I’d second the Accord. I have a 2001 and it gets good mileage and is very comfortable and quiet, I imagine the new ones will be even more so. I’d pass on the Prius, it’s not going to be as comfortable or quiet as a larger car, and the hybrid bit of it is basically a bust on long highway trips.
The Nissan Sentra is a pretty nice little car too, you might take a look at one. In CR it rated second to the Elantra and way above the Civic.
You’re not quoting me at all. You’re quoting zsenya, the original poster of this post. I hope this clears it up.
The Prius excels (mpg-wise) in city driving, not as much in long periods at freeway speeds. But I expect you’d like the Prius in any event. Cons Reports says the Prius is among the most reliable. And supposedly it is good for highway camping trips due to the way the seats fold down, making it possible to comfortably sleep two people inside. That seems a plus to me anyway. The main complaint folks seem to have about the Prius is that it isn’t quite as peppy as they’d prefer. A test drive would tell you one way or the other.
You should definitely consider the other cars CR recommends too, like the Honda Civic & Accord, Toyota Corolla, Yaris, and Camry, and models from Ford, GM, and Nissan, etc.
One thing to consider: Your car will eventually need repairs. The objective should be to get it fixed fast, and inexpensive as possible. It’s generally easiest/fastest/cheapest to find parts for, and shops that work on, models that sell a big volume.
My only complaint about the Prius is the suspension. It’s very soft and rolls badly. I suppose some people are too large for it, but it’s not an especially small car. I find it very comfortable. As for highway gas mileage, it’s exceptional. Even though the electric motor is contributing nothing, the Prius is very aerodynamic and has a small engine designed for increased efficiency at the expense of power. My personal experience is that the Prius will easily beat non-hybrid competitors by at least 5 mpg in highway driving. I’ve exceeded 50 mpg on tanks of gas and never gotten less than 45 mpg. For comparison, the Camry Hybrid is rated at 39 mpg highway, and the regular 4 cyl. Camry only gets 35 mpg. For people who do mostly highway driving the increased gas mileage has a hard time paying for the increased price, but the improved gas mileage is still nice to have.
The standard Prius IS NOT a Corolla. It is bigger, better riding, quiet and very dependable. It is perfectly capable of going cross country in relative comfort. It is much more roomy then the compacts and is slotted between the Corolla and Camry for size with a large back seat is a plausible replacement for a family sedan or small SUV.
One thing I have read about the new Honda Accord is that the four cylinder version is going to a CVT Transmission, for me thats a deal breaker, Just an FYI.
@dagosa I agree that the Prius isn’t a Corolla, and that it’s bigger.
We have Priuses in our fleet.
And I own a 2005 Camry LE V6.
A 2005 Prius is pretty cheesy compared to my Camry. The back seat is “roomy” enough, I suppose, but IMO it can’t compete with a decent Camry. The build quality is no better. The one thing going for the Prius (besides the fuel economy) is the automatic climate control. I wish I had that.