Monday, July 21, 2008
Prius two years later...
Due to the rise in fuel prices, and the likelyhood that they aren't coming down any time soon, folks have been asking me about my Prius which I bought in 2006. After answering some of their questions I thought, hey, I should post my answers someplace so I can just refer folks.
Note, these are just my personal opinion, "beliefs," and observations, they may well be full of errors and wishful thinking. I recommend that you go evaluate a Prius yourself and get the information out of the manufacturer if you want an authoritative answer.
For what it's worth here is it is:
Do you like the Prius ?
Yes, I like it a lot, and I've spent a lot of time driving it when I was commuting, it is different than other cars and so take some getting used to, but I do like it. It is reliable, quiet, comfortable, roomy and versatile.
Do you really get X for gas mileage ? ( 35 mpg > X <= 100 mpg )
My gas mileage (driving normally, which L might term spirited or worse) hovers between 45mpg and 48mpg, If I focus on it and drive conservatively (an experiment I've tried for a week or so at a time) I can drive that to 55-58mpg.
How does the Prius handle ?
Like a brick, unlike a lot of front wheel drive cars, it is almost evenly weighted front and rear, and has low body clearance and a long wheelbase, and small tires, so it has flat handling and on slippery roads it can get sketchy if you aren't paying attention. Also, because the electric motor is used when starting or for low speed acceleration and it delivers a lot of torque very directly, you can get wheel skip in the front if you are on a loose surface, wet pavement, wet manhole cover, this is disconcerting, but doesn't result in a loss of control because the traction control compensates immediately, so it's just a funny feeling.
That being said, in actual practice driving on the highway, commuting, and around town, I've never had any problems due to handling.
How does the Prius accelerate ?
It accelerates well enough to merge onto the highway, and pass people at highway speeds, it performs pretty much like a 4 cylinder Corolla which has the same engine. It can cruise just fine at 80 mph, but the sweet spot for mileage is actually 60.
Is there enough space in the Prius ?
Yes, it has a lot of driver and passenger space and a lot of storage space inside, one of the nice things about the hybrid thing is that you get a slightly larger car with the mileage of a smaller car.
What trim-level did you get ?
We got the mid-level trim package, cloth seats, cd-mp3-port for your ipod, traction control, backup video camera (very handy because it does have a high rear end which limits visibility when backing out).
Does the AC affect mileage ?
Not that I could detect, I believe that the "new" Prius has an electric air conditioner and so doesn't require the engine to be running like the original Prius.
Is there any special maintenance ?
Not so far, but we haven't cracked 30,000 miles yet.
What about the rumors that the batteries are going to fail and you'll have to spend thousands to have them replaced ?
They are guaranteed by Toyota for 8 years which is about as long as I tend to keep cars anyway so not an issue for me.
Are there any safety issues with the electric stuff ?
Yep, don't touch the bright orange high voltage cables under the hood, don't touch the extremely hot electric motor, don't cut into the body indiscriminately (because of the cables). The last one is just for the firefighter/rescue person, but hybrids are common enough now that all of them have been trained. The batteries themselves are safer in a collision than most gas tanks, and as a benefit you'll only be carrying 11 gallons of gas around, so less fuel if you did have a car fire.
What do you think of the dealer ?
I went to a local dealer, the sales-people are typical car salesmen, what can you say ? The service side is very good and convenient and professional, so far I like them a lot. (I would assume that Toyota dealers in other areas might be different.)
Note, these are just my personal opinion, "beliefs," and observations, they may well be full of errors and wishful thinking. I recommend that you go evaluate a Prius yourself and get the information out of the manufacturer if you want an authoritative answer.
For what it's worth here is it is:
Do you like the Prius ?
Yes, I like it a lot, and I've spent a lot of time driving it when I was commuting, it is different than other cars and so take some getting used to, but I do like it. It is reliable, quiet, comfortable, roomy and versatile.
Do you really get X for gas mileage ? ( 35 mpg > X <= 100 mpg )
My gas mileage (driving normally, which L might term spirited or worse) hovers between 45mpg and 48mpg, If I focus on it and drive conservatively (an experiment I've tried for a week or so at a time) I can drive that to 55-58mpg.
How does the Prius handle ?
