My mom is considering the possibility of leasing a Prius, but doesn't know too much about it and doesn't have too much time. I was wondering if you guys and gals had any information about the Prius or any other Hybrid cars.

Which one is better for certain things, etc. Can you guys help me out?

   

This is only my opinion...

If I had the choice between a Prius and a Corolla, I'd go with the Corolla. The starting price of a Prius is in the 30 000$ range while you can get a Corolla for around 16 000$. I know it's a lease, but it will be bigger payment every month.

One of our vehicle is a Corolla - the mileage on one tank is great! We get about 600km on 40 litres, and that's going down on Prince of Wales every day. If your mom wants to save on gas, she should really consider how much she'd be saving if she has bigger monthly payment. I know the Prius does good for mileage, I guess it comes down to how fast can you get your money back...

   

We can afford about $500 a month.


That includes gas and whatnot...

   

When I bought my Corolla in 2001, at 3.9% financing, I paid around 460$/month for 4 years. It cost a lot less to lease, not sure how much, but the payments would probably be around 100$ less a month. Now, that was on a 23 000$ Corolla (after tax, freight and shipping, etc).

If it comes down to price, I would highly suggest that your mom goes to talk to someone at a dealership - they can plug in the numbers pretty quick and she'd get everything done real fast...

If you don't mind me asking, does your mom want a Hybrid because of gas prices?

   

Partly, but she has also tried to become more environmentally friendly.

For example, less processed foods, recycling plastic bags, growing stuff in our own garden, walking whenever feasible, energy efficient lightbulbs, laundry on clothesline instead of in dryer, etc.

Her latest addition would be a hybrid car. Then again, she might not lease a car at all.

   

If I recall last year there was a software problem with the Prius which was fixed, other than that it's a good car. There's also hybrids from Honda so you're mom has a few options to choose from..

Has she taken the Prius for a test drive? If not then maybe she could and also consider taking a Honda Hybrid for a test drive too..

   

I'll let her know...

   

That's great!!!

The Prius is better than the Corolla on gas (4.1/100km in the city for the Prius compared to 7/100km for the Corolla). I don't think you can go wrong with any Toyota vehicles - I guess it will come to pricing.. Hybrids are a bit more expansive because the technology is still pretty new...

That's all the advice I can give - I'm sure someone with more experience in what to look for in a hybrid does exist on this board Or you could always go to autonet.ca, they have pretty good car reviews there

Here's a review from the site: Prius reviews

   

I'd look into a Chevrolet Monte Carlo with Active fuel managment. Active fuel mamnagment consists of a V-8 engine where fuel is only run to four cylenders in cruising giving 12% + fuel ecconomy. With EFI it is much simpler then hybred though it is not made in the smaller displacements.

   

For City driving the Prius likely is the better choice, but for Highway driving likely not as much. That's just a guess from what I've heard, although I don't know much about the Corolla.