<p>Instead of getting a car that beeps before you’re about to hit something, just have a back-seat driver ride along with you who can scream when you’re about to hit something.</p>
<p>Good plan, lizard. But probably more costly in the long run :)</p>
<p>We bought our 2012 Prius (with all the features we wanted) for under $25,000 with 0% interest/financing. Seemed like a good deal to us compared to other 2012 cars we were considering.</p>
<p>I think I’ve narrowed it down to Prius, Camry hybrid or Subaru Impreza. The Subaru is all wheel drive and I assume it would be better on winter roads than either of the Toyotas, but the fuel efficiency is not as good. I’ve been driving the Camry hybrid for 2 winters now and it’s been ok, but I usually don’t have to drive if the roads are bad. My H’s opinion is that the Camry handled better in the winter than the Prius. Any other opinions out there?</p>
<p>Take a look at the price of a regular Camry vs the hybrid version. Then do the calculation as to how many years it will take for you to save enough gas to break even. Depending on how much you drive per year it can take 5+ years. </p>
<p>For example, say the regular gets 30mpg and the hybrid gets 40mpg. You drive 15,000 miles per year. You save 150 gallons of gas per year. @ $3.50/gallon that is $525 saved per year.</p>
<p>This sounds great until you look and see that the MSRP difference between the hybrid and the SE version is $4,400. So it would take 8.38 years before you break even.</p>
<p>Nothing beats the feel of driving a German car. If I have to switch to something else in a future, I would be sad. I do not even like to drive at all, driving as little as possible. I have had Toytas and others and I do not know a diff., but it feels different.</p>
<p>My H didn’t look at the Prius because he heard from a couple of different people that it did not handle well in winter weather. His boss has one, but he drives another car when the weather is bad, I heard that the Prius is too light. Weight is what makes it energy efficient but is not good in bad weather.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, dont go European. Trust me.</p>
<p>^Why? I have European car that I enjoy a lot, more than all my previous cars.</p>
<p>It will break down. Im around cars a lot. My cousin races cars for a living. I hang out with garage owners. And they all know European cars break down. Ive owned a VW. Broke. Constantly. Uncle had a Benz that had one of the most obscene engine blows ive ever witnessed. European are just less reliable compared to Japanese counterparts. Its fact. Even those on Bimmer or Mercedes phones will admit it.</p>
<p>How about Subaru Outback in years 2010-2012? (I know 2013 Subaru Outback has been available. But we do not know its reliability yet.) Is it reliable?</p>
<p>I’m really starting to lean toward the Subaru. I hate driving on wintry roads and we have such long winters in VT, at least some years. Since my H has a Prius, we can take that on longer trips. The Impreza is the most fuel efficient all wheel drive car and gets good marks in CR.</p>
<p>I just bought a 2010 Subaru Outback. Time will tell if it’s reliable but Consumers Reports gives it good marks. We have a smaller car and decided we would like something bigger we can haul things with. I’ve only driven it a couple hundred miles but am averaging 31mpg.</p>
<p>Speaking of Subaru, check out the new BRZ. Its a collaboration with them and Toyota. Its fun, fast, affordable, and goes over 30 mpg. My friend is getting one, and im excited to try it out. Pretty small though. </p>
<p>Sent from my HTC Glacier using CC</p>
<p>A friend just told me her Subaru has problems with the windows. If anyone knows of problems with Subarus, please share. I still think I’m getting one, but want to ask at the dealership.</p>
<p>There are problems with every make and model of car. My brother has a Nissan Maxima that has had numerous problems. I know people with major Toyota and Honda issues. The point is a sample size of 1 (your friend) is meaningless. </p>
<p>What are you expecting the dealer to say? Yes there are problems? A dealership will tell you anything to sell you a car. Never trust one.</p>
<p>Subarus are fine cars. They are reliable.</p>
<p>tseli,
are not all cars will eventually break?
My European car has been behaving just fine so far. I love to drive it much more than Japanese cars. I do not think I will buy any other than German cars any more, unless I cannot afford it, and that would be very sad. We always go to dealer to buy and to service. They have been great to us so far.</p>
<p>Iron Maiden</p>
<p>Maybe this is dumb on my part, but I thought that if there were known problems with a car, it might be a negotiating point. I would never have thought to even try to open and close the windows on a car as part of a test drive, but now I will on the Subaru because a friend mentioned it as a “known problem”. You can’t try or know everything of course.</p>
<p>Hey, we bought the Subaru Impreza today! I feel great about it; it seems like the best possible combination of fuel efficiency and safe winter driving. Thanks for all the input.</p>
<p>Enjoy, bethie!</p>