TELESCOPIC STEERING WHEEL!!

At 6'3", I simply could not reach the Prius's steering wheel unless my knees were jammed in the dash. That made it no contest.

Also, the Prius had very sloppy handling on the interstate.

I would've liked the sedan-hatchback practicality.

I look forward to the next-gen Prius to possibly replace our other car.

 

When I was first looking at hybrids a couple of years ago, the Prius was far more expensive*, had a 9-month waiting list, and the center console (the part that tells you about how the car is working at the moment) seemed like "information overload" to me. I was happy with the tachometer, IMA status and trip meter MPG on the HCH. I also preferred the HCH's larger gear shift lever -- the one on the Prius looked like a toy by comparison.

* - Local Toyota dealer wanted more $$ for a 1-year-old Prius than MSRP on brand-new HCH.

 

I think there were five reasons, the three latter were most important I guess

a) I like the Civic sedan shape, and it's very rare over here since it's only sold in hybrid version. The HCHI wasn't sold here so it's a brand new model for us. Civic sedans weren't sold here at all before (well, not since the eighties). Whereas the Prius is becoming mainstream - not pretty, and more or less an icon of hybrid cars.
b) in every comparative test report I read, the only major difference between the two was that the Civic had more agile handling, thanks to a firmer (some say less comfortable) setup. I like that. (My other car is retrofitted with yellow Koni shocks.)
c) the Prius cost around 5 kUSD more, over here
d) the Prius had a waiting list of around 12 months (I hate doing business with someone who doesn't need to try, and knows it)
e) since Prius for long was the only hybrid sold over here, they had no competition. I guess I couldn't resist cheering the underdog. The challenger.

I never actually test drove the Prius, still haven't driven it. The HCH had some disadvantages as well, one of the biggest is that the Civic rear seats are not foldable, so you can't transport longer goods in the car. I decided I can live with that. Prius has foldable rear seats in some versions, but I think you need to buy the high-end version to get it. You can't just order it as an option to the base version.

 

I’ve test drove the TCH, Prius and HCH. Tested and studied the Camry and Prius before the test drive. Really loved the Camry. Loved the gas mileage of the Prius.

Tested the HCH last. Thought I’d save the best for last. Immediately fell in love with the interior. Tested one with the NAV System. Did I say I loved the Camry? Especially with that JBL sound system.

I let the wife drive first while I tested the back seat. On the road, the HCH from the back seat was not comfortable. Not smooth at all. Every time we hit a small bump in the road the back suspension bottomed out against the struts rubber bump stops. This was something I remember some complained about but I over looked as others being to picky. I guess I was wrong.

On my test drive, I felt the HCH was a little on the rough side. My current sports car with its aftermarket tuned suspension was much smoother than what I experienced in the HCH. I was very disappointed because I really wanted the HCH. The ride, compared to the Camry and Prius was so rough that even my non-technical wife had to comment on the ride feel….and brakes. Ouch. Especially the rough transition from stop whenever the gas engine was engaged and how much it appeared to struggle up hills on the freeway. She even asked the salesperson why the rear suspension bottomed out on bumps. It was an embarrassment to him and me.

We figured that it must have been that peculiar car. So what does he do? He drives us to one of their storages yards to test drive another HCH( Same color and options) in of all things, a new/used Toyota Yaris. WTF.

All I could think of on that drive to the storage area was how smooth and refined the ride in the Yaris was. So much so that the test drive in the second HCH was completely ruined. And by-the-way, the second car drove exactly the same as the first. And that weir and clucky starting and stopping of the engine was very hard to overlook. All this collected data, pictures, reviews, HCH forums, reports and brochures on the HCH and now a broken heart.

We went back to retest the Prius and Camry and fell in love with them both….again Especially that Camry. But since the car will be primarily for me, I think I might get the Prius...or not. The Prius seemed more personal. The Camry was big, very, very comfortable and spread out. But it does look as if our next family car at least will be a Camry (TCH). And since I’ve experienced it….both cars must have that sweet JBL system.

That long story just to say….you never really know until the test drive. I never knew how closed minded I was until I actually experienced the difference for myself.


Did I mentioned how nice the TCH was?

 

I have done driver training and car fit for people with disabilities and the issues of visability and fit are firmly embedded in my brain.

One of the big minuses for me was what I thought was poor road visability in the Prius; to the back to be sure with that split window but also to the sides. Even with full head turns I thought the Prius had big blind spots to the sides because of the window configuration.

Also, I was more comfortable inside the HCH, another important factor as my daily compute is 170 miles. I am, to be polite, not petite and the HCH felt more accomodating to my size.

