Ok so you guys might think I'm crazy, but I have been toying with this idea. I love my FEH but I had a chance to drive a Prius and I was really impressed. I found that it had as much leg room in the front and back as my FEH. Also the fuel econ is almost double. So I am deciding weather to keep the FEH or not. Let me know what you guys think. Of course I will keep in mind opinions might be a little weighted as this is the FEH forum afterall!

 

I'm hardly qualified since I've made one short trip in an FEH, two in a Prius II.

In case this is helpful, Dan made a presentation in Plano earlier this month that illustrates loading a bike inside is easy (and probably a dog crate)

I had great experiences in both.

Hope that helps!

 

I drive an 06 loaded FEH, my Mom drives an 06 loaded Prius.

I really like my Mothers car a lot & you're right about the leg room. When I first drove her car, I was simply amazed at how roomy/comfortable it is & the mpg is simply outstanding. I drove it on a 12 hour trip in one day last Summer (she is 80 years old & I didn't want her to have to drive) & was quite impressed with it.

That being said, I would never trade vehicles with her, I absolutely LOVE my FEH & I am willing to sacrifice a little mpg because of that. I realized recently that I probably enjoy driving my truck as much as any vehicle I have ever owned & I have owned an awful lot of really nice cars/trucks over the years. I am in the auto business & I can basically drive whatever I want.

My truck is really loaded with options, it came with every single factory option available & I added a bunch more myself so that adds to the enjoyment obviously. Here is a list of what my truck has that I posted on another site when someone asked:

Black/Dk charcoal gray heated leather interior.
Appearance package
Eclipse 5510 DBL DIN NAV/DVD/MP3/rear camera/Sirius
Parrot BlueTooth-4 Infiniti Separate component speakers(I removed the factory NAV)
MTX High power class D AMP(true 75 x 4 RMS at .05%) & Dynamat Extreme in all doors
stock subwoofer in rear, Kenwood self powered sub under passenger seat
20% window tint W/in channel ventshades & WS band
Pioneer rear DVD/video W/cordless headphones
Ford side step bars
Gentek auto dim mirror W/outside temp/compass
moonroof W/deflector
Woodview black burl dash kit
400 watt AC/DC inverter W/duplex outlet
Heated mirrors
ScanGauge II
Bosch cabin filter
low profile bug deflector
hydraulic hood rods
Home-Link garage door opener
Ventshade tailight covers(black)
Ford entry keypad on door
Westin Safari Bar W/Westin 4.5" round lights


~John

 

Aside from everything else is the money. Since this is a 2008, that means its what, 2 months old tops? Selling/trading it now is going to cost you big time in depreciation. You can buy a new car off the lot for $30,000, drive it for a day and have it be worth $27,000. That's alot of money to give up for any reason.

 

yeah, I know. I took my FEH to a local toyota dealer looked at the prius and for fun had them appraise mine. They told me $21000 and it has about 2600miles on it. I laughed all the way out the door! the salesman said its because its a 08 and they did not know what to do with it. these dealers crack me up, they really must think we are dumb. you know they would turn around and sell it for like 27,000 or so. Yep I think i will hang onto it. I really do like it!

 

A dealer will only give you the same value that they can buy that vehicle for at the wholesale auctions.

I work in the IT dept of a local car dealer & we buy cars at the auctions five days a week. It would not be unusual at all for us to buy a less than one year old vehicle with virtually NO MILES for $10,000 less than it sold for new, it happens all the time.

Some vehicles hold their value much better at the auctions (Toyota/Honda), but unfortunately a Ford Escape is not one of them. I took advantage of that fact when I bought my loaded 06 4WD FEH. Mine had under 4000 miles on it when I bought it & had every single factory option (NAV, side air bags, moonroof, appearance package, heated leather & mirrors etc etc etc). The sticker price on mine was $34,000 & I paid just over $20,000 for it.

~John

 

A FEH and a Prius are two completely different vehicles.

Is the OP simply saying that they selected a completely wrong type of vehicle for their needs? It seems they bought a vehicle for interior cargo room, and now find they don't really need any interior cargo room, even occasionally.

With a current MPG of 36.6, their FEH seems to be doing quite well in delivering 'as promised' on fuel efficiency.

 

I believe you have to keep your hybrid for 3 years to claim the tax break.

Could you afford both FEH and Prius?

I love my Mariner Hybrid because we carry a lot of stuff with us when we are out and about, but I would also like to have a Prius as a commuter car.

 

Walt, i have to say i do really like my FEH. But i should have done more research on the prius. we just figured it was too small so we did not look at it. as far as storage they are kinda similar. the FEH does have more cargo room but the prius does also have a good amount of room and fold flat seats. I have been thinking about it this weekend and i think i might just stay with the FEH. i love have a sunroof which is not offered in the prius and the fact that the FEH has really good ground clearance. thanks to all for your opinions!

 

With a little practice, you can get near Prius MPG in the FEH.

I have a 2005 which is not as easy to get high MPG as the 2008.

I routinely get 54 MPG in city driving, under 40 MPH, and get about 42 MPG at 55 MPH steady highway driving.

You should, with practice, be able to match, or beat this in a 2008.

On a MPG per pound basis, I think the FEH wins over a Prius.

The FEH really is a well engineered vehicle.