Mad to consider a CT200h - or just get a Prius?
Discussion
I'm considering a compact hybrid, which looks ideal in meeting our need for C-segment second car for the family.
Holidays and longer trips are done in our family van, which leaves the need for a car to do urban trips at weekends with some occasional long distance business miles thrown in.
For the kind of use it gets, our next car would ideally be an EV. However, we live in a city centre and know that charging an EV or plugin hybrid on terraced streets will be a hurdle for a while yet.
Being set on a hybrid, the default options would be a Prius or new Corolla... but it also looks like the rather aged CT200h could fit the bill.
Discounts make the CT200h over 10% cheaper to buy new than a Mk4 Prius and, if I went used, there are loads more 0-2 year olds available. I wouldn't normally consider a new CT200h when it's so close to replacement, but a new car would be within about 5% of the cost of a 1-year-old and not dramatically more expensive than a 3-4 year old.
I know it gets mixed reviews, but the downsides seem to be addressed on post-2014 models and / or outweighed by things I value like shorter length (easier parking), high spec and and a nice interior.
Am I mad to consider it? Should I just get a Prius instead?
Holidays and longer trips are done in our family van, which leaves the need for a car to do urban trips at weekends with some occasional long distance business miles thrown in.
For the kind of use it gets, our next car would ideally be an EV. However, we live in a city centre and know that charging an EV or plugin hybrid on terraced streets will be a hurdle for a while yet.
Being set on a hybrid, the default options would be a Prius or new Corolla... but it also looks like the rather aged CT200h could fit the bill.
Discounts make the CT200h over 10% cheaper to buy new than a Mk4 Prius and, if I went used, there are loads more 0-2 year olds available. I wouldn't normally consider a new CT200h when it's so close to replacement, but a new car would be within about 5% of the cost of a 1-year-old and not dramatically more expensive than a 3-4 year old.
I know it gets mixed reviews, but the downsides seem to be addressed on post-2014 models and / or outweighed by things I value like shorter length (easier parking), high spec and and a nice interior.
Am I mad to consider it? Should I just get a Prius instead?
mate of mine just got a brand new one spec'd up for i think 22k (may be slightly more but that figure sticks in my head).
I have driven one when I took my mum's Lexus for a service it was my hire car.
The interior is such a nice place to be it is really really nice, its no rocket ship but does the job OK. Cant recall the MPG type stuff.
One issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . .The ride.
It's fekin awful. I'm in my 30's and drive a Suzuki swift sport and could not get over how much less of a jolt / smooth ride I got from mine. My mums Lexus is a is250 on 19inch wheels again loads better than this thing.
My mate got his with 16" wheels and bigger tyres rather than 17" so not sure if that helps ?
I have driven one when I took my mum's Lexus for a service it was my hire car.
The interior is such a nice place to be it is really really nice, its no rocket ship but does the job OK. Cant recall the MPG type stuff.
One issue. . . . . . . . . . . . . .The ride.
It's fekin awful. I'm in my 30's and drive a Suzuki swift sport and could not get over how much less of a jolt / smooth ride I got from mine. My mums Lexus is a is250 on 19inch wheels again loads better than this thing.
My mate got his with 16" wheels and bigger tyres rather than 17" so not sure if that helps ?
I drove both the Auris hybrid and the CT200h -facelift (2 examples of each)
The ride on the latter is over sprung and over damped, fidgety as hell
The driving experience was also "entertaining" press the go pedal and nothing happens and then something happens (slowly) - proved interesting at a roundabout. The sales guy put it into Sports mode which gave a much better response
The Lexus is better built
In the end I bought a Golf GTE but out of the 2 above the Toyota is better
The ride on the latter is over sprung and over damped, fidgety as hell
The driving experience was also "entertaining" press the go pedal and nothing happens and then something happens (slowly) - proved interesting at a roundabout. The sales guy put it into Sports mode which gave a much better response
The Lexus is better built
In the end I bought a Golf GTE but out of the 2 above the Toyota is better
Hi Cardinal,
To through an expensive curve ball into the equation, I've just spent the weekend driving a CR-V Hybrid, I drove over 900 miles have averaged around 45MPG total, this all 4 up with luggage, Town driving I was easily into 50+ MPG Having driven the 9AT Diesel CR-V this Hybrid is easily a match for the Diesel on economy and a very pleasant bus to pilot
To through an expensive curve ball into the equation, I've just spent the weekend driving a CR-V Hybrid, I drove over 900 miles have averaged around 45MPG total, this all 4 up with luggage, Town driving I was easily into 50+ MPG Having driven the 9AT Diesel CR-V this Hybrid is easily a match for the Diesel on economy and a very pleasant bus to pilot
Had a new Lexus CT200h 'Luxury' on a 15 plate for 3 years and 60k miles.
