Drove the Focus EB, Drove a Prius, drove a Scion iM.

First of all... if you are reading this, Ransom, I will never doubt you again.

Despite what Ransom said, I test-drove a 2015 Focus SE EcoBoost 6MT today. Everything about the powertrain is horrible in that car. Maybe the 1.0 is enough in a Fiesta (too small for me) but it's just not enough in the heavier Focus.

On top of that, the interior is horrible. To call it "rental-spec" would be a compliment. The 1987 Hyundai Excel had a better interior. Therefore, I saw no reason to try out the 2.0 NA 5MT.

Yesterday, I drove a used Prius. They didn't have a used one that I wanted, but they all drive the same anyhow. It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, honestly. The interior is Corolla-spec, but a Corolla is a decent place to be these days. Yes, you can clearly tell where Toyota cut corners (and weight) but it's a decent enough place to be.

The one I drove was a 2012 Prius 5, and it had the leather (do. not. want.) and the 17" wheels. Maybe the 17" wheels help the car a lot, because this one seemed to ride and handle a lot better than the Prius I drove a while ago on 15s. I can get a base model and buy my own 17s.

As long as I was at the Toyota/Scion dealer, I test-drove a 2016 Scion iM. While I loved my xB1, I'm not a huge fanboi, so don't think I'm being biased here.

The iM is a very nice car. Sure, it's largely a Corolla underneath (although they obviously tweaked the suspension for better handling and less ride comfort), but they did a fabulously good job with the interior. I don't think I'm being out of line to say it is Lexus-grade. Everything you see and touch feels way too upscale for a $20k car.

===== So the dilemma is between a $17k CPO Prius vs. a $20k new Scion. I'm not even going to ask for advice, because this becomes a personal choice at this point. My only wish at this moment is that a CPO Scion iM was an option here!

If its your only car, get the Scion. Otherwise, go for the Prius and invest the savings in your project.

I thought the scion iM was the new Mazda 2 underneath?

clutchsmoke wrote: I thought the scion iM was the new Mazda 2 underneath?

That would be the iA. I saw one in person today, it took a moment to register as "not a mazda".

I think the Prius V will have more space. The IM looks like it has less space.

92dxman wrote: I think the Prius V will have more space. The IM looks like it has less space.

The Prius v is a whole other beast than a Prius Five. Good thing I'm not Roman!

But the "normal" Prius has ±5% of the interior space of the iM, in every dimension, so that's a wash.

EvanR wrote: Yesterday, I drove a used Prius. It's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, honestly. Maybe the 17" wheels help the car a lot, because this one seemed to ride and handle a lot better than the Prius I drove a while ago on 15s. I can get a base model and buy my own 17s.

You're right, it's going to be a personal choice for you, but my only caution is to maybe test drive the Prius again. When I first test drove it I thought it wasn't all that bad, but after living with it I started to realize that the handling was pretty poor. Other than that, you're right, it's a good car. Mine had leather, and I liked it, but again that's personal choice.

Resale value on the pious will be higher.

So the Scion iM gets 28 city, 37 highway. I would not pay 20 grand for something with those numbers. If you're going for new with efficiency get a Prius. Better resale and better efficiency for a DD. Just my 2p that you didn't ask for.

In reply to captdownshift:

In reply to EvanR:

I think the Ecoboost Focus and Fiesta may be diamonds in the rough, as far as performance is concerned. After all, look what people can do with the Ecoboost mustang.

Regarding the OP: Best first line of a post ever!

Klayfish wrote: When I first test drove it I thought it wasn't all that bad, but after living with it I started to realize that the handling was pretty poor.

I don't know if the folks on Prius forums are suffering the placebo effect, but there are a lot of posts suggesting that some chassis braces, a rear sway bar, and 17's help the handling a lot. All those parts are cheap, if done incrementally, and I can certainly give them a try if the handling bugs me.

The platform itself is a decent chassis, shame it got saddled with hybrid crap.....it's begging for a 2zz/6sp swap.

I guess that you had a bargain basement focus as my SES for 2012 was really nice inside. My Fiesta is leaps better than my Mazda2 was so maybe I am just not aware of what a "nice" new car is like. I will say that the extra weight of the Focus might be enough to overpower the little 1.0L.

Next up, look for a Matrix with the XRS package and manual trans. Similar to the Scion but way way cheaper.

In reply to singleslammer:

Not gonna find a Matrix with under 30k miles, and that's one of my requirements. I agree they were great cars, but they all seem to have been bought by either people who have thrashed them dead already, or people who will never sell.