New Toyota Prius vs Volkswagen Golf: costs
It looks far more futuristic than its predecessors, but is the latest Toyota Prius a cut above its refreshed plug-in hybrid rival from Volkswagen?...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
Because our contenders are in low benefit-in-kind tax brackets, they make a great deal of sense for company car drivers. The Volkswagen Golf’s long electric range places it in the 5% tax band, compared with 8% for the Toyota Prius. As a result, the Golf will cost anyone in the 40% tax bracket £45 less per month in salary sacrifices than the Prius in the current financial year, although the latter is still a lot more affordable than a petrol, diesel or even regular hybrid equivalent.
For private buyers looking to purchase a car outright with cash, the Golf’s list price is significantly lower than that of the Prius. The gap is even wider when you take discounts into consideration; research by our Target Price mystery shoppers suggests you can already expect to get around £1435 off the Golf, whereas you’ll get less than £1000 off the Prius.
You might be planning to sign up to a PCP finance deal instead, and again the Golf is the cheaper option, helped by a larger manufacturer deposit contribution of £3250 (compared with £500 for the Prius) at the time of writing. With a £3600 deposit for a three-year deal and a 10,000-mile annual limit, the Golf costs £521 per month, which is by no means cheap, but less steep than the £631 required for the Prius.
Overall, the Prius will be cheaper to run over three years for anyone buying outright. While it costs a little more than the Golf in terms of servicing and insurance, the Prius is predicted to lose its value far more slowly, and it will be cheaper to fuel if you run these plug-in hybrids on petrol power only. Our real-world economy figures are achieved with a depleted battery to demonstrate the worst-case scenario, and the Prius returned 53.8mpg, versus 48mpg for the Golf. But because the Golf is more efficient than the Prius when running solely on battery power, it will cost you significantly less in electricity if you’re able to top up regularly.
Both cars come with adaptive cruise control and full LED headlights. The Golf has three-zone climate control (so both front occupants and those in the back can set their own temperature), rather than the Prius’s two-zone set-up, but the latter car comes with keyless entry (a £400 option on the Golf), plus heated and cooled front seats.
The Prius is too new to have featured in the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, but the Golf didn’t fare well, with the petrol version coming 23rd out of 26 models in the family car class and the diesel finishing last. The Golf comes with a standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, while the Prius can be covered for up to 10 years or 100,000 miles, provided you have it serviced annually at a Toyota dealer.
The Golf is the only contender to have been tested for safety by Euro NCAP, achieving the maximum five-star rating in 2022. Both cars come with plenty of safety kit, including automatic emergency braking, traffic sign recognition, lane-keeping assistance and blindspot monitoring. Each also has a driver attention monitor.
