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Thinking about buying a Prius

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Old 11-16-05 | 07:38 PM
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Originally Posted by rominl
the gas mileage of the civic is quite a bit lower than the prius, real testing shows it's about 36mpg vs 44 to 45mpg on the prius. imho that's enough for me to NOT choose civic. a corolla can get close to those gas mileage already.

the civic is selling so hot now (at least here in norcal) it's not even funny. seriously, i don't really like the idea of markup

Henry,
let me know where your "real" testing data is coming from. Only pre-production cars were available for test of 2006 until recently..

My EPA is 49/51. Anyone know what the Prius EPA is? I can't imagine EPA being 13 mpg greater than actual.

We haven't consumed a full tank of gas yet, but I'll gas up tonight and see what we got.
Old 11-16-05 | 07:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Pagong
I like the new civic's too...

as for mods, cant go wrong with going with lighter wheels!

any pics?

Well some of my Xpel order just came in today so looks like the first mod.

I looked at some lighter wheels as well, but not for now.
Old 11-16-05 | 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Milla...
I too like the civics in fact I like their looks way better than the Prius, Hows the mileage in comparison to the Prius? This thread also has me thinking more and more and more particularly when I see these guys fly pass me in the carpool lane on the 405 and 110 and I'm just sitting there. I'm about ready to give up one of my hoags (GS).

The car def. looks better than the Prius. The front end has that Aero-Hybrid look, but then again it shares the same body style as the non-hybrid.

Milage report coming soon.
Old 11-16-05 | 08:08 PM
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Originally Posted by mmarshall
The tax advantages are all well and good....but keep in mind that this is balanced out by the fact that these are not cheap cars to start with, and that even without the dealer markups from high demand and short supply they are several thousand dollars more than conventional Toyota compacts at best. I have heard of new, loaded Priuses, with dealer markups, going for as high as $28,000-$29,000.
Same with the Honda Civic Hybrids....but they do not sell for quite as high a price tag as a lot of Pruises do because of lower demand.

Well like Milla... commented to you, people pay more for cars for many reasons other than return on investment. If I wanted a cheap decent car where the total operational cost was my main concern, I would of bought the non-hybrid Civic. Still decent milage and a lot less $$. Guess what though, in my neck of the woods, even a non-hybrid Civic sells for 2K over sticker and there are NONE on display, because they sell so quickly.

My priorities were that we needed a new car that got good gas milage, but the higher priority was being able to drive in the car pool lane, saving 2 hours on the commute every day, with the end result of 10 hours more a week quality time with my family. That is why myself and most others find a reason for paying over sticker to get this car. Those who are single or without kids, may not have the same justification as me.


Originally Posted by mmarshall
T I have heard of new, loaded Priuses, with dealer markups, going for as high as $28,000-$29,000.
Same with the Honda Civic Hybrids....but they do not sell for quite as high a price tag as a lot of Pruises do because of lower demand.
Not true in NorCal. You must be talking the 05 Civic, the 06 was just released last week and there are 50 people with deposits waiting in line at my dealership.

To me 50 deposits sounds like all the Hybrids they will have for most of the year are already spoken for. The Civic mark up in NorCal does equate to the same 28-29k you are quoting for the Prius. IMO I would pay the same if not more money for the Civic than a Prius and there are currently 50 people in line behind me that agree.

The Civic and Prius are the only two Hybrids currently eligible for single driver car pool (nope 2005 Insight not eligible), so with the gas prices in NorCal being one of the highest in the country (even more than SoCal) it's no wonder why these cars are selling.

Also note we have ALWAYS had a very high cost of living in NorCal, so I won't be surprised if everyone outside of NorCal can get a better deal.

Last edited by RMMGS4; 11-16-05 at 08:19 PM.
Old 11-16-05 | 09:50 PM
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Well I'm learning cool stuff on this car everytime I drive it.

First I tried some voice activated prompts and said " temperature sixty eight, fan speed up, A/C off and it took all the responses on the first try. Even with the Navi not active, I could say "current location" and it would say what street and city I am in.

Now for the trip odometer I just realized it automatically calculates the gas milage for both A and B trip meters. I actually kept that setting and watched the average gas mileage change as I drove !

So as I reached the gas station tonight it said 39.9 mpg for the 375 combined City / Hwy miles driven this week. Do note that the wifey is somewhat of a lead foot and typically drives 80+ mpg AVERAGE on the freeway ! I think the EPA Hwy mpg is based off of 55mph, so I'm not surprised.
On the way home from the station I drove a whopping 3 miles, stopped at 3 lights and was able to obtain 50mpg.

Just think if I read the instructions, what other features I would find .

