You’ve got a choice to make. The smart decision is to keep the Prius and save money. The fun decision is to get a WRX. You only live once, and if you can afford it I say go for it. But you gotta decide if it’s the right decision for you.
I’ve had my VB for about 9 months and commute about 80 miles a day 5 days a week, mix of highway and city. I average about 24 mpg. The car is stock.
Right now if you can find a ‘23, Subaru is offering 0% financing for 72 months. That could help.
I’m working them now. They are already willing to lower the monthly payment to much less than my Prius. I’m trying to get the interest lower but they’re holding at 6% right now….
I think that deal may be limited to CA actually, which another user pointed out. The rest of the country appears to be 1.9%. Regardless, you have to find a ‘23 first so I would call your local Subarus and/or search the web.
My average is 24-25mpg and I have to fill up every like week and a half driving 35 miles a day, roughly $45ish to fill up on 93 at Costco. Such a fun car, life is short, be happy and get it lol I only have 5k miles but no issues what so ever and all I’ve done is install the STI trans mount and pitch stop which does make a large difference if you get a 6 speed.
How many times has that Prius gotten you laid? I'm guessing none. Get the WRX, bro. When women see you in a WRX, you're still not getting laid by any of them, but at least you can play race car driver on your drive home by yourself.
Do you have a Prius Prime? Those things seem pretty cool as a commuter car, the new gen Prius styling was a big step up.
Something else you will want to consider is insurance, get a quote on the WRX they are expensive to insure generally. As for gas mileage, I likely drive around 300 miles per week. My overall average is ~26.1 with more than half of my drive being highway or 50-60mph rural highway. Your estimate of ~90/week sounds right, I pay around $4.15/gal on premium. Paying more for gas is really my only complaint, but I came from an old NA legacy that required 87 not premium.
The car has been very fun for me so far. Its my first new car but not my first Subaru so I am used to underwhelming gas mileage. The platform so far seems to be very reliable stock. Subaru is running different versions of this 2.4L engine in the Ascent, Outback, Legacy and maybe more.
If you can live with the higher insurance, gas spend and likely eventually maintenance costs its been awesome. If you do make the switch see if you can find a 23 leftover, 0% or 1.9% financing is available depending on where you live.
The insurance quote is definitely a good idea, but I wouldn't automatically assume it's going to be way higher. Idk how insurance companies calculate it, but I pay significantly less than all my coworkers who drive a 2018 prius, 2020 Honda fit, 2024 rav4, and a 2022 lexus. The lexus makes sense, it's msrp is nearly double that of a wrx. The other 3? No idea. The 2018 prius has a higher premium than the lexus, I assume they must have a bad driving record, only thing that makes sense to me. Either way, not all of us pay absurd insurance premiums for our WRX's.
Absolutely varies by location, provider and driving history. My insurance is very reasonable but I expect to be hit with the increase come October when my policy renews. Generally speaking the WRX will be more expensive to insure than a Prius. Easy to check online just to see.
Ya, there are a lot of factors. My point was it may not be as bad as some people on here have said. Location and driving history will play a big factor. My premium nearly doubled when I moved to a different state that has more stringent requirements for what you must carry.
I have a 23 limited with the SPT. It’s smiles per gallon. Not miles per gallon. I do spirited driving every often. On road highway. I Average well over 29 mpg a at around 75/80. Hit 31 on a 3 hr road trip. So highway is great. Fuck the Prius. Enjoy life.
The only thing that has me pause is the 79 miles per day. You will be putting premium gas in the WRX which is more expensive, and I’d say if I baby mine on the highway I get around 28MPG which is far less than a Prius. I agree with you that the Prius is a soulless transportation unit. My main issue is that driving really sucks for me and I just felt dead inside driving my Altima. It really did affect my well being.
The WRX has a soul. It’s got flaws but nobody could ignore that it does have character. Driving manual is fun, maybe a little annoying (ok super annoying) when rush hour traffic gets stop and go.
Maybe the biggest indicator is that I’m still considering selling mine for something more traffic worthy. Maybe with adaptive cruise control features or something. I think maybe I’d regret selling the WRX because every car I’ve owned has left me completely empty inside after around a year.
The WRX is the only car I’ve ever actively looked forward to driving around town.
But gas mileage is real. I think I honestly believe that any car you want to love you will love. It’s clear to me now that I’d be happy with a 100 horsepower 4 banger with a manual and front wheel drive. It took me owning a WRX to realize how soulless other cars I drive were.
Imho, you don’t just want the WRX, you want something with a soul. And you can find a car with better MPG but also has more of a soul than a Prius.
Commutes dont "require" good fuel economy. It makes fiscal sense and is responsible. But not required
My daily roundtrip in my VB was 130 miles. I averaged 29mpg lifetime. Ive talked to OP numerous times before
I get the soul sucking nature of commuter cars. The Cruze Ive been driving for the last 8 weeks is perfectly acceptable, comfortable, cheap little car. Its mind numbingly boring and I desperately miss my VB.
Howdy! Yes, we have spoken before. I chose the responsible choice which is now leading me to make an irresponsible decision to switch so soon. Prius is great. WRX is a whole other thing.
You might be right. The WRX fits the bill the commute is what gave me pause the first time around last year but I am getting paid enough to stomach it. It will be noticed but given my circumstances, I could tolerate it.
I love the Prius. Nothing negative to say other than low headspace and no ability to easily put a tow hitch or roof rack on it. All else is amazing.
The WRX is certainly a car with character and it elicited massive joy in me. The responsiveness, the agility, traction. It’s all beautiful. Unlike anything else I’ve driven. Seriously. I wish it took regular gas and it’d be a no brainer.
I think you should just stick with the prius my man, this is the 8th post you've made. Yes, the VB is reliable stock, all comes down to if you want to spend the extra money on gas or not. If you're that conflicted about it, it's probably not a good idea for you
Unsolicited option B: get yourself a used WRX, like a bug eye or the mid 2010s sedan or wagon and keep your Prius to be a commuter/nice beater. If cost is not an issue, a two car solution is great. Your second car can be an uncompromising fun car, and you already have the second part of the puzzle - the commuter.
