10,000 Miles Experience

[efusco]

I just passed 10K miles and over 8 months this past weekend and thought I'd post a brief (let's hope) summary of my impressions and experiences.

1)LMPG is over 49mpg, easily expecting to exceed 50 before the end of summer and, hopefully, to maintain around the 50 mark over the lifetime of the car so long as I stay in the same part of the country I now live in and maintain my current driving habits for the most part. Mileage seems to be stablizing--ie I think breakin is over.

2)No (that's zero, nada, nil, zippo, none) mechanical/electrical problems issues.

3)Tires showing minimal to no significant wear.

4)Paint, interior (tan) and fit and finish holding up quite well. I admit to pampering my baby.

5)I still love driving this car and caring for it. I love talking about it, going to the forums about it, experimenting on it and contemplating future improvements in the technology. There is something special and groundbreaking about this car. It befuddles me that so many reviews can't see past the dollars and cents and mileage/oerformance issues and imagine the potential this car and this technology has.

6)The size has been more than adequate, but I think that's going to change in the next 16 days when my 3rd kid requiring a rear car seat arrives. With the current seats it's impossible to get all 3 across the back seat. I'm going to change my (almost) 5 year olds to booster seats (hopefully with backs), but I'm not even 100% sure everything will fit then. Welcome any suggestions here!!

7)Gas gauge is still an annoyance, but I'm more comfortable driving to the 500 mile range before fill up...I've all but given up on a 'fix'.

8)Love, love, love SE/SS--EVERY car should have this.

9)Love the engine shutting off at stops. Every 'review' talks about how unsettling it is to have the engine shut off when you start driving the Prius for the first time and then you "get used to it". I'd take it a step further. When you drive long enough you 'EXPECT' it and it's quite annoying/disturbing when non-hybrids do NOT shut off at lights. I find myself searching the dash and trying to figure out if there's something wrong before I realize that it just 'normal' for that car.

10)I love the smug feeling I have/get when gas prices are high and I'm burning next to nothing plus creating nearly no emissions.

This is, unquestionably, a special car.

[Wolfman]

Evan, expect that bond with your car to only get even more obsessive as the miles add up. My Prius is the first car to not get into that typical "normal" ownership experience that one associates with a vehicle that while they may like, they "get used to." I still marvel at the MFD, and the hybrid system. Even with over 26k on the odometer, I still feel the same way as I did, the day I drove it home. I gave the Honda tech a ride home in my Prius to pick up the 84 Goldwing, so that he could ride it, and find out the cause of the persistent misfire condition that I've been fighting for almost a month now. I talked up the car, and he marvelled at the vehicle the whole way home. I've even convinced a Goldwing owner in Maine to purchse a classic model. Him and his wife are absolutely exstatic over their purchase.

I'm convinced that those who talk down on the Prius are clueless. I also find it annoying when I hear a car idling next to me. It just isn't right to burn up all that fuel going nowhere.

Sitting silently at a light is nice, as is being able to talk to people in the drive thru at normal talking levels, when grabbing food on the run is another bonus that I had never thought of before buying this car.

[DonDNH]

I talked up the car, and he marvelled at the vehicle the whole way home.

Last weekend a Jehovah's Witness was walking my street while I was washing my '04 Prius. He stopped and asked if I was interested in his literature to which I responed, "No thanks". The next half hour was spent discussing the Prius. Eventually, the three other of his neighborhood team joined into the discussion. Religion took a backseat to the technology of the hybrid and the future of the ICE. A woman with the group asked for the name of my salesrep and dealer; she was that interested.

[bookrats]

Hallelujah! Spread the word, Don! :-)

[rflagg]

I, too, just recently passed 10k miles - in half the time though, I've had my baby just over four months. However, I agree with you on every aspect of the car. I've only had to drive my other car, a 2000 Neon a few times since owning the Prius, and it's been agony. Well, not completely - but the realization that so much thought and engineering and layout went into this car, from the engine shut off, to the emissions, to the standard touch screen - when I am forced to go back to my 'loaded' neon which doesn't even have power rear windows, I realize how the creation of the 2000 neon was probably just adding a cupholder here, new knobs there, and that's innovation.

I'm extremely happy with my 04 Prius, and it certainly retains the 'just drove it home from the dealer' feel each and every day.

-m.

[daniel]

Once I left the lights on in my old Civic, and after getting a jump, I let it run for a couple of hours at idle to re-charge. It burned very little gas. I don't believe it consumed a measurable amount while stopped at traffic lights.

That said, what I love about the auto shut-off in the Prius is the total absense of that idle shudder that other cars have. When the engine is running at normal speed most cars are reasonably smooth, but idling they shudder, and that bothers me. In some cars I get carsick just sitting still because of that shudder. (I'm very sensitive to motion-sickness.)

It is wonderful, and relaxing, that the Prius does not do that. Stopped at a light, it is stopped!

[efusco]

Once I left the lights on in my old Civic, and after getting a jump, I let it run for a couple of hours at idle to re-charge. It burned very little gas. I don't believe it consumed a measurable amount while stopped at traffic lights.

That said, what I love about the auto shut-off in the Prius is the total absense of that idle shudder that other cars have. When the engine is running at normal speed most cars are reasonably smooth, but idling they shudder, and that bothers me. In some cars I get carsick just sitting still because of that shudder. (I'm very sensitive to motion-sickness.)

It is wonderful, and relaxing, that the Prius does not do that. Stopped at a light, it is stopped!

I think your point is probably accurate in that the amount of gas consumed by a single vehicle is small, but when you have a couple hundred thousand or several million cars idleing in traffic every day twice a day the amount of gas consummed in aggregate and, worse, the amount of pollutants emitted is significant. Imagine if every car shut down the ICE in traffic and at stops the impact that could/would make!

[delrey]

6)The size has been more than adequate, but I think that's going to change in the next 16 days when my 3rd kid requiring a rear car seat arrives. With the current seats it's impossible to get all 3 across the back seat. I'm going to change my (almost) 5 year olds to booster seats (hopefully with backs), but I'm not even 100% sure everything will fit then. Welcome any suggestions here!!

Early congrats on little one #3 :-)

As to the booster switch, we've been pretty happy with the Britax Starriser Comfy. The width of the base is adjustable, so that might make the fit easier & it's not bulky at all. When your older kids get a little bigger you can take the back off and just let them use the base for additional height.

I think the headrests can be turned around if they interfere at the height your kids need the booster headrests.

Finally, buy somewhere that will let you try the fit out before buying (or at least will refund 100% if you try them right after and they don't fit).

[efusco]

[quote]

As to the booster switch, we've been pretty happy with the Britax Starriser Comfy. The width of the base is adjustable, so that might make the fit easier & it's not bulky at all. When your older kids get a little bigger you can take the back off and just let them use the base for additional height.

I think the headrests can be turned around if they interfere at the height your kids need the booster headrests.

Finally, buy somewhere that will let you try the fit out before buying (or at least will refund 100% if you try them right after and they don't fit).

I googled that and it sure seems to be a crowd pleaser, despite the price! I like the idea of the adjustable width. I'll see of our Toys-R-Us has it in stock. It seems to be a LOT cheaper online (~$90) compared to the $120 retail price.
--evan