Budget Prius?!?

[Stepppy]

After reading an article in AutoExpress yesterday about the photos of the new Prius, Toyota say they are going to keep the current Prius in production alongside the new version as a budget priced model to compete with the Honda Insight and prices will be very similar if not lower

I wonder if it will simply be one of the current cars, maybe a T3, or a stripped out version of the current car. I can't help thinking that this could be bad for future values of cars recently purchased. The new Prius is going to be more expensive starting at just over £20,000 which is a heck of a lot of money.

I really hope that the new one isn't going to be more expensive than £20,000 as I am really interested in the new version, but feel £20,000 is quite a barrier to break. I have spent nearly £30,000 on cars in the past, but now £20,000 is a barrier which I don't like to break. Wonder what the top model would be priced at B)

[timberwolf]

That's depressing :(

[timberwolf]

I'm trying to think of reasons why my recent Prius order was not such a bad decision!

(It's just a pity that car contracts are binding, and that News seems to get worse each day wrt the economy).

I prefer the slightly quirky dash of the current model, from the interior shot I think Toyota have made a mistake with that flying bridge/centre console.

In three years time, is a higher spec current style Prius going to suffer more that it has done in the past? Drive a new or nearly new car off the dealer forecourt and it instantly loses a couple of grand, so if I was being financially prudent I should have bought one that was at least a year old or not replaced the car at all.

[Stepppy]

The way I am thiking is that if the new one is going to be much over £20,000 I will probably go for the "current" model. Like you, I also prefer the inside of the current car as it really gives the impression that you are driving something "different" :)

I guess only time will tell, but I would think the budget version will be quite a basic model in a similar way that Citroen has done with keeping the old shape Picasso going, thereby hopefully not affecting the values on the current T3, T4, T Spirit

[fuel miser]

After reading an article in AutoExpress yesterday about the photos of the new Prius, Toyota say they are going to keep the current Prius in production alongside the new version as a budget priced model to compete with the Honda Insight and prices will be very similar if not lower

I wonder if it will simply be one of the current cars, maybe a T3, or a stripped out version of the current car. I can't help thinking that this could be bad for future values of cars recently purchased. The new Prius is going to be more expensive starting at just over £20,000 which is a heck of a lot of money.

I really hope that the new one isn't going to be more expensive than £20,000 as I am really interested in the new version, but feel £20,000 is quite a barrier to break. I have spent nearly £30,000 on cars in the past, but now £20,000 is a barrier which I don't like to break. Wonder what the top model would be priced at B)

I would have no worries whatsoever regarding residual values of the current Prius. I would also disregard speculation in any motoring magazines about plans for current or future models, they often just never happen. Statements are often made by manufacturers just to mislead the opposition, and, with a new Honda Insight planned, maybe Toyota are a bit rattled. Yes, we know a new Prius is due at some point (the date keeps going back, I first read in a 'motoring magazine' that it would be launched early next year, it's probably being delayed because of the obvious sales success that the current model still is). I would have thought it much more likely, rather than Toyota keeping two production lines running with two different models bearing the same name, that a lower-spec version of the new Prius will be offered, perhaps with the current 1.5 engine together with the current electric motor/battery pack. This would compete head on with the new Honda Insight (on price and the fact the Insight will have a 1.4 engine). Then you'd have the bigger 1.8 offered with the more efficient electric motor/batteries as an upmarket alternative. I think the 1.8 will offer slightly lower emissions (and therefore be free of VED), and have rather more power, but about the same economy as the current car.

This is just my theory, but, whatever, the new Prius is really going to have to go some to beat the current one, which is at the very top of the 2008 J D Power customer satisfaction table. These cars are highly desirable as a used buy, and you can always judge this by what the trade is prepared to pay for them, as I found out when I purchased my 2 year old T4 at a major car auction house four months ago. Yesterday I drove it from Cumbria down to London, on this 320 mile trip it returned 61mpg, mostly cruising at an indicated 67mph.

[Stepppy]

I would have thought it much more likely, rather than Toyota keeping two production lines running with two different models bearing the same name, that a lower-spec version of the new Prius will be offered, perhaps with the current 1.5 engine together with the current electric motor/battery pack. This would compete head on with the new Honda Insight (on price and the fact the Insight will have a 1.4 engine). Then you'd have the bigger 1.8 offered with the more efficient electric motor/batteries as an upmarket alternative. I think the 1.8 will offer slightly lower emissions (and therefore be free of VED), and have rather more power, but about the same economy as the current car.

I like the sound of that theory... very interesting :)