Good, efficient, used vehicle for ride sharing? (EG. Uber / Lyft)

[hayden55]

Same I have a 2010 Prius and haven't noticed any oil consumption issues. The only issue with mine was it came with calling only bluetooth, jbl stereo, and an aux cord. I bought a bluetooth audio aux converter and I've had it for two years now.
Great little cars. I mean I bought my 2010 in 2016 for $7500.

I should also add I came from a Honda D series... so I know how to track serious oil consumption issues. lol

[sidecar]

Prius
Ive owned mine for 8 years, 160,000 + kms
it consistently returns 4.2 lt/100km
it has had 2 faults in that time
1/ the drivers mirror fell off the screen
2/ the inverter coolant pump failed, repaired myself using $60 pump from ebay

at first I didnt know why I bought it
now I dont want any other car

[kurzer]

Originally Posted by sidecar

Prius
...
now I dont want any other car

thats spot on for me. prius HW20 is the best car, i ever had.

[19bonestock88]

I haven’t stopped thinking about cars, just haven’t been actively searching... I’m half torn between a Prius and something more powerful... my city is extremely hilly and even though my car has about 150hp, it can feel absolutely gutless on hills...

I could get a 2.4L Chevy Malibu or Saturn Aura and install the Eaton supercharger from my Ion Redline and time for it. Prob would end up at 200-220whp(right at the limit of what it’s trans could take reliably) with little mileage penalty given a proper tune...

I could try and find a Nissan Altima with the manual transmission, either with the QR25 or the VQ35 engine, I suspect either would be enough, though the VQ would use more fuel while being more fun...

While I did also consider a K24/manual Accord, someone also suggested to me a third gen Acura TL, which is Accord based but uses the J series V6(either J32 or J35), though with the Acura I’d have to get a high mileage example and hope it held up, I’m not shelling out $15k for a 2008 anything...

Would a Prius handle heavy loading/steep hills very well? I don’t want it to be worse than my Saturn...

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

Would a Prius handle heavy loading/steep hills very well? I don’t want it to be worse than my Saturn...

The Prius' CVT revs up without requiring manual downshifting, so it will probably "feel" easier, but really 150hp in any car should be more than enough. The CVT is somewhat buzzy at higher RPMs if you use cruise control up the mountains, at least on the G2 Prius. Not sure about on the newer ones; I would surmise that it would be somewhat quieter. My 66 hp IMA-less Insight handles the WV mountains just fine; hypermiling rarely requires above 2.5k RPMs but with driving normally it'll do fine revving it up, so a more powerful Prius or Ion should do fine.

More power = lower MPG.

You could always go test drive one and see what you think of it.

[19bonestock88]

For my personal use I would guess a 50hp Metro would be fine, but with 800-1000# worth of additional passengers my car struggles on hills... it doesn’t help that speed limits in the city I drive in are usually 25, so while I go uphill alone I’m in 3rd/4th fear but fully loaded (to say nothing about overloaded) I’m in 2nd more often than I’d like and on the steeper parts I’m in 1st gear doing 3500RPM

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Can't say what it would do with an extra thousand pounds in there, but I surmise the Prius would feel like it was working less since the CVT does all the work, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's working any less. Might just have to test drive one to see.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by 19bonestock88

While I did also consider a K24/manual Accord, someone also suggested to me a third gen Acura TL, which is Accord based but uses the J series V6(either J32 or J35), though with the Acura I’d have to get a high mileage example and hope it held up, I’m not shelling out $15k for a 2008 anything...

Would a Prius handle heavy loading/steep hills very well? I don’t want it to be worse than my Saturn...

The Prius is gutless, but I can't imagine needing more power than wide open throttle on any hill. It will be noisy because it will have to rev up to get full power. There's no shifting though, so it's effortless from a driving perspective.

If you want a manual car under 10 grand, I suggest a 2006 Acura TSX 6-speed. They're rare as hens teeth, but the 6-speed gearbox is a dream. Car is good for 30 MPG, and takes hills at whatever speed you want to take them from the 4-cylinder engine. My complaints are that 6th gear is a bit short for freeway driving, so fuel economy isn't as good as it could be, and the turning radius is about as good as a bus.

The Ford Fusion hybrid has no compromises except perhaps a slightly smaller trunk than a standard sedan. It's good for 45 MPG, is super quiet, and has respectable power on the hills. Plus, they are discontinued, so the value might increase on them. The plug in version can do over 20 miles on EV only. Probably only the oldest ones sold private party would meet the $10k price point though.