Last edited by RMMGS4; 11-16-05 at 09:57 PM.
Old 11-16-05 | 11:55 PM
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well i read it off mercury news last week, it was talking about all the new hybrid out there for people to choose from, of course including the new civic hybrid

i also raised the question, where did they get the number when the car just came out not too long ago. i have no idea if they got a pre-test one or they are based on the old one (which would be unfair)
Old 11-17-05 | 02:42 AM
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Originally Posted by RMMGS4
Well I'm learning cool stuff on this car everytime I drive it.

First I tried some voice activated prompts and said " temperature sixty eight, fan speed up, A/C off and it took all the responses on the first try. Even with the Navi not active, I could say "current location" and it would say what street and city I am in.

Now for the trip odometer I just realized it automatically calculates the gas milage for both A and B trip meters. I actually kept that setting and watched the average gas mileage change as I drove !

So as I reached the gas station tonight it said 39.9 mpg for the 375 combined City / Hwy miles driven this week. Do note that the wifey is somewhat of a lead foot and typically drives 80+ mpg AVERAGE on the freeway ! I think the EPA Hwy mpg is based off of 55mph, so I'm not surprised.
On the way home from the station I drove a whopping 3 miles, stopped at 3 lights and was able to obtain 50mpg.

Just think if I read the instructions, what other features I would find .
Hi!

Glad you like new Civic. Numbers they got were from previous Civic and new one should be better, however it will not be as good as Prius, because it has an mild hybrid system. Big advantage of Prius and other full hybrids is that they have larger electric engines (68hp in Prius vs 20hp in new Civic) that can power the car on its own which is where you get a lot of savings.

Of course, that doesnt mean your Civic is not an great car, I am sure it is. No need to be defensive! MPG is only one part of equation, always nice to have high tech car...
Old 11-17-05 | 08:00 AM
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Originally Posted by spwolf
Numbers they got were from previous Civic and new one should be better, however it will not be as good as Prius, because it has an mild hybrid system. Big advantage of Prius and other full hybrids is that they have larger electric engines (68hp in Prius vs 20hp in new Civic) that can power the car on its own which is where you get a lot of savings.
The new Civic Hybrid is a full hybrid and the first one from Honda, a clear concession to Toyota's winning approach.
Read:
http://www.hybridcars.com/civic.html
Old 11-17-05 | 09:46 AM
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Originally Posted by RMMGS4



Not true in NorCal. You must be talking the 05 Civic, the 06 was just released last week and there are 50 people with deposits waiting in line at my dealership.

The Civic mark up in NorCal does equate to the same 28-29k you are quoting for the Prius. IMO I would pay the same if not more money for the Civic than a Prius and there are currently 50 people in line behind me that agree.

.
28-29k is not typical...that is just the highest I have seen. 25-26K is typical here in the DC area.

I keep telling people....the price difference between hybrids and non-hybrids ( tax questions aside ) will buy a lot of gas.....and the price of gas is dropping as we speak.
Old 11-17-05 | 10:05 AM
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Originally Posted by rominl
the gas mileage of the civic is quite a bit lower than the prius, real testing shows it's about 36mpg vs 44 to 45mpg on the prius. imho that's enough for me to NOT choose civic. a corolla can get close to those gas mileage already.

the civic is selling so hot now (at least here in norcal) it's not even funny. seriously, i don't really like the idea of markup
Thanks, yeah thats too close to the Corolla for me too.
Old 11-17-05 | 10:20 AM
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Originally Posted by Milla...
Thanks, yeah thats too close to the Corolla for me too.
just keep in mind we have been talking about how they came up with the numbers. could be the one civic, or could be the new. though personally i hope it's for the old civic. if it's the new civic then it's pretty disappointing
Old 11-17-05 | 10:29 AM
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Originally Posted by rominl
just keep in mind we have been talking about how they came up with the numbers. could be the one civic, or could be the new. though personally i hope it's for the old civic. if it's the new civic then it's pretty disappointing
Oh ok I didn't think about that, so I'll wait and see what the deal is.
Old 11-17-05 | 10:26 PM
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Good deal. Plus the carpool lane stickers are a bargain!
Old 11-17-05 | 10:44 PM
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Originally Posted by RMMGS4
Henry,
let me know where your "real" testing data is coming from. Only pre-production cars were available for test of 2006 until recently..

My EPA is 49/51. Anyone know what the Prius EPA is? I can't imagine EPA being 13 mpg greater than actual.

We haven't consumed a full tank of gas yet, but I'll gas up tonight and see what we got.
prius epa is 60/51
Old 11-17-05 | 10:53 PM
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Congrats on the newe Civic Hybrid.


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