Fuel efficient cars?

Jan06twinmom · Mar 2, 2012

Which fuel efficient cars do you like and why?

DH and I are planning to buy a new car in the near future. We're looking at the Toyota Prius (maybe the V with the extra cargo room). It's been on our list since it first came out, but we wanted to wait until it had been out longer. Now there are several options out for hybrid and other alternative fuel efficent cars, but I still keep coming back to the Prius. We'll be replacing our 2001 Ford Taurus and need a vehicle that will work for a family of 4.

Any specific recs (pros/cons) about the Prius too?

Brianna · Mar 2, 2012

My dad's girlfriend has an 05 Prius that she's been driving since it was new. It has about 160k miles on it and other than tires and brakes, she's only had to replace the wheel bearings. It runs great but the interior hasn't held up well. They do ride with dogs often so that's most of the reason, but the button to open the glove box is very worn and just looks bad. I don't know what changes they've made to the interior materials though. Avg mpg is around 50, mostly highway driving.

Sent from my DROID4 using Car-Seat.Org

T4K · Mar 2, 2012

A few years back I was also looking a fuel efficient cars. I really wanted a Prius. BUT...

I calculated out expected fuel savings and weighed them against the difference between buying that or a Corolla and I did better financially by buying a Corolla. I was able to finance at a really low rate and get it at a great price. Whereas, I was going to pretty much pay sticker for the Prius.

I'd also look at the Civic.

QuassEE · Mar 2, 2012

I've been eyeing the Impreza lately, because it's both fuel efficient AND AWD.

I used to own a Corolla, and I do have to say that if I was looking for an inexpensive commuter, it would probably be my first go-to.

-N.

ZanesMom · Mar 2, 2012

I have a Honda Insight and love it. I've have had it a year at the end of March and it has 33,500 miles, brought with 65 miles. I avg. about 46 mpg until I got new tires and it has dropped 2-4 mpgs.

The Insight is smaller than a Prius and has a more 'sportier' handling than a Prius. I found the Prius to drive similar to my 06 Taurus.

For me, the biggest deciding factor between a Prius and Insight was price. The Insight started around $18,000 and the Prius $25,000. I went with the EX trim (the highest trim is EX w/nav) so I have a Sports model and can 'manually' shift if I want. I still paid almost $4000 less than the base Prius.

An Insight might not work for you because it's smaller, but I would suggest giving it a spin.

sirrahn · Mar 2, 2012

We've been pleased with DH's '10 Prius. I don't think the demand is like it once was...either that or they're just building more. We paid just a little over invoice for it, nowhere near the sticker price.

He considered the Insight, but it's a smaller, not as "nice" car and gets lower mpg. He averages close to 55mpg with the Prius. It's mainly used for his 40+mile each way commute. We bought it simply to save gas though, the bottom line cost wasn't as big of an issue to us.

The mpg drop for the new V seemed like too much to me for what didn't really seem like that much more room. Obviously we can't get our whole family in our Prius either way, but 4 is plenty comfortable and we've done 5 a few times without major issue.

He's had it now just about 14 months and has 30K on it already...no issues at all. HTH a bit!

Jan06twinmom · Mar 2, 2012

sirrahn said:
We've been pleased with DH's '10 Prius. I don't think the demand is like it once was...either that or they're just building more. We paid just a little over invoice for it, nowhere near the sticker price.

He considered the Insight, but it's a smaller, not as "nice" car and gets lower mpg. He averages close to 55mpg with the Prius. It's mainly used for his 40+mile each way commute. We bought it simply to save gas though, the bottom line cost wasn't as big of an issue to us.

The mpg drop for the new V seemed like too much to me for what didn't really seem like that much more room. Obviously we can't get our whole family in our Prius either way, but 4 is plenty comfortable and we've done 5 a few times without major issue.

He's had it now just about 14 months and has 30K on it already...no issues at all. HTH a bit!

Thank you! I'm curious if you have used booster seats in the car and if so, how they fit. My twins are 7yo so we're moving out of the harness seats finally. Anything I should know about the Prius and carseats/booster fit?

Melanie

aept · Mar 2, 2012

We just got a '11 Prius. A parkway SGL fits fine; my son uses it with the head section of the booster about halfway up. There is room to go up more but I haven't tried to see if it fully extends. The rear headroom is kinda tight.
We just traded in an '03 Corolla. When we were a family of 4 we used it a lot, even for long trips. It had a surprisingly large trunk for a smaller car. The parkway SGL fit well in there. Any 2 seats, pretty much.

SafeDad · Mar 3, 2012

Here's my review of the Prius. It works OK for kids, but could be better in terms of buckle stalks and such.

http://carseatblog.com/3690/2010-toyota-prius-review-kids-and-safety/

I think the Prius V is a nice option, we hope to review one soon for CarseatBlog. It comes with a price tag, though! Same is true for a Passat Diesel that might also work nicely if it is within budget.

The local carmax new Toyota dealer is charging 26k for a Prius V, so I'm sure you can haggle one for less elsewhere:

http://www.carmax.com/enus/view-car...+398+9&Q=945e33de-cf59-4cc3-b3c4-0e10052fed26

sirrahn · Mar 3, 2012

Jan06twinmom said:
Thank you! I'm curious if you have used booster seats in the car and if so, how they fit. My twins are 7yo so we're moving out of the harness seats finally. Anything I should know about the Prius and carseats/booster fit?

Melanie

My almost 7 yr old uses a Turbo in the Prius and my almost 9 yr old has used both a literider and Cruz.

They fit well, but Darren alluded to buckle stalk issues and they are a bit of a pain...very short and not rigid. My older one can manage ok, but I usually end up helping the younger one buckle still. If she were in the car more often, she'd probably learn though.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy using Car-Seat.Org

Jeanum · Mar 4, 2012

+1 on the Prius suggestion - we just replaced our Sienna with a leftover 2011 model Prius yesterday and there are definitely deals to be had, although with spring looming and gas prices spiking there may be some stingier deals/gouging to come if demand spikes up as well. So far our classic Parkway and Literider have been workable and I haven't tried the Vivo in it just yet. I do concur with the short buckle stalks being less than optimal for booster buckling but hopefully we'll get more skilled at fumbling to buckle them, and big sis has been helping out DD2 so far.

My relatives have a 2011 Prius with leather seats, and the back seat's buckle stalks are similarly very short to ours with cloth seats.

Fuel efficient cars?

Jan06twinmom

New member

Brianna

New member

T4K

Well-known member

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor

ZanesMom

Member

sirrahn

Active member

Jan06twinmom

New member

aept

New member

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

sirrahn

Active member

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Sponsors

Forum statistics