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Prius or Civic Hybrid?

jelloshotsrule said:
3 civic hybrids and 1 prius in the family

the prius is definitel more spacious, but does have a bit of awkwardness about it. however, you get used to it. the prius has a fancier interior with the screen, etc.

the civic is a basically a normal sedan, with much better mileage (and lower emissions). it used to have the manual option, but i think they made it automatic only in the last year or two... sadly

not sure if you care about ipod connectivity options, but the new civics are supposed to have a pretty sweet set up for that, not sure about the prius. the older ones do have a sort of hack connection available that even lets you watch the ipod video on the screen. hah.

i think if i were buying one, i'd get the civic, as i think they're a few thousand cheaper and overall more "normal"... isn't there also a toyota camry hybrid? too big/expensive? haven't read much about it.
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The awkwardness does wear off rather quickly. The "fin" on the rear window confused the hell out of me at first, but now I don't even realize that it's there.

As for iPod connectivity, I don't know if the new Prii :) offer it, but there are GREAT after market options out there. I bought a fully loaded 05 Prius- gps, bluetooth, etc (all I really wanted was the bluetooth, but now I will never again buy a car unless it has both bluetooth and gps built in). I immediately bought an aftermarket ipod connector ( I did my research first) and hooked it up myself- had to take apart the glove compartment, remove the dash, remove some huge wire box (scary!), and bam- installed. Took about 20 minutes. Now my iPod sits in my glove compartment, it charges when the car is on and I can control it from either my steering wheel or the in dash touch screen. Seriously- I LOVE that touch screen thing. So much fun!

wordmunger said:
According to this site it's about $2,000 - $3,000. Since my Passat costs almost that much in repairs *every year* I'm not too worried about a one-time cost 7 or 8 years from now.
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My understanding is that anything hybrid related (i.e. the battery) is covered for 10 years. From what I have heard, the Prius hsa been out much longer in Japan than in the U.S. and there haven't been any battery issued yet.
 
devilot said:
That's great news (just went and read the little blurb) but, argh! Jetta's are too big. :p Ah well, gotta take what you can get, right?
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The Rabbits might get the TDI in 2008. They look smaller then the Jetta, but are actually about the same size, since they are from the same platform. :)
 
j26 said:
Some of the modern diesels are pretty good and clean,
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Indeed, they burn cleaner, or maybe I should say they're less polluting than petrol cars, except for one specific emission that is ca acogenic, which will be overcome through future refinement and development of diesel and filter technology.
 
I'd go with the civic hybrid, something about the prius trunk looks really ugly.
But make sure they have a warranty on the battery like toyota (i think its a 7 year warranty), my mom knew a guy who had to replace a prius battery outside of warranty, it was going to set him back like $8000 :eek:
 
Lyle said:
Why is it hard to park? (I've never been in one, and haven't really seen one up close yet.)
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iKwick7 said:
How is it hard to park? I live in the city and this thing parks like a glove.
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Yeah. I dunno. I take it back.

Mainly because I went to get in my Corolla after work today and found I'd left it on the yellow line of the parking space. This is part of a larger trend of me struggling to park both my car and the woman's car.

I think I'm in a parking slump or something.
 
Isn't there a Camry & Hylander Hybrid?

Everyone seems to dislike the Prius but I think it looks cool. It's unique, and has it's own style, the interior is pertty sweet too.
 
Id go for the Civic Hybrid, way better looking IMO, actually looks like a normal car.

On a side note, can you get leather on a civic hybrid? How about dual zone climate control, or just like, digital climate control, I hate all those stupid knobs with the blue and the red on them, I end up moving them every 5 minutes as I get to0 cold, then too hot, then too cold.
 
Dave00 said:
Also consider the TDI models from Volkswagen. They aren't as loud as old diesels, and get great mileage. Only problem is you have to use diesel fuel, which is not at every gas station in the U.S.

Dave
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Except VW does not support their customers. Google the Pasat oil sludge problem.
 
wordmunger said:
According to this site it's about $2,000 - $3,000. Since my Passat costs almost that much in repairs *every year* I'm not too worried about a one-time cost 7 or 8 years from now.
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I got hosed on the Passat oil smudge problem. I went from a fine running, well-maintained car, to a $7,000.00 repair, in about 12 miles! VW extended the warrantee because of the problem. They asked for proof of every 3K oil change. Get this, the dealer did the first 2 years of them. They smoked their computers and could not reproduce my earlier ones. I had 12 of 18. VW said, "Sorry dude"! I will never buy another VW.
 
