The HS250 is the right car for me.

My situation
I drive to work 20 miles each way, have a wife and two kids in middle and grammer school. wife does not work. I take co-workers out to lunch for networking (we all should) occasionally, take the kids to the park in it when the wife is out, and sometimes use my car for weekend trips although i don't like to.

the evaluation
The Prius is a good midsize car with great gas mileage and was the perfect choice for me. But I thought the interior was a bit bland and really didn't like the styling especially that back blacked out glass.

The 2011 camry hybrid was another option, but ditto for the styling both in and out. Not loving the 32mpg city mileage for the highway.

The CT200 had the styling and the luxury i wanted, but was just too small and had a hard ride. MPG's and price were good, size was not.

The Optima/sonata hybrids were well styled for me and were midsized too. They even had lithium batteries which i liked. The sonata version with memory seats and power windows luxury model is a contender.

The 2012 camry hybrid also came out too late. But i still considered it. It has the MPG's 40 city! It has some luxury, but just not enough. Still it's a contender.


The Mercury version has such horrible styling that i never considered it.

all SUV hybrids don't get enough MPG's for a daily commute and are larger than i need it to be.

So then we have the hs250 which we are all familar with. Just the right size for a daily commute. I get 40mpg's regularly, big enough for my american coworkers Can be used for weekends without issue. Luxury is everywhere and styling is tops for me. The only factor is the price of $45,000.


So the top three for me were the 250h, the camry 2012 model, and the 2012 sonata.
The sonata has all the luxury, but will cost $36,000 topped off. The best i could get the dealer to was $34k. That's just too much money to throw into a hyundia sonata whose base model is $18k.

The Camry offers little to no luxury. No memory seats, cheapo leather, and yuk styling. IT does have the best ride. Super smooth, soft, powerful and the best city mileage of the three. Along with it's price. it was tough to pass on.

The 250 won me over with dealer discounts. spending $37k for a $45k car and comparing the tech and future value between this and similarly priced sonata was a no-brainer.

If they sell this car for $37k loaded, they wouldn't be able to keep if on the shelves. The problem is pricing. they don't want to be close to the prius or the CT200 so i think it will be killed. Sad because at the right price, it's the best car for me and for many of us.

 

Ditto!
Same situation same conclusion - Orateam, you've summarized it so well!

Thank you.

 

I think that with a lower base price (and a better job of advertising) the HS would have stolen lots of sales from the Camry hybrid. However, I don't think that the CT and the HS compete with one another. The CT has a "sportier" image and is aimed at a younger demographic than the HS.