Prius or Camry Hybrid?

[gstjoker]

Okay my dsm fellows, I just want to get your inputs and your opinions on my decision to choosing the right new car. What the situation is, is that right now, I have a 03 Saturn Vue V6, AWD monster that eats up gas like 20 mpg. As you all know, gas price ain't helping either.

I was debating between a Toyota Camry Hybrid or a Prius. Anyone have any personal experience with either of these cars? Good or bad? Any major maintenance issues? I've searched on google already for user reviews but just thought I throw this out here to see if any of you guys have any opinions/suggestion towards these two cars. The Camry Hybrid is just a tad bit more, but I like the body of the Camry better than the old lady Prius.

http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:Mh1e2iRgK49iKM:http://image.automotive.com/f/miscellaneous/2007-toyota-camry-hybrid-50th-anniversary-limited-edition/6239798%2Bw630%2Bcr1%2Bre0%2Bar1/2007-toyota-camry-hybrid-50th-anniversary-limited-edition-front-leftj.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:mGvJanaOej5csM:http://www.channel4.com/4car/media/100-greatest/03-large/109-toyota-prius.jpg

[Scrmegl]

Isn't the Camry A LOT more car for the money? If they are even close in mileage I'd think the Camry would be the better long term purchase and more satisfying for the money. I haven't seen the newer Prius's though.

[Kracka]

Neither, get a Civic. Unless you are trying to make a political statement a hybrid car will not save you money when you factor in all the costs. A Civic (or many other base econo-cars) will get nearly the mileage of a Prius for $5-10k less.

[gstjoker]

I'm not trying to make a political statement. I'm just trying to buy a nice modern classy looking car. I'm not a rich guy either so I'm buying mostly used car, and from what I've seen from searching for the used price on Civics, to Prius and Camry, they're all around the same price. The *estimated gas mileage seems to take the Prius for the win.

[Kracka]

In the real world, Prius' aren't achieving the mileage they are rated at. Hybrid-technology is still fairly new, and although its for the most part trouble-free, when it breaks, and it will as it gets older, its going to cost a lot of money to fix/replace (especially when those batteries need replacement).

[rose0529]

My mom has a prius and really likes it. She got about 40mpg all winter for an average. mostly freeway driving. During the summer she was averaging about 47-48.. They just got to florida today and averaged 44, they made it only filling up twice.

[blageo23]

I heard the batterys are like $10000(at least awhile ago they were). But I also heard that the automaker will replace them for free.
I would get the camery, It looks alot better. The prius is just so ugly IMO.

[JET]

If you look around there are some nice cars much cheaper than any of those. Mazda makes a nice car that drop in value pretty fast, Nissan's are very nice and don't hold their value like a Honda/Toyota too. I would check out a Mazda3.

[Kracka]

Mazda 3's, last time I checked, are holding their value just as well as Civics are...but for good reason, they are really nice cars. My roommate has one and other than the fact Mazda has denied all of his warranty claims he loves it.

[b00stcreep21]

Get the camry out of the 2. The prius is fucking ugly