Toyota Prius Hybrid

[offcrusin]

Hello all,
Just getting sick of outlaying $300.00 per month on gas purchases for
driving the kids to and from activities and school and back.
Been thinking about buying a Toyota Prius Hybrid that actually get about 50 miles/ gallon, about 3.5 times better that I'm currently getting on my 2002 GMC Jimmy.
Anybody know or can comment on the Prius with past experiences or know of anyone that can comment on the good and the bad?
Thanks

[RWebb]

I have about a hundred friends & neighbors with these things - ranging fro Gen 1 to Gen 3. NOT ONE person has had problems.

I'd look around for a used Gen 2 one. There must be some lease returns out there.

Be sure the mileage driven makes it worthwhile. You can bet that gas prices will be going up.

[mattdavis11]

I can't stand them. Not sure what generation the one I drive is, but it's a 2007. It left me stranded when the inverter cooling pump failed, but that's the only time. Last December, the combination meter had a hiccup, I had no instrument cluster display for about 2 hours. I guess it thawed out when the temps rose above freezing. Needless to say, I put gas in it and kept on going.

They are very unstable in windy conditions, even with good tires they hydroplane in rain, the traction control could get you killed, the abs can do the same, and the blind spots are treacherous. The 2010 model is worse.

I won't drive that fucher anymore. They get 37 miles to a gallon, mixed. The 50mpg is pure bullshyte. Check out the Volkswagen TDI.

[azasadny]

My BIL, the financial planner/engineer bought one new and drove it for three years before he sold it because the numbers just didn't work. He bought a Scion XB and a Porsche 944 instead. He liked the car at first and he was a "hyper miler", but the fun wore off when he ran the numbers and the car wasn't as good of a deal as he thought it was going to be.

[mikester]

We bought one in October of 2005 as at the time california was encouraging folks to get the tech by giving early adopters access to the carpool lane with a single rider. It has been a very reliable car and I regularly get 46 mpg with mixed driving. I'm always surprised when the pump is done way earlier than I expect it to be. It also has great room inside though it is a little narrow.

Would I buy another? Maybe, wife wants a mini van and I want another porsche though.

We paid the sticker price, not some stupid premium. I wouldn't pay more than $24k for a base model and I didn't.

[kinein]

yes had a 2006 prius it is ugly but i luv it.........literally save so much money in fuel cost.......

[kinein]

bought a used 2006 for 13k with 74k miles on it

[mattdavis11]

I'm not an owner of either the 2010 or the 2007. I turned down the newer one, though.

[vash]

my BIL has a first gen (2003?)

it is relatively beaten. 140,000 miles. it has never missed a beat. regular maint and it just keeps on going. it does eat tires tho. i bet he has had 5 sets.

i would get one. one prius, one dodge 3/4 ton diesel and you can handle pretty much everything the car world can throw at you. average them out, the carbon footprint is pretty good too!

(+would need my 911 also)

[sammyg2]

Chances are you won't end up saving ANY money in the long run, you'll just end up with a smaller car.

[sammyg2]

If you're spending $300 a month on gas, that's about 1200 miles if you're paying $3.50 a gallon.

If you had a car that got 50 mpg (and a prius won't in real worlds driving) your gas bill would drop to $85 a month, for a savings of $215 per month. So now you figure out how much a new prius is going to cost to buy, register, maintain, and operate every month and see if it is really cheaper than what you have now.
I'm betting it won't be.

[rrental]

Bought my wife a Volkswagen TDI Golf (Jetta in USA I think) last year, and it's unbelievable cheap to run. She gets an easy 40 MPG. out of it, and we are in an area with lots of mountains.

The car is bought Last year June, and she drove a good 45K up till now (kilometers that is). Expenses: First service: Free, Second $ 125 Third $ 290 I think it's an AWESOME car.

PS. have to be fair, I am a diesel fan. Drive an X5 Diesel myself, averaging about 24MPG

[t951]

We have a 2011 Diesel VW Jetta...almost have 30k on it now. Runs perfectly, great power, and can't say enough good about it.

[Rick V]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

If you're spending $300 a month on gas, that's about 1200 miles if you're paying $3.50 a gallon.

