Yaris vs Prius

[Lorenzo1950]

Have any of you owned a Prius?
Since I am leasing my Yaris, I was thinking about trying a Prius as my next car. The insurance is actually about $60.00 cheaper for the Prius. The only thing I was told is that the Prius battery is extremely expensive.

[Kal-El]

Depends on what you want in a car.

The most affordable of the two is easily the Yaris, regardless of the gas savings you'll get in the Prius. A Prius starts at $22K. The $8K premium will buy a ton of gas for your Yaris.

The Prius is, however, a more refined higher class of car. That's where some of the price premium shines. It has many more standard features. The Prius is a bit bigger than the Yaris sedan too.

As for the battery. It's not something to concern yourself with unless you plan on driving it up around 200,000 miles, or so. I've even heard of high mileage Prius's with batteries that are still fine. But yeah, a battery will cost a bundle if you plan on running it until the wheels fall off.

[echaru]

Prius = one car for the price of two Yaris!

[Lorenzo1950]

Originally Posted by echaru

Prius = one car for the price of two Yaris!

Actually, it is not so bad if you lease a car. I would only be paying on the Prius for 36 months and 36,000 miles. The downside is the limited mileage and something like 51 cents for every mile over 12,000 a year. Also, you pretty much have to maintain the car in pristine shape. The monthly car payments may be a bit higher too.

[Happy Little Pony]

I like the idea of hybrid cars and I like the Prius, but the only thing the Prius has going for it is good gas mileage. If fuel stays below $5.00 a gallon, I don't know that a person can really justify the purchase strictly on the basis of fuel savings.

For the kind of money it would cost for a Prius, I'd be looking at something like a Jetta diesel. It has a EPA rating of 42 mpg highway and would be a lot more fun to drive.

[RABYARIS]

I have owned the Prius as well as the Yaris. These are some stats I collected on both cars;

Yaris - 34 MPG
Prius - 49 MPG

Insurance was the same for both cars.

The battery on the Prius was not an issue.

I prefer the comfort of the Yaris seats and cockpit over the Prius.

I did not like the hatchback door on the Prius. It was heavy and extended so high my garage door could hit it at times.

I actually sold my Prius for a newer Yaris and put over $8K in my pocket. I would recommend the Prius if you are an environmentalist or you are in California and have car pool stickers for the HOV lane. Otherwise, the Yaris is a no-brainer to me.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by RABYARIS

I would recommend the Prius if you are an environmentalist or you are in California and have car pool stickers for the HOV lane. Otherwise, the Yaris is a no-brainer to me.

Thing is, an environmentalist who knows what they're talking about realizes that a Yaris is better for the environment than the Prius. You have to look at the whole picture, not just the EPA sticker. One study even concluded that a Hummer was more environmentally friendly than a Prius, although I wouldn't go that far.

The reason for this is the huge environmental hit is is to produce these vehicles that use large batteries and other new technologies. Even producing solar panels is very dirty. And of course much of our electricity comes from burning coal.

The Yaris is in fact one of the cleanest cars available to own from production to disposal. Only other regular gas sub-compacts can compare similarly. The Prius uses much more energy to produce and creates much more toxic materials.

[RABYARIS]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Thing is, an environmentalist who knows what they're talking about realizes that a Yaris is better for the environment than the Prius. You have to look at the whole picture, not just the EPA sticker. One study even concluded that a Hummer was more environmentally friendly than a Prius, although I wouldn't go that far.

The reason for this is the huge environmental hit is is to produce these vehicles that use large batteries and other new technologies. Even producing solar panels is very dirty. And of course much of our electricity comes from burning coal.

The Yaris is in fact one of the cleanest cars available to own from production to disposal. Only other regular gas sub-compacts can compare similarly. The Prius uses much more energy to produce and creates much more toxic materials.

You make great points...I did consider allot of these issues while I owned the Prius and when I talked with other Prius owners I noticed they did not want to talk about some of the "Hybrid" hype. They seemed happy enough that they were seen as being environmentally friendly. I guess it made them feel good about themselves. In fact, my wife's environmentally friendly Company gave us $5,000 to buy the car. On top of that the Government gave us a $3,500 tax credit. We actually turned a little profit on the car. LOL...

[Evangelion335]

Ive driven a prius for a year now, and im buying a yaris in a few minutes. After a few months ill pop up a comparison if there is an interest.
<3

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by Evangelion335

Ive driven a prius for a year now, and im buying a yaris in a few minutes.
<3

What, are you posting from the salesperson's desk?

