Please tell me about your Toyota Prius...

[sherry7]

Tell me about your Toyota Prius please.

My job is getting transferred in October, and my commute is going to increase to 98 miles per day. (75% highway at 65 mph, 15% city, 10% semi-rural road.) My current 17 mpg beast of a SUV is going to bankrupt me with a commute like that. So, we're planning on selling/trading DH's older truck, giving him my SUV, and I'm getting a new car. I recently posted a thread here, asking for fuel efficient auto recommendation. I got quite a few responses. After a lot of research, I've narrowed down my choices to a Toyota Prius or possibly a Honda Civic (gas model). Hybrid cars are basically an unknown factor to me, so I'd love to have some info from real people who own them. I'll be putting about 30,000 miles a year on my new vehicle, and I hope to keep it for a minimum of 5 years. I really want to make an intelligent decision on this purchase.

If you have a Prius, can you tell me a bit about it please? What year do you have? How many miles are on it? What kind of gas mileage do you average? Is most of your mileage highway or city? Does it require any weird maintenance that a gas powdered car doesn't need? Do brakes on a hybrid car really last "forever" like I read somewhere? Does it have enough power to merge on highways, etc? (I still need to test drive one.) Most importantly - lets say that your Prius got totaled in a wreck. Would you buy another one, or would you go back to a traditional gas car?

When you bought your car, were you able to negotiate anything off the sticker price? (We're trying to sell DH's truck, so we won't have to deal with haggling about a trade in.) Right now, I'm considering the Prius Two, which is the base model of the traditional lift back style. (There's a bigger and smaller Prius now too.)

Thanks very much for your opinions and advice.

 

[ttfn3]

Proud owner of 2 Prius' here! We bought a 2009 model, and then loved it so much that we bought a 2012 model when we were looking for a new car. Boy they sure did a lot of changes in 3 years. A lot more bells and whistles (I'm jealous that my Husband drives the 2012 model...)

We get GREAT gas mileage with our cars. LOVE LOVE just getting gas every couple of weeks. It's also a fun car to drive. I love being able to glide - and not use any gas at all in some places. We go longer between oil changes - get it changed every 5,000 miles. Our Toyota dealership has been great to work with. We have had a few recalls with our 2009 model. Nothing that we have noticed in performance, just issues that Toyota had to fix to prevent a potential problem. I've had a couple of minor issues, and my service guy has taken care of me very, very well. I have no issues driving on the highway. The only issue I have noticed is that my 2009 model doesn't like going up major hills/mountains. My Husband's 2012 model seems to be better when we drove it through the mountains on a trip this year.

I highly recommend a Prius!!

 

[mrsstats]

In 2010 my dh was transferred and would have a 4o mile commute. We traded in his Santa Fe and leased a Prius. With the money he saved in gas, we covered the lease payment. The savings was so good gas wise that we sold our Sonata and financed another Prius.

6 months after we bought the 2nd Prius I had a near head on collision and totaled my Prius. We sent and bought another one.

His lease was up this year and we leased another Prius, this time the Plug In model. Got a great deal on the lease.

Great car, would get another. He was average 48 miles with the gas model, with highway driving. The plug in gets even better. I average around 41 with just local driving.

 

[Monte Cristo]

Tell me about your Toyota Prius please.

My job is getting transferred in October, and my commute is going to increase to 98 miles per day. (75% highway at 65 mph, 15% city, 10% semi-rural road.) My current 17 mpg beast of a SUV is going to bankrupt me with a commute like that. So, we're planning on selling/trading DH's older truck, giving him my SUV, and I'm getting a new car. I recently posted a thread here, asking for fuel efficient auto recommendation. I got quite a few responses. After a lot of research, I've narrowed down my choices to a Toyota Prius or possibly a Honda Civic (gas model). Hybrid cars are basically an unknown factor to me, so I'd love to have some info from real people who own them. I'll be putting about 30,000 miles a year on my new vehicle, and I hope to keep it for a minimum of 5 years. I really want to make an intelligent decision on this purchase.

