Small cars are a great way to save money on gas, but these days, there’s a better way: hybrids. By combining a small gasoline engine with an electric motor, you can get decent performance out of a larger car while clocking some truly impressive fuel economy numbers. Toyota was first to popularize this setup, but since then, other manufacturers have joined in, and now there are lots of choices. And they’re starting to depreciate down to cash prices, so they’re fair game for us here.
I don’t think I impressed very many of you with yesterday’s choices. Big blobby crossovers are no one’s cup of tea, it seems. Still, they got you talking and voting, so I call it a win. The Mazda CX-9 took the win by a large margin, despite its higher price tag and higher miles. It seems the reputation of the Buick’s 3.6-liter engine preceded it.
The Mazda is definitely the smart choice here, it seems. As fond as I am of GM vehicles, I recognize an overreach when I see one, and that High Feature V6 is just too far outside GM’s wheelhouse. Cast-iron pushrod engines that only rev to 5,000 RPM and run forever a quart low on oil, that’s GM’s forte. For cool, clever, high-tech engines, I’ll trust Mazda more.
For inexpensive, well-used hybrids, I figured the best place to shop would be the San Francisco Bay area. I had to include a Prius, of course, but I also found one of its rivals with a very similar form factor. They go about the whole hybrid thing in a different way, though, so the driving experience is probably a bit different. Is one better than the other? That will be up to you. Let’s take a look.
2012 Toyota Prius – $5,300
Engine/drivetrain: 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4 plus electric motor, CVT (kinda) automatic, FWD
Location: San Jose, CA
Odometer reading: 208,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Here is a car that needs no introduction. The Toyota Prius has been so successful at spreading the gospel of hybrid cars that “Prius” is practically synonymous with “hybrid.” It’s almost like Kleenex or Q-Tips. It’s been around for more than twenty years now, gradually improving with each generation. The Prius not only has a reputation for excellent fuel mileage, but also damn near eternal durability. This third-generation Prius has more than 200,000 miles on its odometer, but it still has plenty of life left.
It was only a few years ago that I got interested enough to understand how Toyota’s hybrid system works. It’s absolutely elegant in its simplicity. You have the engine on one side, the electric motor on the other side, and a differential gear between them, so that the engine and motor can rotate at different speeds. They both can send power to the front wheels, and the motor can also act as a generator to charge the battery. A computer controls the whole thing. There isn’t much to go wrong, which is always the best way to keep a system reliable. This one runs and drives just fine, according to the seller.
The photos of the interior aren’t great, but from what I can see, it’s in decent shape. It has some extra seat cushions you may or may not want, and a fuzzy cover on the armrest that’s probably covering up some cracks in the vinyl. The seller doesn’t give a lot of details about the functional condition of the stuff inside, but it’s a Toyota; I’m sure it all works fine.
Outside, it’s silver. Of course it is. Did these even come in any other colors? The black wheels aren’t original, and personally, I’m not a fan. It has a few scrapes and scratches, but nothing worth mentioning for a 200,000-mile car. The Mystery Spot bumper sticker is a nice touch.
2019 Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid – $5,555
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter DOHC inline 4 plus electric motor, six-speed DCT automatic, FWD
Location: Fremont, CA
Odometer reading: 189,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Hyundai has been a big name in electric vehicles in recent years, but it all started here, with the Ioniq. It was available as a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, or a full EV. What we have here is the standard hybrid model. It’s a five-door hatchback, just like the Prius, and it actually looks a little like it as well. I guess if you’re going to copy someone’s homework, you may as well copy from the head of the class, right?
I’m not sure exactly how Hyundai’s hybrid setup works, but it’s different from Toyota’s. Instead of a single-speed planetary gear reduction like the Prius, it uses a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. The engine is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder from Hyundai’s Kappa line, and together with the electric motor, it sends 139 horsepower to the front wheels. It gets even better gas mileage than the Prius. This one has 189,000 miles on it, and the seller says it runs and drives fine. The seller is a dealership, so we don’t get any more info than that. Best to have it checked out by someone who knows these cars, just to be sure.
The interior of the Ioniq is a little more conventional-looking than the Prius, which I prefer. I’m not a fan of Toyota’s center-mounted instrument panels. It has really interesting seat fabric too, which is something of a Hyundai tradition at this point. I don’t know why there’s a cover on the passenger’s seat and not the driver’s; it’s a little strange.
Even if a dealership can’t or won’t disclose information about a car’s past, sometimes you can tell just by looking at it what sort of life it led. This Hyundai has been around the block and bumped into a few things along the way. It has dings and scuffs all over. It’s not unusual for a city car to have a few battle scars, I suppose.
I personally wasn’t sold on the idea of hybrid cars at first, but they have proven themselves reliable and durable over the years, and you can’t deny the fuel savings. The Prius is the gold standard, but it’s a bit weird and comes with some baggage that you won’t find in the trunk. The Ioniq is not as refined, from what I’ve read, but it gets even better mileage, and it’s less famous (or infamous), so you can fly under the radar. Which one would you pick?
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