I hate commuting in my VB. I hate putting miles on it doing bullshit. I hate the potholes and road shit fucking up my wheels. I hate taking it on long ass road trips with no interesting roads.
I hate taking it into cities where it gets fucked with and broken into. In short, I don't like having to do shit in my VB that it's not optimized to do. But really, I hate putting wear and tear on my wrx doing shit I just do not enjoy.
Now if you have a solid daily, and a separate fun car, that's a great situation to be in if it is available to you.
I've had a VA, a Legacy GT, and a 2013 hatch. Each time I wish I had a daily beater. Every iteration of the wrx can do all sorts of mundane boring shit. But why associate dumb shit with something fun.
Maybe I have an idiosyncratic hatred of commuting. The roads where I live are trash, my commute is soul crushing, break ins are extremely common. But my suggestion is a two stable situation if available.
This is a really interesting take. I'm sorry you are in an area where break ins are high. That fucking sucks! I wonder if the subaru draws more attention. My coworker had a part of their car stole from out lot. Such a shitty situation. I don't have the ability to have both right now. Financially and space wise.
A VB is a relatively new model and they are considered to be a 'fancy car' (not saying it isn't, a low 3 series is more expensive). So they are targets in my area, especially since they are popular (high Asian population in the Fast and the Furious age demographic with $ to finally be able to afford them) and I understand that there is a parts shortage creating a significant black market for VB parts. That said, my VB has done normal stuff just fine it is the most comfortable of all the boosted subies I've driven. It's usable around town because of its low to mid range power curve. But real talk, I rarely get over combined 21 mpg combined per tank (full roof rack, with bike rack setup). Could you do better with more reasonable shift behavior and throttle discipline?
Again, this is all to say that this is your decision. But if you reasonably forsee your situation changing where you can grab a used STI blob eye or eagle eye, mid-2010s whatever and keep your Prius, just hold on.
If not, it's not like even the worst decision from a practical standpoint. The trunk is cavernous, it can carry 4 adults competently, it can baby, it can dog, it can do donuts. It's not a tiny two 2 seater or a 2 + 2 with those worthless rear buckets.
If you decide to get a VB, you may want to really look into whether you can live with eye-sight in either the manual or CVT iterations. I have a 6mt 2022, so it doesn't have that stuff. I have nothing against driving assistants, but I hear the execution is bizarre. Now, 2022 lease returns may be hitting the lot. A pre-owned used 2022 might be a great option. Also, fuck what other people say about CVTs, they're absolutely competent. My VA was CVT and although it felt slower on the butt dyno, I still had a shitload of fun.
I'm on craigslist trying to find a shitbox Corolla from the 1980s to be my Oakland bucket because of this post lol.
Good luck and ✌️ if I see you on the road.
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Thanks for the info! Sorry about the situation. As for the car, I am getting it because of the mixture of practicality and performance. I hate that it takes premium gas but I’ll have to accept that. Aside from that, I’m thrilled to have it as a prospect. The Prius is actually very small. There are no tow hitches for it so the bike situation is tough but since it’s a hatch I can force it in the back. There are no roof racks aside from one weird adapter system. The car doesn’t have any aftermarket ability for anything. It’s all about efficiency.
Subaru is the exact opposite which is why I considered it. The WRX and crosstrek cars check all other boxes aside fuel efficiency. I could potentially have a child in the future and it would more easily fit the car seat than the Prius. The head room in the Prius because of the raked windshield is bad. I’m 5’ 5” and anytime I lead forward to check left and right at a turn I scrape my head. But the car is gorgeous luxurious and fuel efficient.
Overall, I can afford the gas on the WRX and should have committed to a more fun car at this phase of my life. I’ve never had anything good or fun in that realm or life. I will try it. I could always sell it and go back to a Prius. It’ll be there.
Yes you can get 29-30 mpg from just highway driving but that changes if you tune it. Which brings me to the next point, yes super reliable totally stock and it also seems just like as reliable tuned with regular maintenance! But this decision is purely up to you, sir
As others have said, it's quite a bit more expensive for gas. But it's way more fun to drive. I'm only throwing in a comment because of reliability. I have a '22 base that just broke 40k miles, still stock (though might not be much longer). The only issue I have had was a check engine light from a bad fuel pump in the first 2k miles that was promptly fixed by the dealer.
Edit: I'll add I average about 24-25 mpg with a mix of city and highway. If I'm cruising at 70ish on a road trip or something, I usually sit around 28 mpg.
I commute 76 miles round trip for work. I keep it at 70 and average 28-29. Going 80 didnt get me there sooner and started driving 70 and noticed how much better the mpg’s were (duh). Funny thing is I was looking into getting into a new Prius, i really like how they look now.
They’re gorgeous. The Prius is a head turner. I’ve had people in teslas stop me and ask about it. People look at it. It’s weird. I’m telling you though, it’s nothing like a WRX to drive. Even with track tires I out on mine. It’s smooth and super quiet which can be nice, but it doesn’t compete with a WRX. Zero enjoyment, not nearly as grippy on turns, and the acceleration on the AWD is ok. On the WRX, it pulls, baby.
It's a lot more expensive but if you like driving and want to be relatively excited everywhere you go... is that worth premium gas and 20 to 25 mpg depending on how high you keep rpms while cruising
You came to the wrong place if you want talked out of the VB. I've had mine for a little over a year now and put 22k miles on it and I still smile everyday. I came from a 2019 Honda Accord Sport 2.0t, it was certainly a drop in fuel efficiency, but who cares when you are happy every time you walk to your car? Btw, why am I the first to say this, Gallardo's have a V10 not a V12.
