I'm Wanting a 2009 Prius but have a few questions - Time Sensitive

[nubirdman]

I'm a potential Prius owner... My 98 Olds took a crap and I have until March 11th to get it off the road (court order - inspection).

I'm looking at the 09 Prius, package #2 I believe.

I have many questions that I can't find specific answers and I want to match it agains the dealer that was trying to sell me a Kia or Mazda (even though I asked for a Prius!).

1) My daily commute is approx 20 miles from the Suburbs of Buffalo into the city. Half of my drive is highway driving with 55mph speed limit, the other half is of the 30-40mph variety. Does this sound like a trek worth of a Prius? I do this approx 5 days per week.

2) I make monthly highway trips to the Rochester/Geneseo area (approx 85 miles) 50ish on highway, 35ish on residential roads. This dealer tried to tell me that on the highway, a Prius is no better than a Mazda mileage-wise. Any truth to this?

3) Lastly, I live in Buffalo. Yes, let the "Canada" and "loveable loser" jokes fly! haha. But seriously, I know the mileage has to be affected by the cold? How badly? Any tips on keeping the Prius running well in the Winter?

Thanks a ton! I would probably do more hunting, but my meeting with the dealer is tomorrow morning! I'd like to have the proper ammo to shoot down the POS Kia's he's trying to hurl at me! (It's one of those multi-brand dealership malls)

[EZW1]

Guess I'm the first to post a reply... so I'll take a stab based on my personal experiences with my '09.

1. This is definately worth driving a Prius. Your mileage in a Prius will be double most anything else comperable in size with the exception of a diesel car - but even those have drawbacks the Prius doesn't.
2. Prius highway mileage will be a bit less than surface roads. The reason for this is below 48mph you can get the Pri into pure electric mode, but above those speeds it will run predominantly off the ICE. But don't forget, although your highway mileage will be less than surface roads, you're still getting twice the mileage of a comperable vehicle. My experience with my '09: 55 city, 47 highway.
3. When the temps here are down below 45, my Pri seems to get about 49 city. Above 45 I can get 55 city. I think this is because the colder temps make the ICE run more to keep it warmed up. Many use grill blocking methods to keep the ICE warm longer and therefore better mileage. I don't bother because it only gets down to the 30s here in the winter - and does that for a month or so.

I hope this helps you. Watch for other opinions. Mark my words: if you do buy a Pri, you will not regret it. Search this forum for tons of good information. Have fun!

[nubirdman]

Thanks EZW1, for the record I'm going to be here monitoring this post till about 10:30EST, then I'll be back at about 3:00AM EST. I'm just looking for a general consensus. This guy is a family friend so I can't be much of a jerk to him. He's just primarily at the Mazda/Kia part of the mall so I'm thinking it can be a bonus related thing. I'm going to hit up the Prius first though. Hoping I can keep this post going as a sort of diary that can help others too.

Also, I'm about 6'2 tall. Will that be an issue for me?

[Tideland Prius]

Unless the Mazda gets 47mpg at 70mph, I doubt it's more efficient (and I know it's officially rated at much lower than 47mpg even with the 2.0 litre engine on the Mazda3... which I presume is the Mazda they're trying to sell to you).

I get about 55mpg in the summer and at best 48mpg in a mild winter.. it's usually close to the low 40s in the winter which is still better than other car's summer best.

55mph on the way to work should give the best mileage. It's usually between 55 and 60mpg when I cruise at 80km/h (50mph) on a flat road.

[Bill1]

I can relate. My 1997 Dodge was rapidly dying so after some deliberation between the 2009 Prius, 2010 Prius or a new Honda Insight, I bought the 09 Prius package #2 last month. Based on my limited experience here is my 2 cents worth...

1) My commute is very similar - about 16 miles each way, half city (35-45 mph) and half highway (50-65 mph), 5 days/wk. I drove about 460 miles on my first tank of gas and averaged about 52 mpg, I am not quite through with my second tank and my average is about 54 mpg. So I would say yes, it is absurdly a Prius worthy trek.

2) I have not taken a long highway trip yet, but the dealer is obviously trying to sell you a Mazda or a Kia. If you are only going about 50 mph then the Prius should get much better mpg than the Mazda.