[nemelek]

Originally Posted by Lorenzo1950

Have any of you owned a Prius?
Since I am leasing my Yaris, I was thinking about trying a Prius as my next car. The insurance is actually about $60.00 cheaper for the Prius. The only thing I was told is that the Prius battery is extremely expensive.

Why would you be concerned about the battery if you start leasing a new Prius? Wouldn't that be under warrantee?

[Evangelion335]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

What, are you posting from the salesperson's desk?

Iphone :P

[Lorenzo1950]

Originally Posted by nemelek

Why would you be concerned about the battery if you start leasing a new Prius? Wouldn't that be under warrantee?

Things can go wrong anytime. Nice to know that these batteries were made to last.

[why?]

i think it is simple. If you want to save money, get a yaris, if you want to make a statement to make yourself feel good, buy the prius.

i see zero reason to buy a hybrid.

[Zaphod]

When the Yaris first came out I was very attracted to the body style and even more attracted to the advertised price tag and fuel economy, but at the time I was still busy squeezing every last penny out of the old Wrangler.

With that said my parents were looking for a new car and I had already done some research on the Yaris so I pointed them in that direction. At the time; however, Toyota couldn't keep up with demand. I guess the car was too new or whatever, but people were putting down payments on a car they never test drove that wouldn't be delivered for months and they were paying sticker and above for it. Very similar to the New Beetle craze.

Anyway, they get disenchanted with the Yaris but in the process they test drive a Prius and fall in love with the car. It's quiet, steering is precise, smooth, refined, integrated with your cell phone via. blue tooth, has a nice LCD touch screen, GPS system, talks to you and takes voice commands. It's just a completely different experience from anything else I'd seen at the time. So this being their retirement car, they get all the bells and whistles and are really happy with the car. And I was nothing less than impressed by the quality of the car, it's just a joy to drive although I couldn't justify the price tag.

In the meanwhile I forgot all about the Yaris as their advertising dropped off with so many other economy cars getting the spotlight. Of course the recession gets real bad, the price of gas drops significantly and dealers can't sell anything with so many used cars flooding the market. So that economy box I've always wanted becomes affordable again and I start testing the market. The Prius is advertised as low as 22 and there isn't a gas scare or any other hype driving up the price of the car.

I really considered the Prius and I could have easily afforded it this time around but I just remember looking under the hood of that Prius and saying freaking beautiful car, but no way could I work on that. So I took advantage of what I thought was perfect timing and traded in my pile of rust for a 2009 Yaris. No buyer's remorse at all, but had I waited 2 months, I could have bent over Obamah's cash for clunkers program and I would have probably just gone with the Prius.

They're both excellent cars, and I can't tell you how happy I am with my Yaris. But it's like comparing apples to oranges to me. I can totally see why someone would pay the extra money for a Prius, and I guess it's just where you're at in life.

[krolos]

There is no comparison between the two as far as I am concerned,
my sisters 2008 prius is way smoother seems faster too and even
when the gas engine kicks in it is way more quiet than my Yaris,
you get what you pay for, if I could afford a Prius I don't think I
would buy one , if I had that kind of money I think I would
drive a Tacoma 4x4 .

Yaris buyer wants cheap reliable transportation.

Prius buyer wants Eco friendly transportation

[H3LlIoN]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Thing is, an environmentalist who knows what they're talking about realizes that a Yaris is better for the environment than the Prius. You have to look at the whole picture, not just the EPA sticker. The reason for this is the huge environmental hit is is to produce these vehicles that use large batteries and other new technologies. Even producing solar panels is very dirty. And of course much of our electricity comes from burning coal.

More importantly, what do you think happens to the 900 pounds of batteries when they go bad? I'll give you a hint...they don't recycle them. I've seen the loads going overseas to be torn apart then BURIED in countries where the EPA doesn't exist. On top of that, prius' are absolutely ass ugly. My $.02. Whatever you go with, enjoy the hell out of it.

[krolos]

Ya it is common fact that a product manufacture whether it is
computer or auto they will provide some recycle outlet for the
consumer , they then sell the material for very cheap or free who knows?
and this overseas taker will make use of very little of this and the rest
goes into the ground and contaminate the water supply, people
get sick , there was a thing on sixty minutes a few years ago
and in this case it was cell phone batteries, so much for the
Prius being Green, oh well I guess Prius drivers still think they are cool
and Hip