If you have a Prius, can you tell me a bit about it please? What year do you have? How many miles are on it? What kind of gas mileage do you average? Is most of your mileage highway or city? Does it require any weird maintenance that a gas powdered car doesn't need? Do brakes on a hybrid car really last "forever" like I read somewhere? Does it have enough power to merge on highways, etc? (I still need to test drive one.) Most importantly - lets say that your Prius got totaled in a wreck. Would you buy another one, or would you go back to a traditional gas car?

When you bought your car, were you able to negotiate anything off the sticker price? (We're trying to sell DH's truck, so we won't have to deal with haggling about a trade in.) Right now, I'm considering the Prius Two, which is the base model of the traditional lift back style. (There's a bigger and smaller Prius now too.)

Thanks very much for your opinions and advice.

Have you considered diesel? I have a 2013 VW Passat diesell that gets 52 mpg highway. I can't imagine going back to gas and would never consider a prius given what I know now about clean diesel.

 

[a742246]

I have a 2010 prius with 120,000 miles on it. I get 52 MPH on average, more in summer , less in winter.

It is a great car! I go 10,000 between oil changes, there are no surpentine belt that needs replacement, tranny fluid and radiator fluid doesn't have to be changed, brakes are still original, so operating costs are low.

Only drawback, it is not the best car in snow.

PS. I do take care of my cars, my last 5 cars all got over 200,000 miles on them.

I highly rec. the Pruis.

 

[ElizabethG]

So, I haven't had mine very long. I drive about 100 miles per day, too. Mine is a 2013 Prius Four. So far, I love it. My last car was a 2002 (Avalon), so this is my first car with all of the high tech bells and whistles. I love the 'Heads Up Display'. Also, since it runs so clean and uses synthetic oil, you only have to get an oil change every 10K miles. The first couple of years the maintenance is free (with the Toyota dealer in my area, anyway). Oh, and it is a lot roomier than I thought it would be!

 

[DawnM]

This is what DH is talking about getting.

Have you considered diesel? I have a 2013 VW Passat diesell that gets 52 mpg highway. I can't imagine going back to gas and would never consider a prius given what I know now about clean diesel.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

2007 with over 140,000 miles on it. We bought it new while stationed in Maine, and it has been all over the country since then. Didn't have any issues driving it in the snow there.
DH plans to give it to our DD in a couple of years when she starts driving.

It has a lot more room than it looks like it would, and we have done several long driving vacations in it, as well as moving from to two different states.

It gets about 45 mpg, and DH commutes about 50 miles daily. It's been a great vehicle, the only thing we've had to do is replace the instrument panel. We had to have that done at the dealer, our regular mechanic couldn't do it for us.

 

[Abbeys_mom]

I have an 07 with 113k on it. I get about 48 mpg all highway, on cruise. I struggle up hills, but make up for it going down them by coasting.

Yes, there may be a slight difference up front, but you will make it up. Do the math on what you spend now in gas and what you will be spending when you get 50 mpg. There are break even calculators online. We bought when there was a tax credit which helped too.

Dh's Santa Fe is dying, and then we will be a two Prius family. I traded in a Mercedes back in 07, best decision ever!

Good luck!

 

[robinb]

I don't own one, but we're thinking about getting the new Prius V. I found a website called True Car that will provide you pre-negotiated prices for cars in your area (within about 200 miles, I think). I personally don't mind driving a bit to get a good deal and the prices through True Car seemed pretty good.

 

[d1gitman]

my mother has a 2010 Prius II and loves it. she gets 50mpg. best part is she leased it for total fo $2000 out of pocket at signing and $124mo payment for 36mo. So for her, that's a total of $180mo vehicle cost + oil changes. If you able to stay in that 12k-15k annual mileage range, then this is a very cost effective way to have transportation.