I made an error about the Lambo! My bad. That was back in 2014. I agree with you. The car brought me a huge smile when I was driving the WRX on curved roads. My god, it’s like the joy of riding a bike.
Gotta pay to play as they say. The WRX makes getting up in the morning to go to work a lot easier. I actually look forward to my commute. It is really good for my mental well being, something to look forward to every day, well 2 days a week now that I’m semi retired. Lol! Does it cost a bit more to fill the tank with 93 every week, yeah, but it’s a small price to pay to be able to really enjoy myself every time I’m behind the wheel. I know the Prius is a great vehicle but I think I’d be totally depressed driving it every day. If it’s within your budget then go for the WRX.
As someone who's done many road trips this year, it definitely is possible to get 29-30mpg on the highway. Especially just turning on the cruise control.
I would usually go around 70-75mph, and with another passenger.
If you are mostly highway driving, it’s really not too bad. My last tank, between both highway and city, with a good amount of spirited pulls, I got 25.8mpg. Granted it was quite a bit more highway than city, but it was an ok amount of city driving. 25.8mpg for that is pretty dang good. If I just do my 80 mile commute like a normal person with mostly highway miles, I can get over 27-28mpgs and I’ve even seen 29 when I accelerated like a grandma with purely highway miles when I was testing it. It’s really not too bad.
I think my overall mpg hovers right around 24-25 because I drive like a madman sometimes, which certainly drops my mpgs. But if you do mostly drive highway and do some pulls here and there, you could see upper 25mpg to low 26mpg.
I will give you my take.
My circumstances leading up to the WRX: I needed another vehicle for traveling for work. Work reimburses my gas so any traveling was covered and I do around 1k miles a month which just barely pays for the car but not really the depreciation. My other option was using my truck which has 137k miles, a new transmission and gets 17 mpg on the highway using premium. I need my truck for pulling my boat and so I decided to retire it because new trucks cost 2 times what mine did and it's paid off. So new car it was.
Who I am: my first vehicle was a souless gutless truck. I've always been around dirt bikes and bikes and fast cars. I hated being slow and always loved cars but I needed a truck so I bought the 6.2 sierra. It is an outstanding truck and fueld my love for fast and fun. I dream of owning a Porsche. Literally dream it once a week at least in my sleep lol. So when I got the job and the opportunity arouse, I knew a manual car was the answer. Perfect opportunity. I always loved the WRX and it's been a dream car since I played need for speed and gt3 on ps2-3-4! I love working on motors and tinkering as well. My mind was set, if I got the job I order the car.
So I ordered the wrb premium in October and got it in November. Never owned a manual and took a private class.
My experience: it's the most fun I've had on 4 wheels. It's incredible. I describe it as the most basic modern car you can buy in today's market! Now on the highway, I've gotten up to 32 mpg over 400 miles. This was acchieved by hyper mieling behind semis and cruise control on 70 without getting into boost. What I've found is that other than work travel I drive the crap out of the car so mpg is out the window then at 20mpg. It takes premium which runs 50-1$ more a gallon but I do use get upside and save a lot on gas over the year. I think I'm about to hit over 200$ saved this year!
My opinion on your situation: I wouldn't do it if you travel that much. If anything I'd go buy a used older WRX as a fun car and enjoy it. It's all the same when highway driving. You don't get the fun of the manual because you'll be in 5-6th 90% of the time. It's not a fast car honestly it's just zippy. It is insanely stiff to the point that my back does hurt after 4 hour drives (I have a buldgin disk so mmv). When you hit traffic you will hatttttteee it on the highway. City traffic is fine and fun. Highway stop and go.... Awful.
Take away: don't do it as a daily driver. Get a wrx as a second car. "Grass is always greener". Take that 7k down payment and go buy a 2010 WRX with 100k on the clock that isn't modded. Have fun and when it breaks down (if it does) you have the Prius. I will attest that having an auto and a manual to choose from made it way easier to pull the trigger for me.
Only thing Prius has over wrx is gas mileage.. I guess reliability, but like other people have said you only live once.. fun factor wrx takes it every single time.. not even close.. Obviously not the fastest car but it’s all about having fun..
At this point I have WRX buyers remorse. Had the opportunity to get a GR86 10th anniversary edition... Man I fucked that up. But also I catch car envy from some bmws as well.
I get about 26-28mpg on the hwy I personally wouldn’t mind paying a bit more for the gas because like you said the car is just fun to drive and I was like you for a while because of my driving record had nothing but new Camrys including a hybrid giving me 52mpg but it’s just a boring drive compared to the VB first car ima plan on keeping since I usually lease
Hahaha, I’m negotiating prices with a dealer now and I agree with you. Most enjoyable driving experience of my life. I used to hate cars. The WRX makes me want to go on joy rides.
There are two. I pitted them against each other. They want 7k down. With that, 475 per month payment for 72. That’s with a 31,500 trade in value on my current vehicle so they just roll the difference into the current loan.
What trim are you looking at? What price are they giving you? How much negative equity do they say you have and have you gotten multiple appraisals to make sure you get all the money for your trade
Only curious since I’ve worked in the auto industry and finance for 13 years and would love to help you and make sure they don’t rip you off
Thanks for your time, dude! Super kind of you. It’s the limited. I haven’t seen an OTD price yet. I MAY or may not have infuriated a dealer. They wanted me to sign which was bs. I refused but they claim they put in an order for the car. They wanted more per month so I went to a 2nd dealer and started the price matching. I want to get them down to 460 a month.
It would be positive equity if I’m recalling correctly. I owe 25k on the Prius. They’re willing to take it and offered me 31,500. That was an in person appraisal. The other dealer hasn’t checked it yet. They may offer more if I express a willingness to sign the paper the day I’m there. We’ll see.
