I also like Hondas better than Toyotas. And I HATE Toyota's ridiculous options packaging. To get a feature I wanted, such as side air bags, I would have to buy "special equipment packages A, E, and Q" which included ten things I didn't want and raised the price by several thousand dollars. Only American car companies have more convoluted options-selections processes. Honda sticks with one or two simple trim levels; on the Civic Hybrid, the only option is the nav system. I like that directness and simplicity.

The center-mounted instrument display in the Prius was also a deal-breaker for me. Just too weird.

 

Although I didn't buy an HCH-II, but rather an HCH-I, I looked at all three of them before buying. I was only able to find one Prius on the lot at our local dealer. Here was a brand new car, with dirt all over the upholstery; I think they left the windows open either during transport or while in the dealer's lot. I noticed a lot of their used cars were unusually dirty too, so I just basically sat in it to see how I liked the interior, the seats, the dash setup. I am not a fan of the center-placed instrument cluster, or the push-button start mechanism. The Prius definitely had more storage space in back, but then again I do like having an actual trunk.

So I checked out the HCH's, new & old. I didn't feel comfortable with the HCH-II dashboard. I'm short-statured, and couldn't see where the front end of the car ends. I also didn't like the way the A-pillar obstructs the front view. I prefered the interior styling of the HCH-I, and basically it fit me like a glove, so I went with that model after taking a test drive. So far, I love it.
Looking forward to seeing what the future models of Honda hybrids and Prius are like.

 

I never even considered the prius. I actually went to replace my 12 year old Accord with another Accord. While I was there, I saw the HCHII, drove it and then went home and did a little bit of research and bought it 2 days later.

 

- Leg room (At 6'3" I need all of it)
- Roof config (The Prius' sun visor came too low, and blocked nearly half my road view)

 

Price and looks. I didn't want a car that screamed hybrid.

Plus I think that the prius looks funny to begin with heh.

 

The name Honda. Leg room since I'm tall. The look, inside and out. The blindspots in the Prius are terrible. Tire pressure monitor. The standard airbags/safety. The highway mileage. The i-VTEC. The Trunk. The long list of standard features. The price (Toyota's options packages are ridiculous). The tax incentive. Believe it or not, the wheels. Honda service is 100 times better than Toyota service in my area. Also, I don't feel the need to 'flaunt' my hybrid-ness. Oh yeah, and the best emissions of any gasoline vehicle!

My mom had a Prius and I drove it several times. I hated, HATED the seats. They traded it for a Camry because the seats were so bad and since they don't drive enough miles anymore to justify it. It does well in stop-n-go traffic, but not so much on the highway.

My wife has an 05 Civic LX, which we got instead of a HCHI because of the cost. Man I wish she had gotten a hybrid now!

I have owned both Toyotas and Hondas and like both. My first car was an 80 Corolla. I also drove an 03 Corolla which had better seats than the Prius and I averaged 40+MPG in it (5 Speed.) I also had an 86 CRX and now I drive a 96 Accord.

Now if Toyota made a Corolla hybrid, THAT would have been a tough decision!

 

+1

 

There were a number of reasons, but chiefly it was about price. In the Summer of 2007 in Canada, the Prius' MSRP was $5000-6000 more than the Civic Hybrid. I couldn't justify spending over $30,000 for a car, nor the high cost of a Prius compared to its extra fuel savings. I also found myself disliking Toyota's way of putting essential safety features in packages rather than making them standard.

Other, less important reasons include my desire to get in the Civic range of vehicles. What made the hybrid option easy was the combined provincial and federal rebates that collectively took $4000 off my final cost. My HCH-II is slightly cheaper than a Civic Sedan LX with AT, saves a lot more fuel in the city and is a nicer car.

I never tested the Prius. I don't find it objectionable, except for the fact that it calls attention to itself and what it does, particularly in the dashboard computer. "Watch in amazement as I do this. And now this. Yay! Isn't this wonderful? Oh, don't forget to watch the road!"

 

Mostly styling, price too.

The HCH2 still had the full credit when I bought it. That being said I don't like the look of the Prius or any hatchbacks for that matter.

For me the decision came down to Scion tC vs. Corolla vs. regular Civic vs. HCH. At the end of the day my infatuation with technology won out and I went with the HCH2, haven't looked back since.

Its nice to get 45.5mpg on the 300 mile commute home to see friends and family. I think if Toyota comes out with a Corolla hybrid, as mentioned above, that could really start to steal market share away from the HCH. Right now Prius can't because most of us who bought the HCH did so for styling reasons and wouldn't be caught dead in a Prius.

 

I'm in Canada and the car I really wanted to get was the Camry Hybrid but since only 2009 models are available new, the EcoAuto program was unavailable (stops in 2008) so I couldn't justify the added cost vs a base Camry (about $8000). Next, I looked at the Prius and got real interested in it (also, it is a 2008, eligible for the tax break). I always thought the Prius was ugly but was going to overlook this in the name of fuel economy.

Then, I read too many stories on discussion forums about the Prius' problems on snow & ice covered roads due to over-aggressive traction control (I now understand that its main goal is to protect the hardware, not make the car have better traction) and also read too many stories of people having problems with brakes/regen not engaging at certain speeds due to a probable software bug. So at this point I decided to stop considering a Prius as a candidate.

Even at this time, I was still not considering the HCH due to a perceived "inferiority" in its hybrid technology (car can't run on it's small electric motor alone, etc) but after talking with a friend who had just bought one and finding several web sites such as this one and cleanmpg, I really started to get interested in the HCH.

Then I decided that it was the car for me (also with the 2008 being eligible for the EcoAuto program, it comes out cheaper than a base Camry, recognising that they are not the same though). So I ordered one without even test driving one (long story).

Now I've had a chance to actually test drive an HCH-II for a week as well as a Prius also for a week and can only say that I am happy with my decision to buy an HCH even if I am able to squeeze a bit better FE out of the Prius.

The Honda is actually fun to drive and I prefer a sedan over a hatchback. The instrumentation is very good and gives all the data needed to drive the car efficiently without being "over the top". I find the Honda actually good looking and it has ample room for my needs. The Prius has uninspiring driving feel, terrible rear view, too much of a distraction in its center display (which is close to impossible to see in direct sunlight), it's ugly and it's a hatchback. However, in my week-long tests, I managed to get 5.9l/100km out of the Civic but 4.7l/100km out of the Prius, in similar driving conditions and with similar experience driving hybrids (close to none). The Civic's FE will be good enough for me, especially for $3000 less.

I will be getting the HCH in about 3 weeks now.
Can't wait,
Daniel