Prius vs. Civic IMA

[Jim27]

2005 Toyota Prius Spirit (35,000 miles) for £12,000


or

2005 Honda Civic IMA (35,000 miles) for £8,000



Looking at all the costs involved the Prius is almost exactly £100 a month more expensive to run than the Civic IMA, although the Prius' spec and interior is far, far superior to the Civic. Plus the Civic is manual only, whereas the Prius is CVT. Hey hold on with the abuse at the back, ok? This is a work car and I *WILL* be getting stuck in traffic, stop-start etc., ok? So auto or CVT is preferable to manual any day of the week.

The Prius has better spec, much more modern interior and CVT transmission.

Prius interior:


Civic interior:


But the Civic has leather (cloth only for the Prius at that price), and is £4k cheaper. There's pretty much naff all difference in monthly costs other than the finance (£100 more for the Prius), but does it justify the extra £100 a month?

Thoughts/comments?

[Sean]

Still a week off 1st April?

[Miguel - Newera]

Every time we fly within Japan and need to rent a car, we try and get a Prius. Nice cars. Quiet, fairly brisk if you need to go fast, nice navigation system and fun to watch the display and see how far you can go on battery before the engine comes on. It's a comfortable car too - and the design's attractive too. I'm thinking of getting one for my wife, as her next car - Would make a good little family runabout.

We don't have that Civic design in Japan, only the new one - Is it Hybrid too?

Haven't driven it so can't comment, except to say the Civic's obviously uglier. I'd go for the Prius if it were me, but perhaps from an economy standpoint it might be better to opt for the Civic. Worth bearing in mind re-sellability in a few years though..

[bkvj]

...who'se it for?

what do integra DC5s go for?

[Jim27]

Originally Posted by bkvj

...who'se it for?

what do integra DC5s go for?

It's for me, and I'm looking to get something that's fairly cost effective. I've never seen the point of owning a sports car - paying the premium for the car, the more expensive/frequent servicing, the greater insurance, etc. etc. - and not DRIVING it like a sports car. So although yes, the DC5 could return reasonably respectable mpg if you tickle the throttle rather than planting it, what's the point?

I'm looking for a 'sensible' car to use on a daily basis that isn't too old, is fairly respectable, has 4 seats and is fairly cheap to run (considering purchase, insurance, road tax and fuel).

Believe it or not, the top of the list at the moment is a 2001 Mini Cooper, but the Civic IMA has just pipped it by about £3 a month. But if I'm looking at the Civic it also draws ready comparisons against the Prius, hence my question on here - is it really worth shelling out an extra £100 a month for the interior pleasantries of the cloth-trimmed Prius over the the leather-trimmed, but fairly basic, Civic?

I considered a Type-R - either a DC5 or the previous model of Civic Type-R - but the costs will be substantially higher because I know that I won't be able to resist putting my right foot down. At least with the Prius or Civic IMA I won't be tempted to get a heavy right foot because s0d all will really happen if I put my foot down!! No gratification = no temptation!

[GarethK]

What about an E46 320d? 45-50mpg, great cars and you could pick one up with similar miles for less than the Prius.

[Sean]

Despite the frivolous nature of the post why go for a hybrid when your £9k buys a lot of diesel Mondy / Vectra / Mazda6?

There will be a lot of companies offering hybrids within the next 18 months or so which won't be good for Prious values either.