3) I live in Florida so I can not weigh in on this one. From what I have read on this forum, the mileage is lower during cold weather.

Good luck with your decision.

[Bill1]

Just saw your second post. I am between 6'2" and 6'3" tall and have no problem. I did rotate the rear view mirror upside down to move it further out of my vision. You really should drive one. I think you will be sold. You should also get a very good price right now.

[sdtundra]

In the mornings my drive from my house to downtown San Diego is 30 miles of mostly highway and 8 blocks of city streets. On that trip at 65MPH I end with 67MPG roughly not taking into account occasional traffic or stop and go.PS this route is also slightly downhill. Then again, I live in a hilly area of the county but my average for the 17k miles I've owned the car is right around 52.
I drive 65-70 on the highway and sometimes if I drive 55 which I have done a couple nights on an empty road at 1AM with little traffic in 50 degrees my mileage is right around 70 constant.

The dealer tried to sell me a Corolla, but I knew what I wanted and stuck with my gut. Hasn't disappointed me yet. Bought March 14, 2008, currently 17k and change on it. Taken to Arizona, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and couple trips to Los Angeles and Irvine.

For what it's worth, when I lived in Arizona in 2007 when I had my Tundra, a woman hit me which caused my truck to spend 6 days in the body shop. Enterprise gave me a rental Kia Spectra to drive. Holy crap, that thing had barely enough torque to merge, and thats comparing it to my Prius, lets not even get into the Tundra's 320ft lbs.
I know you dont want this, but see if you can rent a Kia Spectra for a day or two and test it on your commute. Out here they're $19.99 a day or so.

[a priori]

I would say your commute is ideal for a Prius. The mix of highway/freeway/city streets is pure Prius material. The biggest MPG penalty in a Prius is the first 5-10 minutes in really cold weather. When your commute is only 5 miles, then you pay that penalty and get MPGs "only" in the 30s/40s during a cold winter.

I live in a climate somewhat like yours, though we get colder winters and hotter summers. Not as much snow, normally.

To help in the winter I use grill blocking. This winter I also added an electric engine block heater (EBH). My normal commute is only 4 miles, but I do a good bit of other long-distance driving. My best tank of gas showed nearly 62 MPG; my worst tank was about 36 MPG (pre EBH). You can see my overall, lifetime MPG number below. Remember, this number isn't arrived at by cherry-picking my best tanks or best travel numbers. This counts all gas use from the first day I owned the car until the present. I've got better than 26,000 miles on the car in just over 18 months, so I think my numbers are pretty "real." Find someone with one of those Kias or Mazdas who has kept a mileage log from day one to find out what to really expect from one of those cars. It will not yield a 50+ MPG number!

On the highway, you'll find that "Prime" mileage will be found at about 45-50 mph, though that is not an acceptable speed on freeways and interstate highways. I just did a run from Chicago to St. Paul and back (February, remember), and my mileage varied from 51 to 56 while on the interstate. I've taken the same trip on U.S. and State Highways (driving 50 - 60 mph) and had mileage in the upper 50s and lower 60s.

Show me any other car made today that gets MPGs like that!

If you want to be mileage king, this is the car.

If you want to spend the least on a new car, then look elsewhere. You can buy a Honda Civic for less money and get very, very good gas mileage. And reliability.

I don't know where the Kia or Mazda will fit in that mix, but I do know that if you are in a spot where you get low mileage in a Prius, you'll get even lower in any other car. But what other high-mileage car gives you the room of the Prius (great head room and leg room front and back), the storage (great hatch and trunk area) or the electronics?

In my humble and biased opinion, it is the best production car made.

[nubirdman]

I'm making the 2009 Prius the first thing I drive tomorrow! I have two weeks to get something done here, and potentially three dealerships to choose from if this one falls through.

I'm hoping on a black 2009, package #2. What do we know about package 2 guys and gals?

[Bill1]

The packages are a personal decision based on your wants, needs and budget. I picked the package 2. The items I really wanted (needed?) were cruise control, smart key, backup camera and stability control which all came with the pkg 2. I have a Garmin Nuvi for nav.