Like a brick, unlike a lot of front wheel drive cars, it is almost evenly weighted front and rear, and has low body clearance and a long wheelbase, and small tires, so it has flat handling and on slippery roads it can get sketchy if you aren't paying attention. Also, because the electric motor is used when starting or for low speed acceleration and it delivers a lot of torque very directly, you can get wheel skip in the front if you are on a loose surface, wet pavement, wet manhole cover, this is disconcerting, but doesn't result in a loss of control because the traction control compensates immediately, so it's just a funny feeling.
That being said, in actual practice driving on the highway, commuting, and around town, I've never had any problems due to handling.
How does the Prius accelerate ?
It accelerates well enough to merge onto the highway, and pass people at highway speeds, it performs pretty much like a 4 cylinder Corolla which has the same engine. It can cruise just fine at 80 mph, but the sweet spot for mileage is actually 60.
Is there enough space in the Prius ?
Yes, it has a lot of driver and passenger space and a lot of storage space inside, one of the nice things about the hybrid thing is that you get a slightly larger car with the mileage of a smaller car.
What trim-level did you get ?
We got the mid-level trim package, cloth seats, cd-mp3-port for your ipod, traction control, backup video camera (very handy because it does have a high rear end which limits visibility when backing out).
Does the AC affect mileage ?
Not that I could detect, I believe that the "new" Prius has an electric air conditioner and so doesn't require the engine to be running like the original Prius.
Is there any special maintenance ?
Not so far, but we haven't cracked 30,000 miles yet.
What about the rumors that the batteries are going to fail and you'll have to spend thousands to have them replaced ?
They are guaranteed by Toyota for 8 years which is about as long as I tend to keep cars anyway so not an issue for me.
Are there any safety issues with the electric stuff ?
Yep, don't touch the bright orange high voltage cables under the hood, don't touch the extremely hot electric motor, don't cut into the body indiscriminately (because of the cables). The last one is just for the firefighter/rescue person, but hybrids are common enough now that all of them have been trained. The batteries themselves are safer in a collision than most gas tanks, and as a benefit you'll only be carrying 11 gallons of gas around, so less fuel if you did have a car fire.
What do you think of the dealer ?
I went to a local dealer, the sales-people are typical car salesmen, what can you say ? The service side is very good and convenient and professional, so far I like them a lot. (I would assume that Toyota dealers in other areas might be different.)
Comments:
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Q: Have you made up the difference in gas money yet? (i.e. is your gas savings > the 10K (?) extra you spent to get the Prius)? If not yet, when do you expect to (roughly)? Thanks.
# posted by 
: July 21, 2008 12:50 PM
: July 21, 2008 12:50 PM
Good question, I have to say that I really didn't come at it from that perspective at all. I was looking for a good reliable car, with enough space, that would have reasonable costs as gas prices went up. Some folks say just buy a Corolla which can do gas mileage in the 40's but it is a little smaller and you don't get a tax rebate for it, and you have to drive carefully to really get 40's gas mileage.
Of course I didn't get the tax rebate either because of a restriction in the tax code.
There is a good article here about the time to break-even... the Prius comes out with one of the best ones of the hybrids that they talk about.
Of course I didn't get the tax rebate either because of a restriction in the tax code.
There is a good article here about the time to break-even... the Prius comes out with one of the best ones of the hybrids that they talk about.
So, I did some computations because I was curious, I got the historical gas prices from the department of energy, they have a nice excel spreadsheet that shows the cpi adjusted cost of gas per month.
I don't track every gas purchase, so I just prorated the mileage over the whole timespan evenly (probably conservative in my case), and they give the price for regular and I never put regular in the car (also conservative). So vs. my other car the VW Passat V6 4Motion... I have saved about $1150 in today's dollars...
Of course I've done other things that save a lot more money, I sold the Passat saving maintenance and insurance and taxes and getting back some of my money I paid for it, and I take the train now, so I drive a great deal less.
If I had continued on the same mileage trend I'd have paid off the difference in 6 years...
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I don't track every gas purchase, so I just prorated the mileage over the whole timespan evenly (probably conservative in my case), and they give the price for regular and I never put regular in the car (also conservative). So vs. my other car the VW Passat V6 4Motion... I have saved about $1150 in today's dollars...
Of course I've done other things that save a lot more money, I sold the Passat saving maintenance and insurance and taxes and getting back some of my money I paid for it, and I take the train now, so I drive a great deal less.
If I had continued on the same mileage trend I'd have paid off the difference in 6 years...
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