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Toyota Camry Hybrid vs Toyota Prius

50 messages,  Last post on Nov 25, 2012 at 12:27 AM

You are in the Toyota Prius Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Camry Hybrid, Toyota Prius, Hybrid Cars, Car Comparisons, Sedan

Messages Page 5 of 5

#41 of 50 Re: Owned a Prius, got a Camry [bobw3] by ctl

May 17, 2012 (2:28 pm)

Replying to: bobw3 (May 17, 2012 9:03 am)
The 2003 I4 averaged around 29-30MPG (80/20 highway/city, she is on 80MPH normally ). With the new 2012 2.5 I4, I would guess around 33MPG? hybrid I read is around 40MPG. Camry being more powerful, quieter and safer so far does not out-weight the Prius factor...

#42 of 50 Re: Owned a Prius, got a Camry [ctl] by bobw3

May 18, 2012 (3:58 am)

Replying to: ctl (May 17, 2012 2:28 pm)
She'd probably get at least in the mid 40's MPG with the Prius with that sort of driving, so let's say 45mpg for the Prius, vs upper 30s MPG with the Camry Hybrid vs lower 30s MPG with the regular Camry. At 15,000 miles of driving at $4.00/gal, that would be $1,333, $1,579 or $1,818. If space is an issue, you'll find the Camry's truck (especially the hybrid) isn't nearly as spacious as the Prius. As far as cost, the Camry will be the cheapest, followed by the Prius, then the Prius Hybrid.
Bottom line is to have her test drive them all and see which she likes. The Camry Hybrid seems to run about $3,000 more than a non-hybrid Camry, so it will take about 10 years to make up the difference in gas savings. The Prius comes in-between the two Camrys, so she'll make up the price difference in the Prius over the regular Camry in a few years.
 
http://www.cars.com/go/compare/selectTrims.jsp?&myids=13502,12937,13469&selected- =3

#43 of 50 Re: Owned a Prius, got a Camry [bobw3] by ctl

May 18, 2012 (11:18 am)

Replying to: bobw3 (May 18, 2012 3:58 am)
Thanks bobw3, very good analysis! If to own the car for 10+ years, looks like the two Camrys would cost about the same, then the hybrid being more powerful would be my choice! except, doesn't hybrids require you to do extra maintenance and/or needing to go in to dealers for it?
 
That said, from your numbers I guess Prius is the cost king among them! So Camry wins in passenger space, size (safety), power, quietness (not sure how much), but Prius wins in overall cost and the intangible hybrid appeal...

#45 of 50 Re: Owned a Prius, got a Camry [bobw3] by hihostevo

Aug 18, 2012 (10:34 am)

Replying to: bobw3 (May 18, 2012 3:58 am)
Good analysis Bobw3, but I think she would actually do a bit better than what you are calculating if she purchased a gen. 3 Prius. We have owned 3 Prius's ('05, 08, 10) that we have put a lot of miles on driving back and forth from Las Vegas to Northern Utah. This section of I-15 is has a lot of mountain driving and the speed limit is 75 - 80. Our gen 2 Prius's average in the mid- 40's, but our gen 3 normally averaged 50. There were some trips where the average mpg would drop to 47 - 48, but on those either we got some summer blend fuel, or I was pushing the speed pretty hard.
 
You can put more in the Prius than the TCH, but I believe you can carry more in the TCH with 4 people in the car. Our '12 TCH normally does about 38-40 mpg on the above trip. Just driving around town we normally average around 44 and if I am careful around town I can get over 50. The TCH is a bigger heavier car and more comfortable to drive on long trips, but there are times when I think fondly of the 52+ mpg we were getting on our gen 3 Prius.
 
I agree that the payback time on the TCH is going to be much longer than it would be on the Prius. I was looking forward to purchasing the Plug-in version of the Prius, but was disappointed that it only gets 13 miles on the battery. It is still a great car for folks in Calif that can use it to get access to the HOV lanes, but for the majority of us I think it was a "swing and a miss" by Toyota.
 
IMHO of course!

#46 of 50 My take on te Prius vers TCH by brianric

Sep 08, 2012 (5:35 pm)

I owned a 2010 Prius for a total of four months and took a $6,000 hit in the pocket book to get rid of it. There are way to many blind spots on the car. I came close to totaling it four times. I was so scared after the fourth time I started hating the Prius. Traded the Prius on a 2010 Honda CR-V, which I still have. Bought a 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid XLE last February and love the car. I'm averaging 39.5 mpg, with a mix of one, five, 15, and 30 mile trips. I just took it up from New Jersey to Massachusetts where I averaged 43.3 mpg. I drive normal, and will use all 200 hp when coming onto the on-ramp on the NJTP. I got it fully loaded with the HD Navigation Package, JBL Stereo, moon roof (which I didn't want), leather seats, just to get Blind Spot Monitoring and backup camera. The only option I wanted that wasn't available was adaptive cruise control, which is available on the top of the line Prius.
 
I love my TCH and will keep it until the wheels fall off or become to expensive to maintain. For those who are considering a hybrid and can wait, take a look at the 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid. From the looks of it it is rated at 47 mpg.

#47 of 50 Re: My take on te Prius vers TCH [brianric] by catalina56

Sep 14, 2012 (12:49 pm)

Replying to: brianric (Sep 08, 2012 5:35 pm)
I am looking at the same care, fully loaded in Phoenix, Arizona. Would you mind sharing what you paid for this car without TT&L? Many thanks
 
catalina56

#49 of 50 Re: My take on te Prius vers TCH [catalina56] by brianric

Sep 27, 2012 (1:03 am)

Replying to: catalina56 (Sep 14, 2012 12:49 pm)
$33,000 fully loaded.

#50 of 50 I own both! by razzledazzle1

Nov 25, 2012 (12:27 am)

I have owned the 2007 Prius II for almost 6 years. I gave it to my husband and we bought a camry hybrid LE yesterday for $24,524 after rebate and before TTL. I loved and still love the Prius but I got really tired of the wimpiness accelerating from a stop. I drove the TCH a few months ago and couldn't get it out of my head. I originally wanted an XLE but looked at the features and realized I didn't NEED to spend an extra $5,000 to get the ones over the LE model. I'm very happy so far and am excited about my new car and my husband is excited about the Prius. (Prius has 120k on it and going strong!)

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