If you had a car that got 50 mpg (and a prius won't in real worlds driving) your gas bill would drop to $85 a month, for a savings of $215 per month. So now you figure out how much a new prius is going to cost to buy, register, maintain, and operate every month and see if it is really cheaper than what you have now.
I'm betting it won't be.

Okay this is scary but I agree here. You will have to drive that thing for a decade just to break even. If you needed a new vehicle sure but to buy one to save on gas only..........

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Rick V

If you needed a new vehicle sure but to buy one to save on gas only..........

Remember all the people during the summer of '08 who were trading in paid-off cars for financed Priuses because they wanted to save $$ on gas? I swear, we need better math instruction in this country.

[Normy]

There is one word: Jetta TDI!

I CANNOT STAND the Toyota Prius. "pry us", that is how I pronounce it. Sorry, but "pree us" sounds like a part of my dick or something down there!

I flew into Edmonton, Alberta last year, and they drove us from the airport to the hotel downtown in a Prius. You see Canada, a far more evolved nation than the United States, requires taxi cabs to be hybrids, so the taxi companies all had these.

Those cars are HORRID! OMG! They are tiny, but I don't mind that. But the interior? OMG PLASTIC! The interior of my '97 Ford Aerostar looked like better quality!

!

Hello? Anyone home?


I'm serious! This car was complete and utter trash. It was a modern Yugo I think! While it ran fine, it had a huge screen in the center of the dash that told you where the power was coming from. While it was interesting as a passenger to look at that, the driver ALSO kept looking at it, and we almost hit a bicycler as a result!

That was the second generation of this car, the first one to look like a cockroach sitting on top of another one. They've produced the third generation now, and I wonder what is happening to the first generation: The batteries are now going bad, and they cost $5000 to replace. But the car is only WORTH $5000, and with dead batteries, you are now driving a small heavy car that is slow and gets bad fuel mileage......

Jetta TDI.

N!

[mattdavis11]

I forgot about the road noise. It's loud. The redeeming qualities fail.

[jyl]

Do a search, the Prius has been discussed ad nauseum, with much more information than has been posted in this thread.

[Noah930]

Wow, a lot of Prius hate here. (OK I admit I hate them too, but out of complete prejudice and not for the real-world reasons listed above.)

Are you contemplating this because you're going to buy a new car anyway, and are considering a Prius amongst other new cars? Or are you just trying to trade a $300/month gasoline bill for something lower?

If the latter reason, I don't think the math is going to work out, as others have pointed out above. If you're buying any hybrid (Prius, Civic, Camry, Altima, Fusion, etc) car, the price premium usually won't offset the fuel savings. Either you'll have to own the car for a long time (6-8 years?) to break even, or the cost of gas will have to go up a lot (e.g. $7+/gallon) to get to that break-even point sooner. If you sell, crash/total, or otherwise lose the car before then (theft/fire), you've lost $ and it wasn't worthwhile.

Your '02 Jimmy is (hopefully) paid off. Unless it costs a fortune to keep running in maintenance costs, you've got to add that $26K purchase price of a new Prius into your financial calculations. $26K buys a lot of gas.

If you want to save the world and just use less oil regardless of cost, then a hybrid makes sense.

If you just want to lower your gas bill, go buy a used 4-cylinder Japanese car. Your not-worth-much Jimmy can be traded for a not-worth-much used Accord or Camry. Or even a Civic. Civics now have as much space as Accords did originally. And I average about 36 mpg in a Civic. Admittedly that's with a lot of highway miles. If you're just shuttling kids around town and don't drive very ecologically-sensitive, expect maybe 30 mpg. Heck, just by driving my previous car more ecolgically-minded (Lexus GS 300), I eeked out about 2 extra mpg (worth about 10% improvement).

[chocolatelab]

Please dont banish me but I think the prius looks pretty cool. I think the trunk space gives it a redeeming quality as well.

Neighbor bought a used one with 14k miles now has 78k miles. No issues.

You can find them all over craigslist for between 12k and 20k depending on your level of adventure.

Maybe i am a nerd. Dont answer that.