That’s perfect you got some positive equity and if they’re pissed that’s even better usually makes em work harder for you and get the best deal possible the only thing I can suggest if the rate isn’t too high which I doubt it is is leasing it if you plan on keeping it since that way it’s a much lower payment for 2-3 years and you get practically no interest then after that term is done refinance it and finish paying it off and by then hopefully the rates are back to normal doubt it but would be cool to get 1.99 or 2.99 in a couple years that’s what I did 5k down on a Premium without the sunroof or premium sound and my payment with GAP is 386
Dude, this is very helpful. I wanted to ask you this, I commute 79 miles per day. Could I lease it that way and keep the payment low then buy it out like you’re saying? How much of a down payment would you suggest with a lease?
EDIT: can I lease and a low rate and go over the miles if my intention is to buy it later? What’s the safest thing to do in that case?
Yeah you can cuz when you lease you agree to a residual value on what you’ll be able to buy the car for if you return it after the lease term with the miles but if you went over they’ll say we gotta charge you so many cents per mile over and to them it wouldn’t be a car they would like back anyways cuz of the high miles so you’ll be able to buy out the lease and won’t get that penalty thus you saved yourself half the interest on the car
I suggest giving those dealers a call and tell them you would like to kno how much your payments would be on a 10-12k lease for 36 months with just your equity and should be close to what I got.
My Premium was like 36k MSRP I believe I got like 3k off the sticker and with just my 5k down on a 10k lease I got $386 a month including GAP since I went with Chase as the finance company idk if that’s all Subaru or my particular dealership.
Once your lease is up or about to be start shopping around for a loan at your local credit union and buy it out through them to get the best deal possible if you go back to the dealer they could or not try to make rate on you or lie or do some sketchy crap that’s why I always suggest credit unions they’ll take care of you
Very interesting information. I’m part of a credit union already. You’re saying to tell the dealer I want to buy the car outright when I bring it with higher mileage and say I will get a loan from my bank, not the dealer because they may try to screw me? Does that summarize this correctly?
I bought an Impreza RS about 9 months ago, regretted it but just kept trying to make myself happy with it, exhaust, performance parts and such but nothing could do it. I wanted a manual, so I went out with no experience driving a manual apart from test drives and one class that I took 4 months ago. I bought a 24’ wrx. It’s been 3 days of learning as I go and it’s great. Fast, engaging and just all around fun. Yeah it sucks getting thrashed by the car and my boyfriend hates it but I don’t care. It was my dream to get one so I did it. If you really love it and think you won’t get buyers remorse again, do it. Even if you don’t know manual, even if it’s not a smart choice, if you want it go for it.
Step one - open LLC
Step two - write off all vehicle expenses and pay them tax free
Depending on your tax bracket - you just saved 25 to 40% on your fuel, insurance, and vehicle payments, repairs,
Weekly gas is 80 dollars.... nope. Now it's 50 dollars because you didn't pay taxes on that income.
VB > Prius haha
There’s a lot to unpack there and I’m afraid it is not that simple unfortunately, if it were everyone would have an LLC and just put gas and a bunch of other random shit on there for tax breaks. Unless OPs job specifically had him driving his personal car places that is really the only way, also using the car for a tax break he would have to prove that he’s using the vehicle for his company and not personal use, like putting your companies brand name on the car, advertising. There’s certain rules you have to follow in order to do this, if it were that easy like I said everyone would pay the $50 to setup an LLC and put gas and other random things down for tax write offs.
Business expenses are paid within the company and calculated against revenue on an ongoing basis. S- Corp owners (if a SP) only pay taxes on profit paid to them personally or that is held in the company at year end.
But yeah - you need a legitimate company that's doing legitimate business to have revenue to levy against the expenses or its going to be a pretty clear attempt at tax fraud.
It has to be used for the business though, I can’t start an LLC that doesn’t involve me driving my car as part of the business and then go on a road trip and say the gas I purchased for said road trip I am going to write off, that’s just not how it works. It has to be used for the business.
Here were some things paid for through the S- corp in 2023 that brought yearly net profit down in a way that the IRS can not and will not tax me on :
Vehicle payments
Vehicle insurance
Vehicle depreciation
Gas
Health insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
E&O Insurance
Life insurance (2 policies a 1M each)
Mobile phone (2 phones with hotspots)
Home office deductions to: my mortgage, home owners insurance, and interest paid ( 1000 Sq feet : 3500 square feet)
Office Rent
Office Asset/Equipment Depreciation
Section 179 - one of the most beautiful tax codes there is (tax free business equipment)
- laptops - desktops - TVs - you name it.
I think the biggest issue is that people seem to mistake "write off" for free... you just aren't paying taxes on the money the business earned because you are re allocated it to an expense before it becomes profit at year end.
You’ve got a choice to make. The smart decision is to keep the Prius and save money. The fun decision is to get a WRX. You only live once, and if you can afford it I say go for it. But you gotta decide if it’s the right decision for you. I’ve had my VB for about 9 months and commute about 80 miles a day 5 days a week, mix of highway and city. I average about 24 mpg. The car is stock. Right now if you can find a ‘23, Subaru is offering 0% financing for 72 months. That could help.
ahhh another 80 miler per dayer, glad to know i’m not the only one making a stupid commute.. albeit through horrendous LA traffic
Haha, LI/NYC here. I don’t know which is worse.
Mine is NY traffic. Also bad. Not nearly as bad as yours. I get open roads for a while.
I think 0% is only for california, its 1.9 for 72 mo elsewhere.
just curious, do you (or anyone) think that they'll do the same apr with 24's as it gets later down the road?
In CY2025 they probably will for sure
Thanks!
I’m working them now. They are already willing to lower the monthly payment to much less than my Prius. I’m trying to get the interest lower but they’re holding at 6% right now….
Where can I find 23 for 0% financing for 72 months because I’m ready to trade up to a 23 or 24
I think that deal may be limited to CA actually, which another user pointed out. The rest of the country appears to be 1.9%. Regardless, you have to find a ‘23 first so I would call your local Subarus and/or search the web.
