I was wondering how many of you test drove and considered buying a Toyota Prius before settling on the Fit? What factors eventually drove you to the Fit?

 

I considered a Prius, but didn't test-drive. My reasons for the Fit over the Prius are:

1) Honda > Toyota
2) Prius costs more (for my build, around $8K), and the fuel savings wasn't worth the extra $ for me
3) Fit is better looking (opinion)

And now that I have a Fit, I smile every time I get inside... or look at it... or think about it.

 

There was a big article on this. They did a camparsion of the fit and prius. And the fit won for car that costs less to drive. Because the prius does get better MPG but it costs so much more for it and to replace the battery at 100,000 miles that the Fit beat it. and the fit is more fun to drive. I went with the fit becasue biger inside, fun to drive, way cheaper to buy, its does not have a $$$$ battery to replace, and i think it looks way better. There are some other cars i do like and whish i looked more into them instead of the fit. Like a Mazda speed3, cobolt ss, voltswagon GTI. But i am happy with her she a good car

 

I did consider the Prius. I liked the milage, and have had good experiences with Toyota before. I thought the price was somewhat reasonable given the technology.

What ultimately led me to choose the FIT were three things. I wanted a manual transmission. I wanted a smaller vehicle than the Prius. I really liked the configurabilty of the FIT for carrying things like bikes, etc.

Have had the fit for over two years now (2007 manual sport) and love it. Definitely made the right choice for me. Overall mpg has been over 39.

 

I too couldn't justify the cost of the prius. Plus there is much more unproven technology to go wrong down the road...

I think over the years .. the Honda will be much easier to keep repaired..

Plus I like the looks and versitility of the honda!

 

i considered the Prius but my family does not commute far enough to reap its rewards. For the price of a Prius, i can buy a brand new fit and an older beater civic or a toyota truck.

 

Short answer, No.

Long Answer, initial cost is too great, the gas mileage is not all that wondrous, cost of ownership is too high (I heard Toyota actually requires Prius owners to be castrated!) j/k. And finally you can't turbocharge a battery.

 

Here is that Edmund's comparo between the Prius and 08 Fit Base:

2008 Honda Fit vs. 2008 Toyota Prius Hybrid

I've driven the Prius a few times and it's just a different car. A typical comparison between a Toyota and a Honda, meaning the Fit is fun to drive and connected with the driver. The Prius is slow with a soft ride and non-engaging. Different strokes/different folks. Different mission, sort of.

 

I did consider the Prius. A friend has one and I test drove it. I went to the local Toyota dealer about 90% ready to buy but they were not upfront on price, taxes, etc. and I felt they were verging on being unscrupulous. The thing that really irked me was the had the rear bumper applique on all their cars for something like $90 and it looked like a 50 cent piece of clear plastic. I walked away and the next day went to the Honda dealer, drove a base manual Fit and bought it for a little over half what the Prius would have cost. I am forever thankful for being turned off the Prius and onto the Fit.

 

I would have bought a used Insight over a Prius. But I didn't even consider a hybrid because the price difference didn't justify the fuel economy difference.

 

I considered used VW Golf Diesel, Toyota Matrix, Prius, Yaris, Scion tc. My #1 priority was space for my dogs. Then Fuel economy and cost.

I liked the idea of the prius, but did not seriously consider due to the higher initial cost. I also wanted to get a manual and was somewhat disheartened at the prospect of having to wait many many years to get one. The prius has no get up and go, and although I did not drive one myself, I assume they don't have the "fun" factor. Reviews of the 08 Matrix turned my searching from Toyota -> Honda... specifically the "it's ok for a soccer mom who isn't in a hurry, but if you want to enjoy corners, look towards Honda/Accura" (edmunds I think). Sure, overall I'm a very conservative driver and do not utilize my car to it's full potential, but every now and then I enjoy some vtec. I like to know it's there.

There really was no better option for me than the Fit. If I didn't get a Fit, I would have been settling for something.

 

No, mainly because these were my requirements:

1. Fun to drive
2. Manual Transmission
3. Fuel economy

The Prius only fits one (arguably two) of these categories.

 

i bought the FitS because it looks cool and had the basic necessities that
i needed as a dd. actually i wasn't really looking for a FitS... i was shopping
for a $30K+ R32, but just for the hell of it stopped by the honda dealer
to check out the FitS cause it was another boxy car that caught my eye.

i like coupes and i also like boxy cars.

 

I test drove a Prius, but reasons for getting a Jazz instead was:
1. The Jazz has much cargo space.
2. Prius cost more even if I got sports spoilers and other add-ons on the Jazz an not on the Prius.
3. Just a few color options avaiable: silver and blue metallic.
4. Jazz is much more fun to drive.

But the smoothnes and comfort was about the same, but then again I have a CVT. But I liked the quiet sound when you stop at a red light with the Prius. But turn on the stereo high and AC on and heating on in wintertime and the Prius seldom goes on electric only...

 

I never consider Toyotas before Hondas...

 

I considered getting the 1st gen Prius for a little while. I read that you have to replace the battery (sometimes as early as 60k miles) and they cost a lot.
It was never really a contest, I would have picked the Fit anyway.

 

Test drove a Prius. But:
(1) so much more money - about 8k more. will take forever for the gas saving to be recouped. note that you can't buy the base prius, and everyone sells them for 2k or more above premium. it's just not worth the money in my opinion.
(2) current model is going out next summer. why spend so much extra for almost-old technology.
(3) that's enough to keep me away from it!

 

yep. i work for toyota, and i bought a fit. the prius is a VERY un-fun car

 

My daily commute is really far and I choose the fit over the prius because I know with the fit I can get 100k+ with no real major problems but with the prius you have to consider the battery if you plan on keeping it for a long time. Also the price difference between a fit and prius was another reason I choose the fit.

 

ditto, i got the fit cause it looked cool and was good at what it does. gas mileage was only a plus