Finally, I found the dash displays on the Prius distracting, prefering a more straight forward, if less "cutting-edge" display.

 

Just like SrfCity, I'm a loyal Honda fan. I can't really picture owning a Toyota at all. There are now various Honda vehicles in the family and friend circle. So that enthusiasm must be spreading.

Never really tested the Prius but don't think I could have ever bring myself to pay the 5000USD "market adjustment" on the Prius anyway. What's up with that?

However as much as I like my HCH2, I wish I could creep forward in <20mph stop & go traffic on electric power alone. Perhaps in HCH3 Honda will have addressed that shortcoming?

Phil
'07 HCH2
'99 M3
'04 Civic EX coupe: wife-mobile
'96 Suburban: yes it uses about 3x as much fuel as the Hybrid but I need it to haul stuff...

 

This is the first economy car that we have bought in quite a while, but when my wife and I were first married, Hondas were the car of choice. We started with a N600, and went to Civic Station Wagons, 5 speed coupes, Accords, Preludes, and a CRX. So for us coming back to Honda was a logical choice.

Our neighbor had a Prius I and bought the first Prius II in San Jose so I got to sample them when they were first available. While I thought the Prius I drove nicely, I was someone disappointed with the Prius II. It transmitted too much road noise for my tastes, and while I classify myself as somewhat of a Geek, left to myself with a Prius II, it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to get one started and moving the first time I tried.....

In the end, this car is my wife's and she decided that she wanted the Honda. Part of it could be that several of her employees have Priuses and she has had many chances to ride and drive in them. She thought the Prius was too geeky for her as well.

Of course some of the other issues were economic, the Honda was cheaper, still had the full federal tax credit, and was cheaper to insure. Gas mileage seemed to be a wash, we just knew we wanted a 40+ mpg car. We ended up purchasing the car in Oregon because local Silicon Valley Dealers were packing the car to the tune of $4K. We paid for a 2007 at a 2006 price minus $700.

The other interesting issue is that the Honda is somewhat stealthy, especially with the 16" wheels. I don't think we get as many tailgating SUV intimidators as a Prius gets.

All in all I think we made the right choice.

 

Alright... maybe I should chime in as well since there were several reasons why I bought my HCH-II earlier.

Like many have already stated, I too have owned mostly Honda's. Not exclusively, but almost always at least as an effort to keep an open mind. While I have always respected Toyota as a company, I always regarded Honda as being an automaker who was trully the greenest and with the superior engineering.
And NO. I never owned a truck in my life or any other environmental absurdity.

Anyhow, the HCH-II was my first choice because of the following main attributes:
-Honda design and engineering.
-Lower price than a compartively equipped Prius ($7000 CND difference) yet almost as fuel efficient a commuter vehicle.
-Somewhat arrogant and elitist Toyota dealers- they still drive me nuts when I go in for service.
-Driver oriented controls and instrumentation.
-Better quality interior materials (not as prone to scratching)
-Better seat and steering wheel adjustability for the driver
-Side and curtain airbags... also include somewhat better crash scores than the Prius II.
-Nimbler handling.
-Very smooth and quiet.

Now, last November I did get myself an 07 Prius simply because the Prius had strenghts I could not ignore. It is an awesome car too but saddly my wife still hates it with a passion.

Anyway, unlike some in the Honda and the Toyota camps, I never seen them as direct compettion. The way I see them, they are different cars in porsuit of the same goals - Provide the smartest and most responsible forms of transportation available today. However, if I was to choose just one of them I guess I would have a very hard time making my mind up.



Cheers;

MSantos

 

After test driving both, I went with the hch2 due to:

1. Pricing-at the time, there were long waits for the Prius and the Toyota dealers were jacking up the prices, and as someone posted above, seemed very arrogant about the whole thing. I decided they could take their car and shove it. (No slam on the car itself, you understand. It could have been a great chance for Toyota to have been more alert to the dealers behaviors which possibly lost them future customers).
2. a better feel. The Prius seemed a little unstable in crosswinds in contrast to the Civic.
3. I'm a long time Honda owner and have been extremely satisfied with the company's products.
4. As kenny said earlier, the Prius does look a little like a cockroach

 

Yep, you sure did...BTW,the TCH gets terrible MPG compared to the Prius or the HCHII...I know many think 30+ mpg is great, but I have never owned, and never will own a car that gets less than 40mpg highway...so, we all make choices about what we want in a car. I happen to think my HCHII is pretty sweet -- it is roomy, has lots of toys, and on its worst days still gets 40 IN TOWN.

enjoy your Camry