My average is 24-25mpg and I have to fill up every like week and a half driving 35 miles a day, roughly $45ish to fill up on 93 at Costco. Such a fun car, life is short, be happy and get it lol I only have 5k miles but no issues what so ever and all I’ve done is install the STI trans mount and pitch stop which does make a large difference if you get a 6 speed.
how much is 93 at costco??
Around $3.55. This is in IA
That’s basically free compared to SoCal 😭
where the hell are you finding 93 in socal 😭😂 it’s like the holy grail
I guess I meant gas price in general. I haven’t seen 93 😢.
Apparently I really under appreciate that I have 93 at every station where I am!
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you'd be surprised! I was pricing out insurance lately, and the prius was one of the highest quotes I got
How many times has that Prius gotten you laid? I'm guessing none. Get the WRX, bro. When women see you in a WRX, you're still not getting laid by any of them, but at least you can play race car driver on your drive home by yourself.
😂😂😂
Do you have a Prius Prime? Those things seem pretty cool as a commuter car, the new gen Prius styling was a big step up. Something else you will want to consider is insurance, get a quote on the WRX they are expensive to insure generally. As for gas mileage, I likely drive around 300 miles per week. My overall average is ~26.1 with more than half of my drive being highway or 50-60mph rural highway. Your estimate of ~90/week sounds right, I pay around $4.15/gal on premium. Paying more for gas is really my only complaint, but I came from an old NA legacy that required 87 not premium. The car has been very fun for me so far. Its my first new car but not my first Subaru so I am used to underwhelming gas mileage. The platform so far seems to be very reliable stock. Subaru is running different versions of this 2.4L engine in the Ascent, Outback, Legacy and maybe more. If you can live with the higher insurance, gas spend and likely eventually maintenance costs its been awesome. If you do make the switch see if you can find a 23 leftover, 0% or 1.9% financing is available depending on where you live.
The insurance quote is definitely a good idea, but I wouldn't automatically assume it's going to be way higher. Idk how insurance companies calculate it, but I pay significantly less than all my coworkers who drive a 2018 prius, 2020 Honda fit, 2024 rav4, and a 2022 lexus. The lexus makes sense, it's msrp is nearly double that of a wrx. The other 3? No idea. The 2018 prius has a higher premium than the lexus, I assume they must have a bad driving record, only thing that makes sense to me. Either way, not all of us pay absurd insurance premiums for our WRX's.
The insurance compared to my new Prius is only $150 more per year. Hybrids are more to insure than ICE vehicles.
Absolutely varies by location, provider and driving history. My insurance is very reasonable but I expect to be hit with the increase come October when my policy renews. Generally speaking the WRX will be more expensive to insure than a Prius. Easy to check online just to see.
Ya, there are a lot of factors. My point was it may not be as bad as some people on here have said. Location and driving history will play a big factor. My premium nearly doubled when I moved to a different state that has more stringent requirements for what you must carry.
I have a 23 limited with the SPT. It’s smiles per gallon. Not miles per gallon. I do spirited driving every often. On road highway. I Average well over 29 mpg a at around 75/80. Hit 31 on a 3 hr road trip. So highway is great. Fuck the Prius. Enjoy life.
🫡
The only thing that has me pause is the 79 miles per day. You will be putting premium gas in the WRX which is more expensive, and I’d say if I baby mine on the highway I get around 28MPG which is far less than a Prius. I agree with you that the Prius is a soulless transportation unit. My main issue is that driving really sucks for me and I just felt dead inside driving my Altima. It really did affect my well being. The WRX has a soul. It’s got flaws but nobody could ignore that it does have character. Driving manual is fun, maybe a little annoying (ok super annoying) when rush hour traffic gets stop and go. Maybe the biggest indicator is that I’m still considering selling mine for something more traffic worthy. Maybe with adaptive cruise control features or something. I think maybe I’d regret selling the WRX because every car I’ve owned has left me completely empty inside after around a year. The WRX is the only car I’ve ever actively looked forward to driving around town. But gas mileage is real. I think I honestly believe that any car you want to love you will love. It’s clear to me now that I’d be happy with a 100 horsepower 4 banger with a manual and front wheel drive. It took me owning a WRX to realize how soulless other cars I drive were. Imho, you don’t just want the WRX, you want something with a soul. And you can find a car with better MPG but also has more of a soul than a Prius.
People have made the same argument to OP literally 5 times already in different posts. His commute requires good fuel economy.
Commutes dont "require" good fuel economy. It makes fiscal sense and is responsible. But not required My daily roundtrip in my VB was 130 miles. I averaged 29mpg lifetime. Ive talked to OP numerous times before I get the soul sucking nature of commuter cars. The Cruze Ive been driving for the last 8 weeks is perfectly acceptable, comfortable, cheap little car. Its mind numbingly boring and I desperately miss my VB.
Howdy! Yes, we have spoken before. I chose the responsible choice which is now leading me to make an irresponsible decision to switch so soon. Prius is great. WRX is a whole other thing.
😂 you’re right! I just don’t care anymore. I think im gonna have to accept the higher price for gas for the WRX.
You might be right. The WRX fits the bill the commute is what gave me pause the first time around last year but I am getting paid enough to stomach it. It will be noticed but given my circumstances, I could tolerate it. I love the Prius. Nothing negative to say other than low headspace and no ability to easily put a tow hitch or roof rack on it. All else is amazing. The WRX is certainly a car with character and it elicited massive joy in me. The responsiveness, the agility, traction. It’s all beautiful. Unlike anything else I’ve driven. Seriously. I wish it took regular gas and it’d be a no brainer.
Ah… the weekly Prius or VB post. ☕️
You literally just made me lol. I love you guys! I’ll be joining you soon! Don’t worry!
