Need New Car; Prius C or ?
 

Someone totaled my 2008 Honda Fit and I am leaning towards buying a 2015 Toyota Prius C. I have never owned a hybrid before. The reason I always lean towards new is I need a reliable car for work. I live in the Northern rust belt, so really old cars are usually covered in rust. But before I buy the Prius C I want to rule out other cars.

I notice a lot of people recommend buying older 90s cars. Other than obviously being cheaper to buy, will their mileage surpass the Prius C? I will likely mod any vehicle I get including the Prius C so would one of these older cars compete with C in terms of MPG? I have read there are more mods to do to non-hybrids.

Also, I assume that in order to get these older cars to compete with the C you would need to practice extensive hypermiling.

Can anyone provide some feedback?

What are your vehicle needs? The best two vehicles for mileage are going to be the G1 Insight and the Echo- pretty cheap, very reliable, best FE you're going to get.

More city or highway miles? (The Prius only really excels in the city)

Mirage vs Prius C review - MirageForum.com

I'd go Mirage

If you liked the Fit there's a hybrid that shares its platform: The 2nd gen Insight.
I had looked at the Yaris Hybrid (the European version of the Prius C) but could get the Insight for less, and it had the boot space and stuff the Yaris lacked.

My parents looked at the Yaris Hybrid too but my mom couldn't see over the dash properly, and they hated the interior finish.
They bought a Jazz Hybrid (European Fit) for much the same reasons as I had for the Insight plus the higher seating position.

The Fit Hybrid is not available in the US, but the modern non-hybrid Fit gets fairly decent economy too; f.i. check out PaleMelanesian's Fit fuel log...

Quite agree with that. Only difference in our market is the Mirage gets an anti-roll bar if you pony up for the higher-end variant, as well as 15" wheels... and our Prius C, while still understeery, seems damped with the stiffer end of the TRD catalogue.

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Fuel economy-wise, I never saw enough of a difference between the two to justify the extra cost of the Prius. They returned similar motorway economy, and the Prius only beat the Mirage (though it must be said, I drove them fairly far apart) by 2-3 km/l.

The aftermarket has taken care of the lack of rear anti sway bar for $250ish. I've seen base models in Chicago area advertized for under $10k brand new. Base model includes AC in the US. CVT's under 12k. Closer to home they run MSRP so it would be worth a 4 hr drive.

I love my Mirage and at 4.5 cents a mile it would take forever to pay me back the difference in price for a Prius C. Compare the price of an 04 Echo to an 04 Prius. The difference in depreciation will never be recovered and the Mirage has a better warranty.

regards
mech

Thread is now over. Ha

Only car that IMO that gives a Mirage a run is the Micra if you can get one across the border, but the Canadian version of both don't include AC if you need/desire it.

Only problem with Mit is the limited number of dealer at least in my area, 4 in the state of Iowa so not much competition in pricing.