 

[Prose]

I just bought a 2012 Prius earlier this year and I love it. I drive about 25 miles per day on city streets and average about 50 mpg. We took a family trip to Chicago from Indy this summer and actually made it there and back on a single tank of gas.

If you are short, it is very comfortable to drive, although I do wish the driver's seat would boost up another inch or so. DH is about a foot taller than I am and can also drive it without problem.

The one downside we have found so far is the visibility out the rear window is not great due to the sharp angle of the rear hatch. You have to be vigilant about using the mirrors and looking both ways when backing up.

Regular maintenance is free from the dealer for a while (sorry I can't remember how long at the moment). I recently had my 5,000 checkup -they checked all fluids, rotated the tires and turned off the back-up beep for me. The oil is changed every 10,000 miles.

Little things I really like - the extra cargo compartment under the rear hatch, the dual glove boxes, the dual charger plugs and the USB plug, the push button starter, the integrated Bluetooth.

I would definitely buy another Prius.

 

[miksicnarf]

We have 4 (yes, four) Prii so needless to say, we're fans. My husband started the trend after owning only BMWs for decades. When his commute on L.A. freeways got longer, he bought a used 2006 Prius because it came with HOV stickers. Next on the bandwagon was our oldest son with a 2007 model, then I got onboard with a 2011 Prius Four. Husband upgraded to a 2012 Plug-In and passed his 2006 down to our daughter, and my 2011 was totaled in an accident in April so I now have a 2013 Four. My husband gets around 75mpg in his plug-in and the rest of us average around 45-50mpg. We all love them!
I was previously devoted to VWs, having had 2 Eurovans (still have the 2nd one) and a Touareg, and daughter had a Beetle (#2 son still has an Audi). Unfortunately my many years of VW experience has led me to believe that as much as I'm drawn to their product, VW has the worst service ever. And with six vehicles in the family, we've seen a lot of service departments.
Back to the Prius--the only thing that made me initially hesitant was the size. I thought it wouldn't be spacious enough to accommodate my weimaraner comfortably, but it absolutely does. He fits fine with the back seats in place, and with them folded down he has plenty of space to pace or stretch out. My husband is a large man, and our "kids" are all well over 6' tall and they can fit comfortably in the back seat without having to move the front seats forward. (The back seat in the Touareg is a joke.)
As I understand it, the engine does most (or all?) of the braking, and charges the battery at the same time. None of us have ever replaced brakes on our Prii. We have no problems merging onto freeways.
When my first Prius met its untimely death, I took a good look at everything else available and there really wasn't anything else I'd rather have.
Good luck in your decision!

 

[msmama]

I have a Toyota Matrix, DH (well, ex now, but that's not important to the story) has a Prius. Seeing as they're both Toyota's you'd think they'd drive similarly, but they don't. I REALLY didn't like driving the Prius.

I suppose every car has some getting used to, but I was never able to get used to the Prius - so yes, definitely test drive.

Like a PP said, the rear visibility is pretty crappy. You do have to be extra careful when merging. The car doesn't have the greatest "pick up" when going from a stop to full speed (it's designed not to as it puts more wear on engine - not that it's bad for the engine, but it's designed to drive so you get the best gas milage) so sometimes that can make merging difficult but I think you just learn to drive differently.

I think that driving the prius is very different than driving my car and while I thought I'd get one for my next car, I am no longer sure (though I would give the other models a try before crossing them off my list completely).

Neither of us drive far during the day, we stick close to home so 15 miles a day TOPS. I usually fill up between every 2-3 weeks, the prius can go 4-5, maybe even 6 weeks between fill ups.

 

[CoP Luv]

I have an '07 with 80K on it. I am averaging about 46 mpg on it and that average includes both summer and (Chicago) winter driving. I usually drive it on city streets, but it gets a decent amount of highway driving as well. I only replaced a water pump on it because it was leaking and that was only a few weeks ago. The brakes are still the original.