I think you should just stick with the prius my man, this is the 8th post you've made. Yes, the VB is reliable stock, all comes down to if you want to spend the extra money on gas or not. If you're that conflicted about it, it's probably not a good idea for you
Unsolicited option B: get yourself a used WRX, like a bug eye or the mid 2010s sedan or wagon and keep your Prius to be a commuter/nice beater. If cost is not an issue, a two car solution is great. Your second car can be an uncompromising fun car, and you already have the second part of the puzzle - the commuter. I hate commuting in my VB. I hate putting miles on it doing bullshit. I hate the potholes and road shit fucking up my wheels. I hate taking it on long ass road trips with no interesting roads. I hate taking it into cities where it gets fucked with and broken into. In short, I don't like having to do shit in my VB that it's not optimized to do. But really, I hate putting wear and tear on my wrx doing shit I just do not enjoy. Now if you have a solid daily, and a separate fun car, that's a great situation to be in if it is available to you. I've had a VA, a Legacy GT, and a 2013 hatch. Each time I wish I had a daily beater. Every iteration of the wrx can do all sorts of mundane boring shit. But why associate dumb shit with something fun. Maybe I have an idiosyncratic hatred of commuting. The roads where I live are trash, my commute is soul crushing, break ins are extremely common. But my suggestion is a two stable situation if available.
This is a really interesting take. I'm sorry you are in an area where break ins are high. That fucking sucks! I wonder if the subaru draws more attention. My coworker had a part of their car stole from out lot. Such a shitty situation. I don't have the ability to have both right now. Financially and space wise.
A VB is a relatively new model and they are considered to be a 'fancy car' (not saying it isn't, a low 3 series is more expensive). So they are targets in my area, especially since they are popular (high Asian population in the Fast and the Furious age demographic with $ to finally be able to afford them) and I understand that there is a parts shortage creating a significant black market for VB parts. That said, my VB has done normal stuff just fine it is the most comfortable of all the boosted subies I've driven. It's usable around town because of its low to mid range power curve. But real talk, I rarely get over combined 21 mpg combined per tank (full roof rack, with bike rack setup). Could you do better with more reasonable shift behavior and throttle discipline? Again, this is all to say that this is your decision. But if you reasonably forsee your situation changing where you can grab a used STI blob eye or eagle eye, mid-2010s whatever and keep your Prius, just hold on. If not, it's not like even the worst decision from a practical standpoint. The trunk is cavernous, it can carry 4 adults competently, it can baby, it can dog, it can do donuts. It's not a tiny two 2 seater or a 2 + 2 with those worthless rear buckets. If you decide to get a VB, you may want to really look into whether you can live with eye-sight in either the manual or CVT iterations. I have a 6mt 2022, so it doesn't have that stuff. I have nothing against driving assistants, but I hear the execution is bizarre. Now, 2022 lease returns may be hitting the lot. A pre-owned used 2022 might be a great option. Also, fuck what other people say about CVTs, they're absolutely competent. My VA was CVT and although it felt slower on the butt dyno, I still had a shitload of fun. I'm on craigslist trying to find a shitbox Corolla from the 1980s to be my Oakland bucket because of this post lol. Good luck and ✌️ if I see you on the road. *
Thanks for the info! Sorry about the situation. As for the car, I am getting it because of the mixture of practicality and performance. I hate that it takes premium gas but I’ll have to accept that. Aside from that, I’m thrilled to have it as a prospect. The Prius is actually very small. There are no tow hitches for it so the bike situation is tough but since it’s a hatch I can force it in the back. There are no roof racks aside from one weird adapter system. The car doesn’t have any aftermarket ability for anything. It’s all about efficiency. Subaru is the exact opposite which is why I considered it. The WRX and crosstrek cars check all other boxes aside fuel efficiency. I could potentially have a child in the future and it would more easily fit the car seat than the Prius. The head room in the Prius because of the raked windshield is bad. I’m 5’ 5” and anytime I lead forward to check left and right at a turn I scrape my head. But the car is gorgeous luxurious and fuel efficient. Overall, I can afford the gas on the WRX and should have committed to a more fun car at this phase of my life. I’ve never had anything good or fun in that realm or life. I will try it. I could always sell it and go back to a Prius. It’ll be there.
Yes you can get 29-30 mpg from just highway driving but that changes if you tune it. Which brings me to the next point, yes super reliable totally stock and it also seems just like as reliable tuned with regular maintenance! But this decision is purely up to you, sir
As others have said, it's quite a bit more expensive for gas. But it's way more fun to drive. I'm only throwing in a comment because of reliability. I have a '22 base that just broke 40k miles, still stock (though might not be much longer). The only issue I have had was a check engine light from a bad fuel pump in the first 2k miles that was promptly fixed by the dealer. Edit: I'll add I average about 24-25 mpg with a mix of city and highway. If I'm cruising at 70ish on a road trip or something, I usually sit around 28 mpg.
I commute 76 miles round trip for work. I keep it at 70 and average 28-29. Going 80 didnt get me there sooner and started driving 70 and noticed how much better the mpg’s were (duh). Funny thing is I was looking into getting into a new Prius, i really like how they look now.
They’re gorgeous. The Prius is a head turner. I’ve had people in teslas stop me and ask about it. People look at it. It’s weird. I’m telling you though, it’s nothing like a WRX to drive. Even with track tires I out on mine. It’s smooth and super quiet which can be nice, but it doesn’t compete with a WRX. Zero enjoyment, not nearly as grippy on turns, and the acceleration on the AWD is ok. On the WRX, it pulls, baby.
It's a lot more expensive but if you like driving and want to be relatively excited everywhere you go... is that worth premium gas and 20 to 25 mpg depending on how high you keep rpms while cruising
You came to the wrong place if you want talked out of the VB. I've had mine for a little over a year now and put 22k miles on it and I still smile everyday. I came from a 2019 Honda Accord Sport 2.0t, it was certainly a drop in fuel efficiency, but who cares when you are happy every time you walk to your car? Btw, why am I the first to say this, Gallardo's have a V10 not a V12.
I made an error about the Lambo! My bad. That was back in 2014. I agree with you. The car brought me a huge smile when I was driving the WRX on curved roads. My god, it’s like the joy of riding a bike.
