LexusJoey

Hey all,

I do mainly city driving. Thinking of trading my 04Nav for a Prius Plug In.
The dealer gave me a loaner for a week. Surprisingly, it's got arguably the same amount of luxury items. Now that I've had it for a week, I would miss them both for its own reasons.

Fire away.....

jimbosr1

i wouldnt trade a 430 for a prius,if you do you will be sorry!

BradTank

I think what you need to do is sit down and really calculate just how much in gas you'd really be saving from a Prius over an LS430.

For most people, I'd be willing to bet it's something like $30 a month in gas, the sales tax alone on a new Prius wouldn't even cover several years of fuel savings. (In my state, the sales tax alone would be over $2,500, so about 7 years to break even on just the sales tax)

If you just want to drive a Prius because you like them, that's an emotional question only you can answer, but buying a $30k car to save $20 a month in gas (plus all the depreciation on a brand new car) is actually going to be costing you a lot more money.

LionsGate

Not much to say, really. We own both, a Prius with every option offered and a Premium LS. Each is a great car in its own right and they seem very different to me. I'd simply say go with whichever meets more of your current priorities.

I'll add that if you leaning towards a Prius, then it might pay to investigate the 2013 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid. It's no Toyota product to be sure, but Ford is doing some good work today. I believe you'll find the real world fuel economy to be nearly the same but with interior luxury a step or three above the Prius.

Jabberwock

if you have no car at all or an old car that is broken and needs large dollar repair then its time to consider a replacement car. At that time you can weigh payback on buying a high MPG car versus and lower cost lower MPG equivalent car. For example buying a regular Camry versus the hybrid Camry.

But if you have a decent running car that gets normal average MPG (like an 04 LS430) than buying a new car like a Prius for its better gas mileage supposed cost savings is NEVER going to make sense financially. Unless you are commuting 100+ miles a day in a tandem axle Ford 350 - the pay back numbers on the transaction costs require years of driving to get back to even.

There are debatable good reasons to ditch a decent running car that you already own and pay the costs to buy a plug in hybrid but none of them are financial.

SW17LS

We had a Prius that we traded for the Jeep in my sig.

Like Jabberwock said, in terms of cost, overall the cost of purchasing the new plug-in Prius vs driving your old and presumably paid for LS is going to outweigh any money you would save on fuel. So, financially I would say the smart thing would be to keep your LS.

The Prius is a weird car. My wife loved it, I hated driving it. Uncomfortable driving position, absolutely terrible material quality and seats, loud, rode hard. Now, that was a gen II Prius, and the newer ones are better, but absolutely no comparison in ride quality, build quality, comfort, etc to an LS. Sure, that gas mileage is awesome, and with the new one you're looking at being a plug in, it would be even better. But I am a car guy, and I get a lot of enjoyment out of my cars, and I just needed something that I enjoyed driving, regardless of the incredible increase in operating cost from the Prius to the Jeep.

Perhaps an option is to keep your LS, and buy a Prius for commuting?

gbracer04

Did he say trade an LS 430 for a Prius???

sajack

I would go for the Prius only if at least 80% of my driving was stop and go in the city.

warminwisc

I had a hybrid Camry and it was fun to drive with the on off technology which will be introduced on many regular ICE soon anyway. I asked my sale guy at one of my Lexus servcies how the prius would ride compared to my Camry and he felt is was not comparable with noise and comfort. The Camry was Ok but nothing like my LS it is very soft, boring and ya gotta like electric steering.

There are some ICE(internal combustion engines) getting 38 on the highway which would be funner to drive than the Prius and prolly a toss up $ wise or less compared with the Prius. There where a few redesigns, the Malibu, The Altima, Mazda 6 the Fusion is up for redesign so look at other options before you buy the Prius just because IMO. If you want really superior fuel economy, and stop and go will improve em more sit tight. Prius for city driving can't be beat though as I was in Boston and the fleet of Taxi's where all Camry hybrid. I sold my Camry figuring in a year or tow stop and go would be out and my car would be be getting obsolete. Interesting I bought it when they where supposedly driving intpo walls by themselves for 19,200 drove it 25 k miles/almost 3 years sold it for 18,500 but there is alot of competition now versus my 09.

caddyowner

Having owned both an 05 LS and11 Prius, they are apples and oranges. If utility, low fuel cost, and a warranty are more important than power, comfort, and luxury, the Prius or PIP are great choices. From what I've read, I'd avoid the Prius C as you don't gain that much in MPG for much less of a car. The Prius V is useful if you want a wagon, though 90+% of that capability is available in the regular Prius.

I use the Prius on about half of my 94 mile commutes and as my distance car, having taken it on two vacations (550 miles & 1500 miles) in the past few months. Mileage on vacation was great (52 MPG) on regular gas. Comfort and storage were OK for the two of us. It would have been tight with another person and their luggage.

I drive over 30K miles per year and try to keep the Prius mileage at about 18-20K per year. My problem will come if my GF and I get married and her old Malibu dies. She likes the Prius...

Kansas

The only Prius I've driven or ridden in for more than a few minutes is the Prius v wagon my wife bought a couple of months ago. I've actually thought about buying another one for my use but I can't get all that comfortable in its seats - wish they were available with power and memory. It's sure hard to beat the confort of 22 1/2 years driving an LS.

I've been driving a little Smart Fortwo since last Thursday night when my LS was rear-ended. (Not much choice at Enterprise at the end of the day.) The Smart is a bit buzzy and the ride choppy but I'm finding it comfortable and a lot of fun to drive ... but don't think I would want to get rear-ended while driving this roller skate - OUCH!

If you think a Prius is small, look at my rental Smart next to our Prius wagon.

Dranom

iTrader: (7)

just keep the LS if its paid off already

fensterlip

I know the feeling. You're bored with your LS. Wait for the feeling to pass before doing something you will regret in 6 months. No features they add will make a Prius feel and act like an LS. The Prius is best for high density all city drivers. That's where the economy really shines too.

Natey2

How's the Prius' uphill acceleration like? Looks like it has 134 hp.
If you have many uphill climbs on your commute, or carry many passengers on that uphill commute, this might be worth considering.
I had never driven a V6 until I sold my 4-cyl 1979 Mazda 626 (only 75 hp!) and got my 1988 Camry V6LE (153 hp).
I recall having to drive up those steep hills in San Francisco, with a full load of passengers in that 1979 626: they joked that they thought they'd have to get out and push that vehicle uphill. Lol!

And the 1988 V6 could actually accelerate on the uphill climbs; something I couldn't even dream of in that 1979 626.

Now with my 2005 LS430 at 290 hp...

Edit:
Interesting that the Camry hybrid has 200 hp, while the Lexus 250h hybrid has 187 hp.

CarGuy89

My mom got a 2011 Prius a few yrs ago (despite me trying to convince her to get something more exciting). The styling still hasn't grown on my in all this time, I just think it looks really odd from every angle. The interior feel really low rent, the car was brand new but theres squeaks/rattles everywhere, and the steering is way overboosted with absolutely no feel. The seats are hard and uncomfortable. Then there's my biggest dislike which is the clunky hybrid system/engine transition and the anemic performance. All in all, I try my absolute hardest to avoid driving that thing.

I could never ever give up the LS430 for a lesser car like that, but that's just my opinion. Do whatever makes you happy