[RainRain]

So I am looking into getting a hybrid car. I would love to hear from anyone who owns one, which one they own, what they love about it, what I should be looking out for, what to avoid etc.

[FiveAus]

I bought a Toyota Prius C i-tech last June. I had not thought about a hybrid car until I decided to buy a small runabout car and pass my Nissan X-Trail over to my husband as his regular ride.

We live 15 minutes out of town, and there's only the two of us, so we talked about what we needed in a small car........enough bootspace for our weekly grocery shop, sufficient back seat space for two adults (in case of passengers and to take dogs to the vet etc), intergrated sat nav as we have a portable system that stays in the X-Trail, and I'm the worlds worst navigator, stylish exterior and interior, local dealership (which put a few of the European brands out of the picture) and excellent fuel economy.

I'm not much into engine specs etc.......they are just numbers and weird acronyms to me. These days things like ABS, air-con, cruise control, power windows etc, should be standard so I would expect that any new car I bought would have them.

I did as much research as my brain could cope with and narrowed it down to the Subaru Impreza, as I have always wanted a Subaru and the new Impreza looked very nice. And the Prius C, it was brand new on the market, looked good on the web specs and had amazing fuel economy.

We test drove both, and while I really liked both, the Prius C won out in almost everything. The i-tech model comes with sat nav, reversing camera, luxury interior......to add these to the Impreza was much, much more than I was prepared to spend on a small car. The Prius C had much better fuel economy figures, and overall I just liked it better. The big selling point on the Impreza (well, the one the salesperson used) was the stop-start technology, where the engine stops when the car is idle, and starts again when you remove your foot from the brake. Well, the Prius has that by virtue of being a hybrid........the car switches to the battery power when the speed gets below about 40 kmph and there are no engine vibrations or noise when the car is idle......it uses no fuel.

The fuel economy is amazing. I am driving at least 20 kms each way to work 5 days per week and it's our weekend runaround. My fuel bill is about $22 per week.

The car itself is lovely. Very nicely laid out inside, plenty of storage space, Bluetooth technology (which is fantastic if you like listening to an iPod, and also for answering your mobile phone while driving), it has a touch screen for audio controls....which are also on the steering wheel...the screen is also the sat nav and the reversing camera.

It's lovely to drive, it's like a silent stealth car when you first start up, which is a bit freaky at first. There is nothing not to like about it.....it's not a sports car and doesn't have the quick take off that a sports car has, but it's zippy enough and has enough power for passing on a freeway.

I've been 100% happy with my choice. When I first started to talk about getting a Prius, a lot of people said "Prius????Oh god, they're ugly, what do you want one of them for???" but the Prius C is completely different, it's nothing like the original Prius, to the point where I'm surprised they gave it the same name.

I haven't seen many of them around, in fact until about a month ago I'd never seen another one on the road, but recently I've seen three others......a blue one, an orange one and a sparkly white one the same as mine.

[FiveAus]

What to look for? Buy new (or dealer demo) if possible. The older models need batteries replacing at fairly frequent intervals and they are expensive. The current models have batteries that last 8 years and are cheap to replace.

[RainRain]

Brilliant - I have definitely been thinking Prius C...also saw the Lexus hybrid hatch which is gorgeous (but dream on).

[dadathome]

Brilliant - I have definitely been thinking Prius C...also saw the Lexus hybrid hatch which is gorgeous (but dream on).

The Prius rather than the Prius C is more comparable to the Lexus hatch. Of course there is also the larger Prius V and the Camry hybrid too if you're after a medium-larger car

[RainRain]

The Prius rather than the Prius C is more comparable to the Lexus hatch. Of course there is also the larger Prius V and the Camry hybrid too if you're after a medium-larger car

In what way is it comparable? Size? I'm not in need of a larger car. Doing a fair bit of commuting to work. 2 hours on highway each day. So for that reason, but I would like a few luxuries included if I'm going to downsize.

[dadathome]

In what way is it comparable? Size? I'm not in need of a larger car. Doing a fair bit of commuting to work. 2 hours on highway each day. So for that reason, but I would like a few luxuries included if I'm going to downsize.

Yes, size mostly. The C is more an Echo equivalent in size, the Prius and Lexus 200 more Corolla.

[FiveAus]

A few weeks ago we drove the Prius C to the Melbourne airport, with my daughter and her boyfriend in the back seat, flew to Brisbane where we had a Corolla waiting for us at the Hertz counter.
Up until that point, I'd have agreed that the Prius C was in a smaller class than the Corolla, but when we loaded our luggage into the Corolla and all got in, I was surprised by how very little difference there was. n fact....none.
On the outside the Corolla definitely looks bigger, but the interior space is pretty much the same. Our rear passengers had the same leg room, the luggage in the boot took up the same space.

The Prius C is supposed to be based on the Yaris platform, but my older daughter has a Yaris and my car definitely has more interior space than hers.

This post has been edited by FiveAus: 16/02/2013, 12:20 PM

[Le-a]

I have one of the first Prius', I think it's a 2004 model, but not sure.

I have never needed any battery replaced, and I think I heard recently Toyota had extended the recommended replacement time to ten years for these earlier models as well???

My parents have an 06 Prius, and are just now replacing some battery, but it's not a major one so the cost is low in comparison.

My PIL have the newer model, (we bought ours from them when they upgraded) and love it. They get ridiculously good fuel efficiency, but that could also have something to do with their frustratingly slow driving style.

I have low profile tyres on mine at the moment which really affects my fuel consumption, mine is at about 5.9 p/100km, while my mum and dad get about 4.3 p/100km driving basically the same model.

If you get one, be prepared for plenty of people to ask you where you "plug it in" every night...

[jcbenny]

We own a Camry hybrid 2012 model. Sedan. Great on petrol- about $80/3.5 weeks. And I drive everyday! Only issue is boot space. I have 2 kids , 1 still in the stroller. Can't really go on weekend 'trips' as there isn't enough space for bags/esky etc!!!

This post has been edited by jcbenny: 16/02/2013, 12:43 PM