Urban economy is great - motorway economy good up to speed limit, once you start pushing on past that the economy quickly drops off.
Not the most relaxed long distance cruiser but brilliant for stop / start rush hour driving in town.
Averaged about 53mpg over the whole time I had mine - 50/50 mix of London driving and motorways which is better than previous diesel VW Golf.
Ride is OK, not terrible but a little harsh on motorways and dual carriageways as people have said.
Interior is a great place to be - seats are very comfortable. But multimedia / radio system is the work of a madman especially the DAB radio tuning method......
Was incredibly reliable and the dealers are very good.
One downside is the small and very shallow boot.
Getting a bit old now and the current Prius is a better car, but like you say, there should be some very good deals around on the CT200h.
Also, if you live in London, almost every single Prius on the road is a minicab, which is what finally made me choose the Lexus instead.
Hope this helps.
Urban economy is great - motorway economy good up to speed limit, once you start pushing on past that the economy quickly drops off.
Not the most relaxed long distance cruiser but brilliant for stop / start rush hour driving in town.
Averaged about 53mpg over the whole time I had mine - 50/50 mix of London driving and motorways which is better than previous diesel VW Golf.
Ride is OK, not terrible but a little harsh on motorways and dual carriageways as people have said.
Interior is a great place to be - seats are very comfortable. But multimedia / radio system is the work of a madman especially the DAB radio tuning method......
Was incredibly reliable and the dealers are very good.
One downside is the small and very shallow boot.
Getting a bit old now and the current Prius is a better car, but like you say, there should be some very good deals around on the CT200h.
Also, if you live in London, almost every single Prius on the road is a minicab, which is what finally made me choose the Lexus instead.
Hope this helps.
Hyundai Ioniq? Got Hybrid car of the year last year (for whatever that’s worth) but spec is very generous and to drive it is much more conventional compared to the Prius, whilst looking a lot more normal from the outside too (in my opinion).
Mine gets delivered on Monday. I wanted a GTE / GTD but couldn’t wait 33 weeks for the latter and couldn’t even order the former!
Mine gets delivered on Monday. I wanted a GTE / GTD but couldn’t wait 33 weeks for the latter and couldn’t even order the former!
Apparently the New Toyota Corolla (replacing the Toyota Auris) is the Hybrid to have.
We were loaned a CT200H whilst our Lexus was in for a service a few years back and whilst the interior was a significant step-up over the Toyota Prius it lacked the Head-Up display and the ride was spine joltingly bad.
Go have a look at the New Corolla, it comes in Hatch, Saloon and Estate Versions - it is meant to be the one to get
We were loaned a CT200H whilst our Lexus was in for a service a few years back and whilst the interior was a significant step-up over the Toyota Prius it lacked the Head-Up display and the ride was spine joltingly bad.
Go have a look at the New Corolla, it comes in Hatch, Saloon and Estate Versions - it is meant to be the one to get
Yep, looking forward to having a drive of the new Corolla with the new 2.0 hybrid - 178bhp and 60+ real world mpg sounds ideal.
Will definitely consider the all-road style sports tourer Trek when our trusty accord tourer needs changing. An all wheel drive Camry Estate with the 2.5 hybrid would be even better but think it's going to be saloon/fwd only.
Will definitely consider the all-road style sports tourer Trek when our trusty accord tourer needs changing. An all wheel drive Camry Estate with the 2.5 hybrid would be even better but think it's going to be saloon/fwd only.
C.A.R. said:
Hyundai Ioniq? Got Hybrid car of the year last year (for whatever that’s worth) but spec is very generous and to drive it is much more conventional compared to the Prius, whilst looking a lot more normal from the outside too (in my opinion).
Mine gets delivered on Monday. I wanted a GTE / GTD but couldn’t wait 33 weeks for the latter and couldn’t even order the former!
Had mine for 10 months now. Really pleased with it so far; I had an Auris hybrid previously, and I liked that car a lot, but the Ioniq is a much more enjoyable drive.Mine gets delivered on Monday. I wanted a GTE / GTD but couldn’t wait 33 weeks for the latter and couldn’t even order the former!
Do miss the big boot of the Auris (mine was an estate), and I reckon the Toyota drivetrain has an advantage around town in terms of smoothness, but the Hyundai is more economical overall (particularly good on motorways), more refined at higher speeds, and considerably more involving to drive.
That said, now that the new 2 litre hybrid Corolla is available I would definitely be test driving one. All the reviews suggest a sharper handling car than the Auris, and they've managed to make both the exterior and interior rather attractive.
I have a look and test drive of the new Corolla Hybrid and really liked it. For me I would need an estate as the boot on the hatchback is very small compared to non-hybrids. Both inside and outside is a step up from the Auris though.
A friend has just bought an Ioniq so going to have a good poke around that to see how it compares.
A friend has just bought an Ioniq so going to have a good poke around that to see how it compares.
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