SaintNexus

I got into a pretty bad car accident on the freeway a few days ago, and I'm gonna need a new car.

I had a '12 Honda Accord, with an EPA of 23/34, but it felt to be much less.

I'm looking to get something with better mpg, but something that I know I will enjoy driving for 24-36 months.

I put $500 down for my accord, and was paying $230 a month, car had leather/ette seats also.

Potential cars that I'm looking at are..

Prius
Prius C
Camry Hybrid
CT200h
Fusion Hybrid
328d

Price is a huge factor at the end, because I want the monthly cost of the car + gas be equal or less to what I was paying for with my accord. I do a lot of driving for work and spend about $600+/- a month on gas alone.

Any other suggestions?

pbm317

Sorry to hear about your accident. But to help we need way more data/info... are you looking to lease? based on your monthly payments before, it would seem like it with only $500 down... But high mileage leases can be cost prohibitive. How many miles do you drive a month and/or year?

If not a lease, how long of a loan? etc. Need these to better determine your overall monthly budget constraints.

Highway driving (in which sometimes diesels can be better)?
Stop and Go? which would favor hybrids, etc

Why not the smaller VW diesels, Golf, Jetta, etc?

If not, the Prius and Prius c will be the MPG maximizers at the moment, but can be at odds with your desire to have something that you might "enjoy" driving.

SaintNexus

I'm looking to lease a car.

I was spending about $850 a month total for my car (payment + gas), and I drive about 3,000 miles a month. I do Uber and Lyft for work. I just need something that can take a beating when it comes to wear and tear, which is why I prefer the interior to be leather instead of cloth, to handle it.

Looking to lease for 24-36 months.

Logical choice would be the Prius C, but I can't see myself enjoying it for that long. Only gonna do this job for about a year, afterwards, I don't really need a fuel efficient car.

Does the Camry Hybrid come in Leather? If it does, I won't mind that, because it's a midsize car with a good interior and great mileage.

EDIT: I'm able to put $1,000 down, which makes the CT200h and the 3 other Toyota options easily obtainable, but I'm wondering if there are better options out there. The toyotas don't have leather, but the CT200h does. But the CT has a small interior, especially since I'm about 6' tall.

tzu911

Have you considered Prius V? I like how roomie and slightly more masculine it is.

pbm317

with 3,000 a month, you'd be at/over the 2-3 year average lease allowances (generally 12K a year) in that one year alone.

I'd suggest picking up a used Civic or maybe even Elantra, and so you won't get such a big hit in terms of depreciation and high mileage or over pay for a ridiculous amount of miles on a lease. Or maybe a used version of any of the cars you're looking at.

CT200h would be tough for people to sit behind you if you're 6' tall.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i recently test drove one and found the interior to be UNBELIEVABLY cheap and cheesy. the rest of the vehicle was decent though, but i just couldn't stand looking at that hideous expanse of cheap plastic (and no guages) in front of me.

very sorry to hear that.

well what were you getting? in your area i think the traffic bad and if doing the uber/lyft thing you were probably doing tons of stop and go, not good for mpg.

okey dokey.

assuming $4/gallon and 28mpg that's 4200 miles a month.

does not compute... typical lease is 12k mi. allowance a year.

if you're spending so much on car and gas, you must be doing pretty well with the job, or why do it?

yes, sure, but $230 a month for a lease that allows 40Kmi. a year? NOT A CHANCE. #mathfail

word.

Blkisf12

Hi hope everyone is ok.

I had an 06 is250 and purchased a prius model iV 2010(jbl navigation leather ) at jm lexus 4 years ago and its a solid car I have 159miles on it and it is still a great work car. Basically my fuel bill went from 1200 per month to 500 ( I live in canada where cars and gas are way more expensive than in the states ) hence why I got my prius in florida. I have had zero issues and if youre 6ft tall a CT is basically useless and a rebodied prius anyways.


Good luck!

mmarshall

SaintNexus, there are other options, but, from the list you gave us in your first post, I'd look first at the Fusion Hybrid. I did a review on the Hybrid, and IMO it would be an excellent choice. It's got dynamite styling, Germanic-type road manners (better IMO than some new BMWs), a great overall feel (though the ride is slightly stiffer than I'd like), and a nice interior with the leather-trimmed seats you want....even in the Hybrid SE model, which starts at only 27K. One downside is the Ford MyTouch system which gets a lot of customer complaints....you'd have to try it for yourself to see if you have any problems with it. There are more expensive Fusion hybrid models available (including a long range plug-in Energi model), but I think that for you, the SE hybrid would be an excellent choice.

There has,of course, been some controversy in the media lately about the accuracy of Ford's hybrid EPA figures. But, even if they are off a little, you would still probably be getting at least the same or better than you did before with the Accord.

http://www.ford.com/cars/fusion/trim/hybrid/

FrankReynoldsCPA

Keep in mind that the Fusion Hybrid doesn't get the EPA ratings(pains me to say that, as I love the Fusion lineup).

I kind of chuckled seeing that you're doing lyft and uber, seeing as there was a debate about that just this week, and I figured it would be an idea you might try.

mmarshall

Yes, I'm aware of that (we've had a couple of threads on that), but even it it is off several MPG, he'd still probably be getting the same or better MPG than with his old Accord....and, IMO, enjoying the driving experience wheel a lot more than with a Prius or CT. To me, driving a Prius is about as satisfying as riding in a school bus.

Toys4RJill

How about a Chevy Cruze diesel? I had a CT, I hated it.

lamar411

First of all, how do you lease if you drive 3,000 miles a month? The cost of adding enough miles to last a 24-36 term will probably be a large chunk of dough.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I like the list choices. I'd say drive them all and see which you like most