Fit gp1 or Prius 2nd gen or Petrol car? 5.5M budget.

Babayaga · April 2, 2024

Hello Good people,

We're trying to buy a car for the 1st time. We had owned few vans (E24, E25), Suzuki Every and Nissan Vanette.

We had a Nissan E25 Petrol last and the reason we had to sell it was because of fuel. We use the vehicle mainly for Family purposes and we don't drive much.

So right now, we're looking for a fuel efficient car. I looked at Hybrid Fit Gp1 and Hybrid Prius 2nd gen.

We haven't owned a car before and definitely not a Hybrid. Is it better to go with one of my choices or is it better to look for a Petrol car.

Which one would you recommend? If a Petrol car, is it much to expect at least 15Km/l?

Apart from fuel efficiency, the only thing We look for is rear leg space.

Thanks for reading.

Please give your valuable opinions, it would help me not a make a bad decision.

Edited April 2, 2024 by Babayaga
typo

iRage · April 3, 2024

The Fit is a fun car to drive. The Prius is not so exciting to drive but would feel more softer to ride in, and the extra space would make it feel larger than the Fit. Also, if you are looking for rear leg space...the Fit is not the greatest compared to the Prius.

However...both these cars are going to have old Hybrid car problems where things like battery packs, control modules, etc...can have hissy fits (compared to modern Hybrid systems, these early-generation ones were quite..uhh...prehistoric). Replacing batteries is not a big job anymore, but the batteries (or components) can be costly. Also, when buying a second-hand car you need to be extra diligent about making sure that the batteries have been properly (and actually) changed and that the car has been maintained properly (looking at the age of the cars you are looking at one can say with 99% certainty that the battery would have had to be replaced or would need replacing). Also, most of these Priuses were used as taxis so they would have gone to the moon and back. This is not a problem if it has been taken care of and the Hybrid system is fixed as needed. but these cars would have rolled back meters, cover-up jobs on the Hybrid system, etc... Even a lot of the GP1s seem to have been owned by budget-conscious users who wanted a nicer-looking, cheaper ride than the Vit, Aqua, etc...

Personally, if you are not going to be using the car that much, I would go for a petrol car. Hybrids, unused would be problematic (especially old ones). If you can get your hands on something like an Allion/Premio 240 (i.e. 1st gen) that would be a decent balance of comfort/luxury and mechanical simplicity (that makes it a lot more robust than a secondhand Hybrid). Also, I believe they are quite desirable so selling them off will also not be a problem if you take care of it properly. However, I believe these go for 6mil plus these days. But you could always go and negotiate (if you go buy a car from the actual owner the prices will be far less than what is being advertised or what brokers try to push them for). Finding a good specimen might also be a bit challenging and require a lot of patience/time.

Other alternatives would be something like an Axela or Lancer from the early to mid 2000s (i.e. same era as the Prius, Fit and 240 Allion/Premio). These types of vehicles are usually owned by people who tend to like cars. So you will find more cars in better condition than the Toyotas and even the GP1. The only hitch is those who have them don't want to sell them these days (the same goes for good condition 240 Allion/Premio). A standard petrol car would be a lot easier to maintain as well (especially as a non-regularly-used car).

and yes...expecting to get 15kmpl from an old pure petrol car is too much. If the car is in good condition and you are a light footed driver expect to get around 10kmpl tank average. You will get closer to 15kmpl on long highway trips and that is about it.

Edited April 3, 2024 by iRage

Babayaga · April 3, 2024

On 4/3/2024 at 1:13 AM, iRage said:

The Fit is a fun car to drive. The Prius is not so exciting to drive but would feel more softer to ride in, and the extra space would make it feel larger than the Fit.

However...both these cars are going to have old Hybrid car problems where things like battery packs, control modules, etc...can have hissy fits (compared to modern Hybrid systems, these early-generation ones were quite..uhh...prehistoric). Replacing batteries is not a big job anymore, but the batteries (or components) can be costly. Also, when buying a second-hand car you need to be extra diligent about making sure that the batteries have been properly (and actually) changed and that the car has been maintained properly (looking at the age of the cars you are looking at one can say with 99% certainty that the battery would have had to be replaced or would need replacing). Also, most of these Priuses were used as taxis so they would have gone to the moon and back. This is not a problem if it has been taken care of and the Hybrid system is fixed as needed. but these cars would have rolled back meters, cover-up jobs on the Hybrid system, etc... Even a lot of the GP1s seem to have been owned by budget-conscious users who wanted a nicer-looking, cheaper ride than the Vit, Aqua, etc...

Personally, if you are not going to be using the car that much, I would go for a petrol car. Hybrids, unused would be problematic (especially old ones). If you can get your hands on something like an Allion/Premio 240 (i.e. 1st gen) that would be a decent balance of comfort/luxury and mechanical simplicity (that makes it a lot more robust than a secondhand Hybrid). Also, I believe they are quite desirable so selling them off will also not be a problem if you take care of it properly. However, I believe these go for 6mil plus these days. But you could always go and negotiate (if you go buy a car from the actual owner the prices will be far less than what is being advertised or what brokers try to push them for). Finding a good specimen might also be a bit challenging and require a lot of patience/time.

Other alternatives would be something like an Axela or Lancer from the early to mid 2000s (i.e. same era as the Prius, Fit and 240 Allion/Premio). These types of vehicles are usually owned by people who tend to like cars. So you will find more cars in better condition than the Toyotas and even the GP1. The only hitch is those who have them don't want to sell them these days (the same goes for good condition 240 Allion/Premio).

Expand

Thanks for writing. How good is Allion when it comes to fuel efficiency ?

matroska · April 3, 2024

On 4/2/2024 at 6:39 AM, Babayaga said:

Which one would you recommend? If a Petrol car, is it much to expect at least 15Km/l?

Apart from fuel efficiency, the only thing We look for is rear leg space.

Expand

You will probably not get 15KM/L on a normal Internal-combustion petrol car. Maybe in a tiny kei-car but those come with very little rear leg space.

If you do mostly weekend outstation driving the best option is to go for a slightly large(ish) Sedan. A corolla 141 will be a safe and solid bet - will do 10-12 KMPL on a long drive. Hybrids make sense for daily drivers but why go through the hassle for a mostly weekend driver. Allions Premios are a bit overpriced but if you can find one in your budget then it's a good choice. Other options - Bluebird Sylhpy G11, Lancer CS3/Maybe an EX.

If you must go for a hybrid

- The FIT GP1 feels a lot more nippy and fun compared to the Prius.

- The Prius is comfier, and has more rear leg space and the rear seats are better - the GP1 has the magic -seats that can be lifted up so they're not the most comfy. But it's a very practical car specially to haul stuff and it has insane interior space for its size.

- Things that commonly go wrong in the GP1 are *usually* cheaper and easier to fix than in the Prius.

[please focus on the words commonly and usually - I don't want to be sued ]

-Prius is better on fuel.