Which Prius for me?

Did someone actually bring up nickel mining again? LOL

 

PiP sounds like a pretty good choice based on your needs/desires. Geek factor of plugin is hard to beat. Mild climate + short commute should do pretty well at maximizing EV driving. Free charging at work is a definite plus, and should cover your ~6 mile round trip so not charging at apartment is less of a big deal. May end up using a little more gas for weekend driving though, but 50-55mpg doesn't suck. When your commute gets longer, you'll most likely be able to charge at home and work. Full size Pius is a great family car when that day comes. Its certainly not going to pay for itself, but it sounds like that's not really the OPs goal.

FWIW I disagree with dopey's comment as well. I don't think there is any reason to suspect that driving "only" 6 miles a day in a Prius is going to damage the traction battery. There could be extreme low usage cases where this might be a concern, but this hardly seems like one of them. In a PiP you'll only use about 1/2 the battery range typically, but if anything that should extend the life of the pack. I'd still charge it every day rather than skip a day just to deplete the battery.

If you were trying to maximize your value for money, the recommendation might be different. But if its down to a C, a Prius, or a PiP all equipped to have similar cost, I'd go PiP!

Rob

 

LOL Thats pretty much where the credibility went out the window

 

That's only been debunked since about a month after it was trotted out by the oil companies ~5-6 yrs ago. Mining sucks for the environment. No question. But how do you suppose that the mining of 40-50 lbs of nickel, which is not particularly unusual as a metal or toxic as a substance and is recyclable, is far worse than the mining of the ~ 3-5000 lbs of iron, nickel, copper, aluminum, lead, petroleum derivatives, etc that go into a typical vehicles construction? Or how do you suppose it would be worse than the extraction, refining, and burning of the ~48,000 lbs of gasoline, which is fairly toxic and hazardous, a typical vehicle will use over its lifetime?

Rob

 

I forgot about your charging situation at home. That could make it tough to have a PIP. Good shopping!

 

For 28k you can get the Prius 5. I would still decide against the PiP unless you really want one. Here are the options of different trims - Toyota Prius - 2012 Options and Packages.

 

Since you had expressed a desire for a sun roof, a Prius Three with a sun roof and nav should run about 28 k.

 

Sorry, I meant the 4.

 

If you're in Seal Beach, then it's not that far for you go-go uptown to Carson Toyota, just on the other side of Long Beach and deal with Dianne Whitmire. This is a complete no-brainer. You live that close. She'll set you up in whichever one of the Prius fambly you'd like. She owns and drives Prius. So you know what she tells you will make sense. She can also help you think through the apartment question. At any rate, you're a hop-skip and jump from Carson. You'd be foolish not to at least talk with her even if you decide to buy somewhere else. I doubt you will, however. She knows the ins and outs of the car as well as the best deals that are out there. You won't be dealing with someone who just sells cars for a living.

She's sold hundreds of PiPs already, and the cars haven't even been on the market for a year.

 

Give Dianne a call for sure. Don't talk to anyone but her or her assistant, Nathan. (310) 522-2317 office; (949)689-0717 cellphone. Good luck. (and for what it's worth, I would go for the PiP in your situation, as long as the moonroof isn't a deal-breaker)

 

It might be tough to swing a Prius 4 with an Out the Door price of $28,000. You could (likely) negotiate to 28,000, but then you'd pay the tax, license, destination (etc) and it would be closer to $31,000. The "problem" is that (for the 2010 and 2011, you had to get the NAV with a package 4. See if the Toyota website will let you build a Prius in CA (4 or 5) for 28K.