear view camera is awesome not only for backing out of spaces but also for parallel parking.
Control design: The control panel for AC in the 2010 was vastly improved. Everything is at your finger tips for things like the hybrid displays, trip info, audio. Voice commands were simple to learn. The Bluetooth synch was even more effortless in the 2010.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Exterior styling: It looks even more sharp than the Gen II Priuses. Body styling has more of an edge to it.
Fuel economy: it gives the highest mileage among all cars. Beats Honda Insight hands down.
Reliability & durability: Toyota cars have been the most reliable cars during the past quarter century.
Discounts & incentives: cash for clunkers made buying it possible.
Past personal experience: My daughter has a 2009 priusand she is very happy with it. She likes 2010 even more,
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Fuel economy: It gets 40+ mpg no matter how badly you drive it.
Materials & workmanship: It's a Toyota
Past personal experience: I've owned three Toyotas and the Prius is a mature model.
Price or payments: Price was a good value
Safety & braking: It's a very safe car and has been rated tops in safety.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Reliability & durability: Consumer Reports reliability ratings and reading Prius owner's comments on the PriusChat online forum. Toyota's overall reliability reputation and specifically the Prius' reliability reputation.
Powertrain performance: Peppy response when needed yet very smooth and quite in normal driving. Powertrain reliability.
Brand reputation & image: The past reputation of the Prius as rated by such groups as Consumer Reports and the PriusChat online forum.
Available features: The Prius has available technology features not found on other cars today. Hands free navigation, Bluetooth phone and audio features with Voice command.
Fuel economy: 52 mile commute to work every day and averaging approximately 50 mpg. Reduces USA dependence on foreign oil and carbon footprint.
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Toyota Prius: Reasons to buy
Fuel economy: 53.9 mpg?! What's not to like?
Safety & braking: Tons of built in safety features
Reliability & durability: Toyota. That says it all
Available features: Advanced Technology
Interior styling: Very nice interior. The V isn't a basic car at all.
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