Thinking of buying a Toyota Prius, comments?

[JMN]

Do we have any owners here? I drove both the civic and the prius hybrids and found the Prius to drive much smoother and have better options. Although, it is a little more expensive.

I am getting rid of my 12mpg truck.

 

[RigilKent]

dont own one but the mileage looks great. get a bike they get great mileage ask wade, bama or any of the other riders here. but yes i like the prius

 

[JMN]

Ahhh...a bike. I wish, my wife would kill me.

 

[CWS]

Headbanger has one and loves it.

 

[Altercall]

Love my Camry. Toyota makes great cars!

 

[RigilKent]

would your wife kill you for the cost or the fact that its a bike???

 

[tedski]

I've had one since 2004. Just hit 60K. Great car ... smooth ride and handling ... lots of interior room for stuff + people ... plenty of power for getting on the highway or mountain driving ... and I always average about 49mpg per tank. The best I ever did was 62mpg on a full tank, but I really had to drive like an 91 yr old grandma.

 

[daniyal]

Not a big fan of hybrids they don't really save you any money on gas unless most of your driving is done on the highway. Though if your heart is set I'd say go for the Prius otherwise you may want to look at the Honda Accord Hybrid. I'd definitely take the Prius over the Civic, Toyota's been making it for 10 years now so one would think they have most issues ironed out.

 

[timothyjohncarney]

I looked at getting a hybrid (new and used) about 18 months ago and the math didn't make sense. I drive 32 miles to work each way every day, but the cost of the hybrids was just too much. I like owning my cars, but if I was going for a hybrid I'd seriously look at leasing options because I think the value will drop dramatically in the next few years. They are also more expensive to fix so make sure you get a good warranty.

 

[JMN]

I am going to lease. My personal bank offers fantastic lease rates. I averaged 45.7 MPG on the test drive, that is not bad.

 

[Fox]

I've had one since 2004. Just hit 60K. Great car ... smooth ride and handling ... lots of interior room for stuff + people ... plenty of power for getting on the highway or mountain driving ... and I always average about 49mpg per tank. The best I ever did was 62mpg on a full tank, but I really had to drive like an 91 yr old grandma.

Ted, have you ever done the long term analysis for cost effectiveness against a standard vehicle of similar size? I ask because this thread got me looking around on the Net. There is a lot of anecdotal commentary about long term costs and salvage value (in the accounting sense) given the battery replacement issue, but no real statistical evidence. I was wondering how it would compare long term with one of the small Toyota, Nissan or Honda vehicles?

 

[tedski]

Not a big fan of hybrids they don't really save you any money on gas unless most of your driving is done on the highway.

This is totally false. I actually get better gas mileage in city driving because the hybrid system only operates at slower speeds. Of course this was a learned process. But for those that drive hybrids and still treat red lights / stop signs as though they were a drag race ... and have not learned the fine art of "coasting", then you will be disappointed with your mpg.

 

[Jwrussell]

I seem to remember checking out the cost differences between hybrids and similiar non-hybrids a while back. At that point, the cost savings in fuel didn't come even slightly close to making up for the cost difference between the cars.

Here's a current example:

Ford Escape XLS MSRP: $19K Best MPG 28
Ford Escape H MSRP: $26.5K Best MPG 34

Difference of $7,500. Over 5 years that's $1,500/year.
Using 12K as an average mile/year that equates to:
Escape XLS: 429 Gallons
Escape H: 353 Gallons
At $4 a gallon (we'll go on the high side), that's a difference of $304 in the Hybrid's favor. Over 5 years (I seem to remember this was about average ownership length for most cars?) that equates to $1,520.

Let's assume the person owns the car for 10 years and that (for the sake of argument) the battery is not an issue during this time. Assuming gas prices don't skyrocket (though even at $5/gallon the math doesn't change much), that's $3,040 over 10 years. Still not even half of the price difference between the two cars.

Of course this is an SUV, so that skews things somewhat. So what about the Camry?
Camry SE MSRP: $22,390 Worst MPG 21
Camry H MSRP: $25,350 Worst MPG 33

$2,960 difference between the two. I went with worst MPG above because there is so little difference between the Camry's citi and highway that it would skew the results.
Using the same figures above, we have a difference of 207 Gallons/year or $828/year @ $4/gallon. It only takes 3 and a half years to make up the difference here. Much more attractive...

