Looking for a commuter car and daily driver. The car needs to be dependable and fuel efficient. I test drove Kias yesterday. Today it was a Prius and Corolla S. What do you think about these models? Both were 2011 models; 26K for Prius and 20K for Corolla. I appreciate any feedback you may have on these cars.
It’s so hard keeping up with your posts. Now that I checked your commuting distance (post #1), I suggest that you drive the car you like best. 50 miles one way is too long to ride in a car you don’t like a lot. I’m still in favor of the Optima (post #2).
Do us a favor and just put your responses here. You have 3 threads going on the same subject and few will remember the others when you start a 4th thread.
Thanks for the reply. Will do. I just posted as the events unfolded. LOL
I plan to test drive the Jetta on Monday. I think I will revisit the Optima. Do you have any experience/knowledge of the Optima? It seems to be a solid car. I really liked the Corolla S but felt it was somewhat out of style, though it performed beautifully.
Corollas are good cars and will serve you well. The 1.8L motor is an outstanding combination of economy, performance and reliability. There are very few non hybrids that get better mileage than a Corrolla. We had three Corolla clones and never regret owning any of them. Forget the style. If they perform beautifully and you like it, BUY IT !
I dunno, you test drove them, tell us how they felt?
Even though gas is expensive, cars are more expensive. With that many miles driving in a day, adding some grocery shopping, your car would be at 100K miles in 4 years. I am not sure if I am comfortable with the Hybrid choice. Anything else just comes down to your comfort. For a while I had 180 miles a day commute. I mostly drove a Camry and did not have the most comfortable seating position for me. The Minivan or the Kia Sephia were actually more comfortable.
I’d suggest picking up a Consumer Reports New Car Buyers’ Guide at the local bookstore before going any farther. You may not find the Jetta and the Optima to be as highly rated in reliability as some of your other choices.
It seems unlikely that the difference in fuel mileage would ever pay for the premium purchase price and increased cost of maintenance of any hybrid. But I’m just a real basic kinda guy.
“You may not find the Jetta and the Optima to be as highly rated in reliability as some of your other choices.”
While that may be true, CRs ratings don’t have much difference between excellent and poor. Other sources is Autos.MSN.com and Edmunds.com. Use them all to decide on reliability. Since 2006, the most reliable car was the Optima, followed by the Jetta and Prius, and the Corolla is in last place according to MSN Autos.
I’d go with the non-hybrid. The higher price, complexity, difficulty in diagnosis and repair, and the fact that you do mostly highway driving will offset any gains you would normally have with a hybrid.