Before my Prius, I drove a Honda CRV and a Ford Explorer. I did not think the Prius was hard to get used to at all. The only thing I remember is that the engine would "shut off" and you could feel it. I always thought my car turned off, but it was no big deal, just different than feeling the engine at all times.

As far as merging onto highways, I don't see how that is even as issue at all unless the person driving is a lead foot, and is used to gunning it. I have never had a problem with that or had it even cross y mind that it was different. I thought my Explorer was much worse and you really had to floor it to pick up speed.

In regard to winter driving, I think that all depends on the driver and how they are in the snow. If the driver doesn't know how to drive in the snow, the car isn't going to be that much help. Yes, it slips and slides but so did the other cars mentioned and they were both SUVs. I have never felt out of control or spun out.

I don't have any problem with the rear window and seeing and I am quite short. DH is a foot taller than me and he has no problems either.

I have really enjoyed my car and DH wants to get another one when his car goes, but I think we might look into something bigger, probably a Toyota or Honda since we have had great experiences with both makes.

We didn't get too much off of sticker because they were in such high demand when we bought it. There was a 10 week waiting list in Chicago, so we bought it in DH's hometown since they had one available. We were able to get a corp. discount due to one of our co's perks, but that was about it.

I love our Prius and would highly recommend.

 

[crisi]

Mine's an 09 and I really like it - I'm stopped in parking lots all the time and people ask me about it.

1. You have to be willing to drive a Prius - if you drive it like a regular car, you will end up with good gas mileage, but nothing near the gas mileage you bought it for. Driving a Prius is like a zen state, you need to be willing to pay attention to your gas usage, give yourself plenty of time to stop for lights and stop signs.

2. The rear visibility is crappy - I hear its better on the newer models. You can get used to it, but the blind spot on mine is noticably bigger than the blind spot in my previous cars.

3. It takes a few miles to warm up - while its doing so, its primarily on the gas engine - which means a Prius to drive two miles to work and two miles back isn't a good deal (unless you have the plus in).

4. I find it DRIVES fine in the snow - what you can't do is rock it - you know, how you do when you are stuck - that doesn't work nearly as well as any of my other cars. If the plow has come through and the bottom of the driveway has a berm - I have to shovel - or I get one chance to pull through it and into my garage - then the kids are pushing. (Of course, rocking it was never great on the transmission on an ordinary car, but pushing isn't good on my back).

5. You can punch it - now, my husband drives "German Performance Cars" - he laughs when I punch the Prius - when he punches the Mercedes you feel like you are on Mission Space. When I punch the Prius, you feel like Goofy's Barnstormer took off and Chip and Dale are inside on the flywheel. But it will hit freeway speeds by the end of the ramp without any problem.

 

[amcnj]

Have any current owners experienced any maintenance issues that differed from other vehicles they have owned? It sounds like the brakes last longer than usual, any other pluses in the maintenance area?

 

[crisi]

Have any current owners experienced any maintenance issues that differed from other vehicles they have owned? It sounds like the brakes last longer than usual, any other pluses in the maintenance area?

No maintenance issues - if the computer goes out, it is a BIG deal though. Without the computer saying when to engage which engine, the car is dead.

Oh, and it has the proximity keys - don't let the battery on that go dead - but that's any car now with a proximity key.

 

[torismom]

I have an 05 with 172,000 miles on it. Up to this point we replaced a battery which was 200.00 and I had a sensor go bad which affected something else and the cost to repair was 1200.00

It has been a great car and I feel we have gotten our moneys worth. I normally average 45-48 mpg.

However, my ac just died and my daughter dented the front bumper. Right now I am getting about 38-40 mpg. The mpg went down when these two incidents happened.

I would buy one again. We have been very happy with the car. I plan to drive it until the wheels fall off.

 

[a742246]

The 2010 models and up the pickup is good. The hatchetback allows you to carry 8 foot lumber and many other things so that is a plus.

Overall, its a great car!