This one is difficult as it's hard to compare the two. The H has 192 HP whereas the regular Camry either has 268 or 158. Further, the number of possible regular Camrys makes it difficult to compare the two as well. I used the SE, but if you compare it to the XLE the two are almost the same in cost.

Now, how about the Prius vs the Yaris?
Yaris Sedan S MSRP: $13,725 City MPG 29
Prius Base MSRP: $21,100 City MGP 45
Difference of $7,375 between the two.

Now this one is interesting. I'm using City again because the Prius's MPG ratings are so close. Using the same math:
Yaris: 414 Gallons/year
Prius: 267 Gallons/year
$588/year difference @ $4/Gallon. It would take 12 years to make up the difference here. Ouch.



I understand that there can be other reasons to go with the Hybrids than saving money, just an interesting comparison.

 

[tedski]

Ted, have you ever done the long term analysis for cost effectiveness against a standard vehicle of similar size? I ask because this thread got me looking around on the Net. There is a lot of anecdotal commentary about long term costs and salvage value (in the accounting sense) given the battery replacement issue, but no real statistical evidence. I was wondering how it would compare long term with one of the small Toyota, Nissan or Honda vehicles?

There are many cost studies around that show hybrid cars are not real cost savers overall based on the increased mileage you get vs. their cost. In addition there are even one or two studies that show the Hummer is better for the environment vs the Prius. While cost is a factor, I've never purchased a car in my life based on long term analysis.

My decision to purchase the Prius was based on the following:

1. My current car at the time (a Subaru Legacy wagon) was getting 20mpg and gas prices were rising (they already hit $2/gal in Calif by late 2003).
2. I found the Prius offered a smoother ride, more interior room and 2.5x the gas mileage of the Subaru.
3. The price was reasonable ($21K). Hybrid car mania had not really hit yet (prices and demand would go crazy in 2005), so prices were stable, even though supply was low.
4. I've owned 2 Toyotas before and found them to have great overall quality.

So far, I've only had minimal maintenance costs on the Prius. Oil changes, a minor tuneup, a set of new tires and some air filters have been the only things done. My batteries and the hybrid system are under warranty for 150000 miles ... and the data I've read indicates no real issues on these from other hybrid owners who've had their car for 4 or more years.

In the end I feel good about my decision to buy the Prius. It's been a fun, reliable car - and it makes me feel good that in a very small way I'm sending a message to the oil companies and middle east countries. :grinFU:

 

[Fox]

Thanks, Ted & Jason; good analyses, both.

 

[BamaRed]

All I can think of is Jeff DUN-HAM

Dot COM

-BR

 

[joshua]

My stepmom has one and its a really nice car. The dashboard feels like you are in a space ship or something. The car is getting around 47-49MPG on average (it depends on whos been driving it). It depends on if you drive in the city or highway a lot. If you break a lot it generates more energy for the electrical system, so stop and go traffic actually gets you better mileage. If you go down hill also.

 

[Headbanger]

Wife and I love our Prius, bought last year. Summer we got low 50 MPG, during the winter dropped to 49 MPG. Interior room for the Prius is much larger than anything close to it's size both front and rear.

I deal in reality of today. This thing gets 50 MPG. The battery should last well over 100k before needing to be replace or serviced. With less wear and tear on the engine since it is not used in idle or when not needed they last substantially longer than normal engines. There are no gears so nothing to go wrong there either. I believe has no transmission either to go bad.

 

[TexaSmoke]

Personally not a huge fan of the hybrid, but if you like them to go for.

Jason - nice analysis. I did that same thing back a few years ago when they first came out and realized back then it would take way too long to break even.

 

[stogies&hoagies]

For me, buying a hybrid is not about the cost of the vehicle, or operating it, or resale value, it's about using less gas. I'm thinking maybe this fall I'll switch to something. My three vehicles are all paid for, but none get over 20 mpgs, so for me getting better gas mileage, even 30 mpg, will cut my gas/ oil use considerably. That is my goal. If we all can cut out as little as 10% of our oil consumption it would help alot.
As far as the hybrid technology goes. I think it's a great interim alternative. The Hybrid technology is not very enviromentally friendly when you look at the waste byproducts of the battery productions, which by their very nature are not a long term solution. I think persuing hydrogen fueled vehicles is the way to go. Whereas hydrogen infrastructure will be costly to set up, in the long run that's the only really sensible option we have right now.

ok, sorry for the semi thread jack. No I do not currently have a hybrid, but my next vehicle will be. Most likely a Toyota as they have been at it the longest. I'm intersted in what everyone has to say about hybrid ownership.