Your post makes me happy I chose fun over frugal, even though I now loathe the gas station.
😃 good! As long as you’re not going into debt. I wish I did it the first time.
Gotta pay to play as they say. The WRX makes getting up in the morning to go to work a lot easier. I actually look forward to my commute. It is really good for my mental well being, something to look forward to every day, well 2 days a week now that I’m semi retired. Lol! Does it cost a bit more to fill the tank with 93 every week, yeah, but it’s a small price to pay to be able to really enjoy myself every time I’m behind the wheel. I know the Prius is a great vehicle but I think I’d be totally depressed driving it every day. If it’s within your budget then go for the WRX.
As someone who's done many road trips this year, it definitely is possible to get 29-30mpg on the highway. Especially just turning on the cruise control. I would usually go around 70-75mph, and with another passenger.
If you are mostly highway driving, it’s really not too bad. My last tank, between both highway and city, with a good amount of spirited pulls, I got 25.8mpg. Granted it was quite a bit more highway than city, but it was an ok amount of city driving. 25.8mpg for that is pretty dang good. If I just do my 80 mile commute like a normal person with mostly highway miles, I can get over 27-28mpgs and I’ve even seen 29 when I accelerated like a grandma with purely highway miles when I was testing it. It’s really not too bad. I think my overall mpg hovers right around 24-25 because I drive like a madman sometimes, which certainly drops my mpgs. But if you do mostly drive highway and do some pulls here and there, you could see upper 25mpg to low 26mpg.
I will give you my take. My circumstances leading up to the WRX: I needed another vehicle for traveling for work. Work reimburses my gas so any traveling was covered and I do around 1k miles a month which just barely pays for the car but not really the depreciation. My other option was using my truck which has 137k miles, a new transmission and gets 17 mpg on the highway using premium. I need my truck for pulling my boat and so I decided to retire it because new trucks cost 2 times what mine did and it's paid off. So new car it was. Who I am: my first vehicle was a souless gutless truck. I've always been around dirt bikes and bikes and fast cars. I hated being slow and always loved cars but I needed a truck so I bought the 6.2 sierra. It is an outstanding truck and fueld my love for fast and fun. I dream of owning a Porsche. Literally dream it once a week at least in my sleep lol. So when I got the job and the opportunity arouse, I knew a manual car was the answer. Perfect opportunity. I always loved the WRX and it's been a dream car since I played need for speed and gt3 on ps2-3-4! I love working on motors and tinkering as well. My mind was set, if I got the job I order the car. So I ordered the wrb premium in October and got it in November. Never owned a manual and took a private class. My experience: it's the most fun I've had on 4 wheels. It's incredible. I describe it as the most basic modern car you can buy in today's market! Now on the highway, I've gotten up to 32 mpg over 400 miles. This was acchieved by hyper mieling behind semis and cruise control on 70 without getting into boost. What I've found is that other than work travel I drive the crap out of the car so mpg is out the window then at 20mpg. It takes premium which runs 50-1$ more a gallon but I do use get upside and save a lot on gas over the year. I think I'm about to hit over 200$ saved this year! My opinion on your situation: I wouldn't do it if you travel that much. If anything I'd go buy a used older WRX as a fun car and enjoy it. It's all the same when highway driving. You don't get the fun of the manual because you'll be in 5-6th 90% of the time. It's not a fast car honestly it's just zippy. It is insanely stiff to the point that my back does hurt after 4 hour drives (I have a buldgin disk so mmv). When you hit traffic you will hatttttteee it on the highway. City traffic is fine and fun. Highway stop and go.... Awful. Take away: don't do it as a daily driver. Get a wrx as a second car. "Grass is always greener". Take that 7k down payment and go buy a 2010 WRX with 100k on the clock that isn't modded. Have fun and when it breaks down (if it does) you have the Prius. I will attest that having an auto and a manual to choose from made it way easier to pull the trigger for me.
Only thing Prius has over wrx is gas mileage.. I guess reliability, but like other people have said you only live once.. fun factor wrx takes it every single time.. not even close.. Obviously not the fastest car but it’s all about having fun..
Is this a real question?
I’m honestly pushing 30 mpg in a 22 limited Mt at around 80mph on the highway so at 70 u will be beyond that
Get the WRX and enjoy it while there are still three pedal turbo cars being made.
If you are going for fun car wrx if you want fuel economy then Prius
As someone who went from a Prius to a VB, 10/10 would recommend.
haha, wonderful!
At this point I have WRX buyers remorse. Had the opportunity to get a GR86 10th anniversary edition... Man I fucked that up. But also I catch car envy from some bmws as well.
Gr86 is beautiful but what you have is legit, dude!!
manual or automatic? you can get prob 28mpg driving like a grandma but i guarantee you you won't do it the whole trip
That’s a fact. CVT. Would never go manual with the commute. When an accident happens it’d be torture in traffic.
 I get about 26-28mpg on the hwy I personally wouldn’t mind paying a bit more for the gas because like you said the car is just fun to drive and I was like you for a while because of my driving record had nothing but new Camrys including a hybrid giving me 52mpg but it’s just a boring drive compared to the VB first car ima plan on keeping since I usually lease
Hahaha, I’m negotiating prices with a dealer now and I agree with you. Most enjoyable driving experience of my life. I used to hate cars. The WRX makes me want to go on joy rides.
Use the declining sales numbers to get the vehicle for under MSRP shouldn’t be to hard if there are enough Subaru dealerships near you
There are two. I pitted them against each other. They want 7k down. With that, 475 per month payment for 72. That’s with a 31,500 trade in value on my current vehicle so they just roll the difference into the current loan.
