Great car
I have owned mine for 8 years and 73,000 miles and I still love it. I am getting about 56-58 mpg tank average in the summer and 45-50mpg in the winter due to colder temperatures and using the heat often, affecting battery-only usage. Cruises on the highway great, and is perfect around town. Blue Streak Metallic paint has held up great, no clear coat damage and still feels great after a clay bar/ polish. I just have some rock chips on the hood, but they haven't started rusting and have been there for many years. Pretty comfortable considering it's size and wheelbase, it's nice and quiet too. I like that it has an actual gear selector and handbrake unlike the "regular" prius with it's little knob thing and foot brake. Interior has held up great, easy to clean the fabric seats, and all the buttons and tech work perfectly. I was able to unplug the speaker that makes the annoying hybrid sound at low speed, so now it's silent in EV mode which is great. I always recommend them to my friends, and most have never heard of a Prius C. I'd like a 4runner or something cool with more cargo space, but I can't get over their gas mileage under 20 mpgs. Think I'll just keep my Prius C lol.
Up to 45 miles per Gallon !!!
At 45 miles per gallon combine it is a deal breaker 8 gallons max capacity tank that means I get an average of 360 ( sometimes is less sometimes is more all depend of various factors ex: road conditions,driving skills, temperature all influences in the final result) but the way gasoline prices are nobody can beat full gas tank for les than 48 dollars and get 360 miles per run it is a no Briner plus it is very cheap to maintain less than 100 dollars every six months (more or less again depending of the use ) the down side if I may call that is it is that it has very small interior if you want to fit the 4 passengers capacity well all them including the driver will be very uncomfortable this car is has been designed for a city conmmute but again who can argue with the economic that this beauty is ?
Underrated and Overlooked.
The best feature is, of course, fuel economy. Our car exceeds it's EPA rating, we regularly achieve 60MPG. I don't understand why many reviewers mention slow acceleration when it's no worse than many other vehicles. Another common complaint is the quality of interior materials. Of course we'll have wait to to see how rugged they are, but it appears that light weight was a requirement, and the materials used remind me of aircraft fabrics. Climate control is very good, there's heat in about 1/4 mile. My biggest complaint by far is the uncomfortable (too far forward) headrests. Another headrest issue is the way they block vision to the rear. There must be a government headrest regulation involved because we noticed the same problem with other manufacturers vehicles, it seems that in mitigating one danger another hazard is exacerbated. Visibility is also impaired by the position of the wide "A" pillars, probably to accommodate air bags. By my reasoning, avoiding an accident in the first place is better than relying on safety features after an impact. Handling is excellent, but there's no feedback. Frequent correction is required during highway driving but that may be an issue with wheel alignment. Braking is also very good, but uneven, like hybrids in general. The headlights low-beam is OK but could be better because the high-beams are excellent. In almost 60,000 miles we've only changed oil, wiper blades and replaced filters, noting has broken. We do have a set of winter tires to get through those three months, which prolongs the life of the normal tires. My wife is the primary driver, she mostly takes short trips, and she loves her Prius C. I do like this car and plan on keeping it a long time, my complaints are really minor and many reflect the current trend in automotive design. I'd buy another one for myself if it was available in a wagon version, a little more cargo capacity would be nice. I might just buy another one anyway.
