Used Hybrid Question .. Prius vs. Insight

Gents .. not sure what kind of responses I'll get here on the good 'ol Tacoma forums but it's worth a shot.

I'm tired of driving my truck 80 miles round trip everyday. I'm going to park it M-F and pick up a used hybrid. The gas savings alone will pay for the car, not to mention the wear and tear on the truck. It's an 09 with almost 95k miles. I drive around 25k a year.

I'm going to buy used and I thought it was a no brainer.. 2008-2009 Toyota Prius. I can find them all day long with 80k-120k miles for $10k-$15.

Today at a Toyota dealership I stumbled across a used 2010 Honda Insight, 70k miles for $13,800. I could easily get that down to $12k. There is another couple Insights spread across my area for the same price and anywhere from 30k-70k miles.

I've looked at a ton of reviews.. the Insight is suppose to be funner drive but not as refined as the Prius. The Prius is a bit bigger but were talking a few inches. According to Fuelly they get nearly identical gas mileage. 43-48. Most review sites say the Prius is an all around better car but not worth the extra 5k. If I go Honda I can get a year or two newer with significantly lower miles and a warranty up to 100k miles. It also looks nicer inside. The exterior is damn near identical.

Do any of you, or your wives, drive either of these and have an opinion?

Thanks!

 

DoorDingk has a Prius , you could pm him

 

Thank you sir!

October 8th.

 

honestly, stay away from high mileage hybrid... the battery replacement runs from 7-10k if I'm not mistaken.

You want to look into a hi-mileage countermen look at something diesel.

Partially biased because I drive a diesel as a DD and everyone that drives a hybrid has the hybrid driving personality.... they hate to drive and entitled as f**k plus they dont know how to drive...

Im getting 35-40mpg on a fill up and fill up about every 450-500 miles at 50 bucks

 

Battery replacement is down to $1500-2k now, and that's for a new replacement. There are companies all over, a few in Seattle, that will replace only the bad cells and recondition for less than $1k. That comes with a mileage warranty as well. Just to say it, you hear about the failures but both batteries are intended to be a life of the car part and failures are pretty rare.

As for the MPG .. comparing my commute to people on fuelly in either vehicle I should get around 46-50MPG. That's worth the purchase to me .. 35-40 is not. I have thought about a few of the diesels but their reliability is shit and they're more $$.

 

I would rather ride a bike,
than drive a prius. So ugly.

 

Thank you for your input Shawn, I'm well past the point in my life of caring what my vehicle looks like that I drive to work. I'll have an awesome truck in the driveway M-F and use it often on the weekends.

I traded in my first truck when I was 24 for an 04 Ford Focus to help me get into a house, then got married, kids etc.

Much more important things in life to me.

 

We've had 2 Camry hybrids, a 2007 and a 2012, so I guess you could say we like them. Obviously a bigger car than a Prius, so mileage is not quite as good. No issues at all with the hybrid powertrain. The 07 model was my wife's, and when we bought a new one in 2012, I traded in my Honda Fit and the 07 became my daily driver. Still quiet and comfortable after almost 7 years and 96,000 miles. I'd been wanting a pickup so I traded it in on my Tacoma. Battery replacement costs have indeed come down and battery life has exceeded expectations.

 

Awesome, ty sir!

 

Morning bump

 

Funny that my first post on TW would be about my Prius but...

I am 47 years old, have owned 45 different vehicles, mostly Toyota, mostly Land Cruisers. I've always liked to drive something a bit different than the norm. I love driving. I desert race a 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser. All that said, I daily a 2010 Prius. Is it fun?, not really. But it gets the job done and I smile every time I fill the tank and can barely fit $30 in it. I avg 42-45 with spirited driving in hilly terrain here in Utah.

I bought the Prius 2 years ago online from a dealer in Alabama. It was Toyota certified but had 90k on it. After my months of research I had no problem buying it with the mileage. The "battery problems" were few and far between from what I read. I haven't had a lick of an issue. Changed the oil and that's about it. Original brakes look and feel like new. The Bluetooth works very well for phone calls, navigation from my iPhone and listing to Pandora, etc. I've driven it 700 miles to Socal without comfort issue while saving $$$.

I run 4 snow tires in the winter and can go anywhere I want in whatever snow there is. This spring I bought some Scion FRS take-offs and it transformed the car. I can now take corners, sweeping on-off ramps and winding roads faster than most people around me drive them. I dare say it almost makes the Prius fun to drive.