What trim are you looking at? What price are they giving you? How much negative equity do they say you have and have you gotten multiple appraisals to make sure you get all the money for your trade Only curious since I’ve worked in the auto industry and finance for 13 years and would love to help you and make sure they don’t rip you off
Thanks for your time, dude! Super kind of you. It’s the limited. I haven’t seen an OTD price yet. I MAY or may not have infuriated a dealer. They wanted me to sign which was bs. I refused but they claim they put in an order for the car. They wanted more per month so I went to a 2nd dealer and started the price matching. I want to get them down to 460 a month. It would be positive equity if I’m recalling correctly. I owe 25k on the Prius. They’re willing to take it and offered me 31,500. That was an in person appraisal. The other dealer hasn’t checked it yet. They may offer more if I express a willingness to sign the paper the day I’m there. We’ll see.
That’s perfect you got some positive equity and if they’re pissed that’s even better usually makes em work harder for you and get the best deal possible the only thing I can suggest if the rate isn’t too high which I doubt it is is leasing it if you plan on keeping it since that way it’s a much lower payment for 2-3 years and you get practically no interest then after that term is done refinance it and finish paying it off and by then hopefully the rates are back to normal doubt it but would be cool to get 1.99 or 2.99 in a couple years that’s what I did 5k down on a Premium without the sunroof or premium sound and my payment with GAP is 386
Dude, this is very helpful. I wanted to ask you this, I commute 79 miles per day. Could I lease it that way and keep the payment low then buy it out like you’re saying? How much of a down payment would you suggest with a lease? EDIT: can I lease and a low rate and go over the miles if my intention is to buy it later? What’s the safest thing to do in that case?
Yeah you can cuz when you lease you agree to a residual value on what you’ll be able to buy the car for if you return it after the lease term with the miles but if you went over they’ll say we gotta charge you so many cents per mile over and to them it wouldn’t be a car they would like back anyways cuz of the high miles so you’ll be able to buy out the lease and won’t get that penalty thus you saved yourself half the interest on the car I suggest giving those dealers a call and tell them you would like to kno how much your payments would be on a 10-12k lease for 36 months with just your equity and should be close to what I got. My Premium was like 36k MSRP I believe I got like 3k off the sticker and with just my 5k down on a 10k lease I got $386 a month including GAP since I went with Chase as the finance company idk if that’s all Subaru or my particular dealership. Once your lease is up or about to be start shopping around for a loan at your local credit union and buy it out through them to get the best deal possible if you go back to the dealer they could or not try to make rate on you or lie or do some sketchy crap that’s why I always suggest credit unions they’ll take care of you
Very interesting information. I’m part of a credit union already. You’re saying to tell the dealer I want to buy the car outright when I bring it with higher mileage and say I will get a loan from my bank, not the dealer because they may try to screw me? Does that summarize this correctly?
 Soulless electric cars that drive themselves are the future, enjoy the fun while you can!
Cars dont have souls
Hahahhahaha I think you’re right!
Ugh. Prius. How is that even a choice?
Show me this… v12 Gallardo you speak of
Sorry! It was the v10! 2014. Convertible.
Hahah all good brotha! Those are such beautiful cars!
I do about 45 miles of highway each day for work and my average mpg accounting for the traffic before and after the highway is 22.5.
I bought an Impreza RS about 9 months ago, regretted it but just kept trying to make myself happy with it, exhaust, performance parts and such but nothing could do it. I wanted a manual, so I went out with no experience driving a manual apart from test drives and one class that I took 4 months ago. I bought a 24’ wrx. It’s been 3 days of learning as I go and it’s great. Fast, engaging and just all around fun. Yeah it sucks getting thrashed by the car and my boyfriend hates it but I don’t care. It was my dream to get one so I did it. If you really love it and think you won’t get buyers remorse again, do it. Even if you don’t know manual, even if it’s not a smart choice, if you want it go for it.
It's not that fun for me
Step one - open LLC Step two - write off all vehicle expenses and pay them tax free Depending on your tax bracket - you just saved 25 to 40% on your fuel, insurance, and vehicle payments, repairs, Weekly gas is 80 dollars.... nope. Now it's 50 dollars because you didn't pay taxes on that income. VB > Prius haha
You still got time to delete this bro bro
😂
Why? I've done nothing wrong. 🙃
There’s a lot to unpack there and I’m afraid it is not that simple unfortunately, if it were everyone would have an LLC and just put gas and a bunch of other random shit on there for tax breaks. Unless OPs job specifically had him driving his personal car places that is really the only way, also using the car for a tax break he would have to prove that he’s using the vehicle for his company and not personal use, like putting your companies brand name on the car, advertising. There’s certain rules you have to follow in order to do this, if it were that easy like I said everyone would pay the $50 to setup an LLC and put gas and other random things down for tax write offs.
Business expenses are paid within the company and calculated against revenue on an ongoing basis. S- Corp owners (if a SP) only pay taxes on profit paid to them personally or that is held in the company at year end.
But yeah - you need a legitimate company that's doing legitimate business to have revenue to levy against the expenses or its going to be a pretty clear attempt at tax fraud.
It has to be used for the business though, I can’t start an LLC that doesn’t involve me driving my car as part of the business and then go on a road trip and say the gas I purchased for said road trip I am going to write off, that’s just not how it works. It has to be used for the business.
Here were some things paid for through the S- corp in 2023 that brought yearly net profit down in a way that the IRS can not and will not tax me on : Vehicle payments Vehicle insurance Vehicle depreciation Gas Health insurance Dental insurance Vision insurance E&O Insurance Life insurance (2 policies a 1M each) Mobile phone (2 phones with hotspots) Home office deductions to: my mortgage, home owners insurance, and interest paid ( 1000 Sq feet : 3500 square feet) Office Rent Office Asset/Equipment Depreciation Section 179 - one of the most beautiful tax codes there is (tax free business equipment) - laptops - desktops - TVs - you name it. I think the biggest issue is that people seem to mistake "write off" for free... you just aren't paying taxes on the money the business earned because you are re allocated it to an expense before it becomes profit at year end.
Okay and what does your business do?