VM Golf TDI !

Definitely get a modern diesel (if available).

Hybrids only do well in city driving where they can recover energy from braking.

Diesel is much more fuel efficient all around. I have a 2002 VW Golf TDI. Not at all like diesel trucks. TDI uses a computer controlled fuel injection system to accurately control ignition to reduce noise and emissions.

I've gotten as high as 58mpg on the highway doing 55-60mph. The VW is FUN to drive, especially because its a diesel. Diesels have AWESOME low end torque. Its sort of hard to get used to. You are probably used to revving the heck out of an engine to hot rod it, but you don't do that in a diesel. Casual cruising at low RPM, romp on the throttle and it takes off, no downshifting required. Acceleration from 60-90mph on the highway is exhilarating.

Hot rod the VW Golf and I still get 46-48 in city/highway mix.

To be fair, the exhaust can still be smelly when first starting up on a cold morning, but there's rarely any smoke and after warming up it doesn't smell any more than most gasoline cars.
 
Will never buy another VW... worst car I have ever owned.

We bought a Nissan Versa - conventional. Couldn't justify the extra $18K for the Prius, because we do so little driving (Since Christmas we've put on less than 1,000 miles - no commuting, no freeways in Victoria). So, for driving 3K-4K a year, well, a hybrid would never pay off... the only thing that would make sense is if plug-in electric version was available, because we seldom go more than 10 miles in a trip.

The Versa is roomy (way larger internally than the Fit or Yaris. We can put our 6'5" son in the back seat comfortably), very quiet (CVT auto tranny means that the motor seldom revs above 2000 rpm other than accelerating off the line.) It gets 30 mpg city/36 mpg hwy in US gallons.
 
SMM said:
Except VW does not support their customers. Google the Pasat oil sludge problem.
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From what i've read (and i've driven a canadian jetta) i would never buy a VW over your side of the pond. In europe though they have a very good reputation (slipping a bit lately) and I don't think any european VW owner would be treated like americans are.
 
iGav said:
I say... Prius. And that's only because I detest Toyota's only marginally less than Honda's.
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I'm the other way around. :eek:

mfacey said:
What I always wonder is what is going to happen in a few years when the Prius' batteries need to be replaced. Unless they are some kind of amazing super batteries that don't lose capacity, eventually you're going to have to fork out a considerable amount of money to get new ones. I would really want to know from the dealer what the dealer is with that.
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I have always had a similar question regarding breakdowns. What happens when I car breaks down, and I get it towed to a nearby garage? How the hell is anyone other than Toyota going to fix a Prius? It's like asking an auto mechanic to fix my computer. :confused:

jelloshotsrule said:
the civic is a basically a normal sedan, with much better mileage (and lower emissions). it used to have the manual option, but i think they made it automatic only in the last year or two... sadly
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You used to be able to get a manual hybrid? Why? Do those cars even have gears? I thought it was all automatic with no gear changes?
 
Abstract said:
You used to be able to get a manual hybrid? Why? Do those cars even have gears? I thought it was all automatic with no gear changes?
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You'd have thought hybrids would only come with CVT's to truly optimise their efficiency.

A manual needs to be driven perfectly everytime (unlikely) to achieve comparable efficiency and automatics use power sapping torque converters which really makes a farce of their green credentials.
 
iGav said:
You'd have thought hybrids would only come with CVT's to truly optimise their efficiency.

A manual needs to be driven perfectly everytime (unlikely) to achieve comparable efficiency and automatics use power sapping torque converters which really makes a farce of their green credentials.
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You think hybrids would be diesels and not petrol. Have you seen the fuel efficiency of diesel hybrids? Around 100 MPG+. They really wipe the floor with petrol hybrids.
 
TBi said:
You think hybrids would be diesels and not petrol. Have you seen the fuel efficiency of diesel hybrids? Around 100 MPG+. They really wipe the floor with petrol hybrids.
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That will change with U.S. legislation me thinks.
 
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