Prius Owners?

[spressomon]

After too much back and forth whether to buy a Prius or not I finally did it just about a year ago. Its been a great vehicle so far; 11K miles. Overall average is 50mpg which I am happy with considering I'm not the slowest driver out there and living and driving at 4,500+'.

Now I have two rigs that go 500-miles between fill-ups: '09 Prius and my '99 Land Cruiser :wings:.

 

[TangoBlue]

From January 2007...

I have a 2003 Prius (Gen 1). I commute 100 miles per day, 5 days a week in the DC area and the only costs I have are for routine maintnenance and a new set of tires. This car has been a very reliable vehicle for me and comfortable one for my 73 in frame; everyone who has ridden in it has commented on how much interior room and comfort it has despite its apparent size. My MPG averages between 54 and 47, depending on the driving conditions.

No change except that my commute is now 135 miles/day - thank goodness for satellite radio. 15x,xxx miles. Only addition is some sweet JDM wind visors for the windows (unavailable by any manufacturer in US) - Toyota still carries them in stock.

 

[twblanset]

I've got one. Love it. I get 50 MPG on the highway (more in stop and go). I bought it new in '06 and haven't had a problem with it. We bought an extended warranty that covers the batteries for not much money. I do all the maintenance on it and it is as easy as any little compact. It's really comfortable. I'm just over 6 feet and fit in it easily (even in the back seat). It corners nicely, has good brakes, and will accellerate when you need it to. I have a friend with a Fit and it's OK. It's cheap and gets good mileage, but it's a very typical, cheap, cut-down economy car. The Prius is actually a nice car. The only thing it lacks is looks. It's really bland looking, but it's been so reliable, comfortable, inexpensive that I don't care. I notice at the Sacrament car show that the cheapest Prius are going for 22K now. I paid 26K.

 

[Redline]

Wow, 56.59 MPG with some 80-MPH stretches thrown in, very nice.

We have a TDI and like it but I've been giving a Prius some thought as a possible replacement, mostly for the Toyota reliability/quality. My wife wants to keep the TDI.

all of the other Prius threads had ton of bashing, so i brought this first one back to life...

I needed a rental car for a 2 day business trip yesterday, when I got to the airport, they gave me a brand new Prius. I was a little skeptical, but the car won me over. It smoothly crusied up to 80 plus mph. I liked the dash layout and the under console tray was awesome for trip related gadgets,(chargers, tomtom, ipod, etc.) It all stored out of site, out of mind, but you could easlity grab it. It had enough power for merging in NYC rush hour traffic. My only complaint is that they look kinda dorky, but it went 515 miles on 9.1 gallons of gas:smiley_drive:

 

[Martyn]

We have a 2008 Prius, it cost $23K, and it's now got 33,000 miles on it.

The tires it came with were rated snow tires but they were really bad so we switched them out for the Cooper/Mastercraft brand. Now it's very good in the snow

Most of our driving in at 6000 feet a mix of short trips and highway. We average 49.9 mpg.

No issues with the vehicle. I did buy the extended warranty (100,000 mile bumper to bumper) and the 3 year maintenance program. I did the latter because I'm a procrastinator and having a set schedule is much better from me.

We find the car comfortable and the handling surprisingly good. The interior is spacious, and the hatchback big enough for our Shepard/Lab cross.

With a little more ground clearance and 4x4 this would be my ideal daily drive.

 

[gmwelder86]

I had my tundra in for some work and they gave me a prius to drive. Was on ok car to drive, makes LOTS of weird noises when the engine turns on and off while at a stop. The car was totally gutless, mybe this was cause I am used to a tundra with 400ft lbs of tq but needless to say it had trouble getting out of its own way specially on the highway. Also everything is controlled off of a touch screen, and is not very user friendly while driving as it takes your eyes off of the road in order to change everything, unlike most knobs where you can memerize where they are and what they do.

 

[kjp1969]

I just drove an '09 Prius for around 650 miles through southern Wyoming. It was a clever car, with a big display showing you what everything was doing. It was fun to geek around with, but by the end of the trip I was ready to shut it off.

At 85mph at 6000', it returned around 44mpg. But if you took away all the geekery and just looked at it as a car, it was mediocre. Fairly similar to my old '95 Civic. A couple of times I went to floor to get onto the highway and it really couldn't make up its mind.

From what I've read, the energy and resources it uses to make the battery pack alone far offsets its good fuel economy from an environmental standpoint. But you get the "Prius image," whatever that's worth.

 

[spressomon]

I had my tundra in for some work and they gave me a prius to drive. Was on ok car to drive, makes LOTS of weird noises when the engine turns on and off while at a stop. The car was totally gutless, mybe this was cause I am used to a tundra with 400ft lbs of tq but needless to say it had trouble getting out of its own way specially on the highway. Also everything is controlled off of a touch screen, and is not very user friendly while driving as it takes your eyes off of the road in order to change everything, unlike most knobs where you can memerize where they are and what they do.

I'm a knob guy too. It took me a while to get used to the touch screen. I don't like it but I've made my peace with it. That's the biggest reason I am not driving a newer Land Cruiser: The Nav and touch screen BS. I better not get going on that...:Wow1:

But for 50+mpg I can put up with it for my DD.

 

[Ruffin' It]

I used to own one. It was a good car and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one. I wish I still had it.

Any Prius Owners here? My parents commute car just die so they need to buy a new car. I'm suggesting they buy a prius for the obvious reasons. Just wanted to hear some first hand feed back. Thanks.
Edit/Delete Message

 

[Ruffin' It]

He's right. A diesel Jetta is what I'd get next time around. The Prius batteries are supposed to be good for about 150,000 or so, but they are not cheap to replace. Still a good car.

long term, you may wish to look at other technology... jetta diesel, small turbo gas engines etc. From what I have seen, the battery packs in the hybrids need to be replaced after a number of years at a high cost. In addition, the comparisons I've seen show that the cost of ownership is signficantly higher, even ignoring the battery issue. If I remember correctly, the most recent article I read in consumer reports basically said that the prius or similar vehicles are best for those "making a statement," but for those that are truly looking for economical transportation (especially since the tax breaks are just about gone) should stick with the more conventional technology... for now.

Kyle

 

[TangoBlue]

The Prius batteries are supposed to be good for about 150,000 or so, but they are not cheap to replace.

Not so loud... my 2003 Prius doesn't know it's batteries are supposed to be dead.

 

[Cackalak Han]

I'm still not sold on the technology. Until they get even more efficient, I'm sticking with my 97 Civic with 190 k miles that gets 50mpg on the freeway. If it dies, I'd much rather get a Corolla (wife's gets 40mpg), Hond Fit or Civic (~40mpg) or a Yaris (45-50mpg reported), which are all thousands below a Prius or Insight. It will take many many years and miles to make up for the extra cost of a hybrid. Like the other guy was saying, you are buying a hybrid to make a statement, not to save $.

 

[Deleted member 9101]

He's right. A diesel Jetta is what I'd get next time around. The Prius batteries are supposed to be good for about 150,000 or so, but they are not cheap to replace. Still a good car.

And you don't look like a total ************ at a stop light..lol