When I was doing my research I also looked at the Insight as I have had a few Honda products over the years and think they make a nice vehicle. My conclusion was that the Prius was a better car and was more fluid in its transition between engine on engine off and was just better made.

I guess now that I think of it I have evolved my fleet into one great vehicle for all driving situations. I've got a 2001 Land Cruiser, 2007 tacoma DC, 91 BMW 325iX and the Prius.

Let me also say that I would step up to the 2010+ Prius as I think the interior is just that much nicer in design and look. The display is better integrated IMO.

I'm not sure where you're located but I found that the southeastern states had significantly better pricing than the west (CA, NV, UT, AZ).

Good luck.

Darren

Oh and I looked at TDIs as well, take a read of user reviews on Edmunds. Things start falling apart at 90k or so. Wheel bearings, turbos, etc.

 

My dad has a Prius-V and my sister has a Camry hybrid. The Prius does get good mileage, but on longer runs (You mentioned 80 miles per day) the Camry actually gets slightly better mileage, (The Camry 2.5 gets great mileage compared to the Prius' 1.8 much smaller engine) and is a much more enjoyable and comfortable ride. Part of what does get the Prius such good city mileage is lack of heavy things. This means that comfort COMPARED to the Camry is less. (Not saying the Prius is not comfortable to drive, but the Camry is MORE comfortable) Even my dad has commented on the fact that his Prius has very little power, and requires a LOT of throttle if he is in a hilly area. Remember that the Prius is DESIGNED to be a city commuter, not a travel vehicle.

So that is my input here. Personally I have driven both, and the thing I dislike about the Prius as far as drive and comfort, is that the A pillar is large, and creates a blind spot that I don't like on the driver's side. I find myself having to actually crane my neck back and forward to make sure the intersection is clear.

 

Tech is starting to get there but it hasn't been perfected, didn't realize you were on Seattle so you do have some options there for battery replacement/cell replacement.

Wondering where you heard diesel reliability is shit, I'd do more research there honestly. I get 35-40 because i have a lead foot, driving from Thousand Oaks to San Fran I got 43. And I've only spent 1k on maintenance since I bought my car and that includes a set of tires. I would also do a little more research on early year hybrids as there reliability is iffy.

What kind of driving are you doing? I know you said 80 mi commute but is it city driving or highway?

I went with a diesel because I used to have a 80 mi pure highway commute. But if I a mixed commute ill admit a hybrid is a better choice they're more efficient in the stop and go drive type.

There is a huge pro/con chart you could make on diesel and hybrid.

I hate hybrids but if you have your heart set on that route go with BKill's option of the camary. You may also want to look at the civic hybrid small also but I think it's a little bigger then the Prius and the honda thing

Also at you're price point you have a large variety of options.


Goodluck looking forward to seeing more opinions and what you decide to pick up,

 

Just a thought, my old 2001 civic coupe DX (bottom of the line model) got 44mpg. I sold it for $4,500 3 years ago. It did have 200k on the clock, but was still running very strong.

One thing I don't know is how much your electricity bill will go up for charging a hybrid every day.

 

Have you looked into a Prius C? I know a guy that got one brand new a couple years ago for around 20k. He's got over 50k on it now and is happy with it. You might find a great deal on a used one of those.

 

Older Civics did get really awesome mileage. I haven't been able to get more than 36mpg on my new 2014, even on a 100% highway tank, and with that ECO mode.

And I dont think you charge regular Hybrid cars

 

Unless it's one of the really new models, hybrids are not charged by plugging them in. Batteries are charged while driving.

And the Camry Hybrid engine is. 2.4 liter 4 cyl.

I will say that Comparing the 2007 and 2012 shows a vast improvement in driving dynamics, especially in the area of brake feel.

 

I bought a 2006 Prius with 80k miles, 8 months ago and haven't had any problems. Drove from Nor-Cal to So-Cal, round trip on less than 2 tanks of gas and it only costs $40 to fill up. I average about 41MPG but I drive it like a race car.

The car is ugly as sin but it beats 16MPG in the Tacoma.

 

Correct, the hybrid self-charges. The full electric like the Nissan Leaf and the Electric Tesla are plug in.

I goofed on the engine. I forgot the Camry was the 2.5 liter inline 4 cyl. The Prius has a tiny 1.8 liter that has really no power at all. I've driven it and the thing can't get out of it's own way really. Not when you compare it to the Camry anyway.