Potential Buyer with real world Questions

[Antnee20x]

I have debated buying a Prius for quite some time. There are many things I like about the car and some things I worry about. I am hoping to get a lot of real world advice before visiting a dealer very soon.

1. What is real world gas mileage? I live on Long Island (NY) and will be commuting daily with it. My commute will be 19 miles, 16 highway where I can use the HOV lane. Around town driving will probably be frequent (main street type driving.
2. For you owners out there, is there anything you wish you would have gotten in terms of options or models and maybe you are kicking yourself about?
3. Storage wise, how are you finding it? Have you been on a decent trip with luggage (2 adults) and possibly a baby (we'll see soon)
4. I have heard of horror stories (nothing first hand) about the batteries - anything to speak of?
5. Leasing at 12K/15K year - anybody have an idea of what the going rate is?

Please feel free to add anything you may feel is relevant. I am in need of a car SOON as mine is falling apart and b-a-d!

Thanks in advance!

[justlurkin]

Long Island here too.

I own an '07, and to answer your questions:

1. I get 42MPG in the winter, 50MPG in the summer. A gen-3 Prius should do better than my Gen-2.

2. Back when I bought mine, I did not have a smart phone. Now that I got an iPhone, I wished I had gotten the package with the Bluetooth.

3. The Prius is darn roomy for its size. More legroom in the back than a Camry. For your 2 adults, 1 baby seat in the back, you can fold down half the back seat for more luggage space. Versatility of a hatchback-- Gotta love it.

4. All the crap you hear about the prius battery is untrue. In New York, the battery warranty is 10 years / 150,000 miles. Need I say more?

5. I paid cash for mine so I'll defer to someone else who can tell you more about financing. (I don't believe in financing a car.)

See you on the LIE HOV lanes, and good luck!

[jestoy7]

What is real world gas mileage? I live on Long Island (NY) and will be commuting daily with it. My commute will be 19 miles, 16 highway where I can use the HOV lane. Around town driving will probably be frequent (main street type driving.

I have 1400 miles on the car right now and my global average is 51.5 mpg. Of those 1400 miles 70% of them are highway. 16 miles of highway on your commute can either be good or bad depending on: speed, braking and traffic. Good if you maintain a speed below 60 at a consistent pace. Bad if you accelerate to 70 to then come up to traffic and brake down to slow speeds. Around town is the best, I kill my mpg scores when it is driving on the weekends and I can maintain around 40-45 mph. This is what has helped my average. ***Note, I do not hypermile. I like to maximize my mpg, but it is not my top priority when I drive.***

For you owners out there, is there anything you wish you would have gotten in terms of options or models and maybe you are kicking yourself about?

I love the III because it is a good compromise of options and cost. The main feature I wanted was the 17's but those are on the V. But this is more of a personal preference. Everyone will argue why they chose what they did. Your best bet is to figure out your budget and see which one fits the best.

Storage wise, how are you finding it? Have you been on a decent trip with luggage (2 adults) and possibly a baby (we'll see soon)

Storage is great and if you have a baby you can fold down half of the seat and still have the other part for your baby seat. Interior space was a big seller as I'm a tall guy at 6'3 and I could still sit behind myself with enough leg room.

I have heard of horror stories (nothing first hand) about the batteries - anything to speak of?

I don't have first hand knowledge since this is my first Prius, but if 9 years later my battery does go (8 year warranty on it) and I have to pay $3k for it, I'll be delighted to do so. The car would have been paid off for years and would have saved me money for those 9 years not just in gas but how low maintenance it is.

Leasing at 12K/15K year - anybody have an idea of what the going rate is?

We bought so I can't comment on that.

[jchilton]

1. I have a 5-mile commute, which should yield the worst gas mileage, and I still get 48 mpg (for the past 2000 miles).

2. Nope. I'm pretty happy with mine. I wouldn't have minded waiting for the 2010s, but it was too hard to turn down 0% APR.

3. It's got a surprising large amount of cargo room. More, it seems, than my Camry. And very convenient for hauling large objects. Two adults, a baby, and a decent amount of luggage would be no problem.

4. I haven't heard any battery horror stories, and they've got a pretty decent warranty on them.

5. Leasing is for chumps. Don't do it. Purchasing the car and keeping up with the standard preventive maintenance to extend its useful life is the way to go.

[a priori]

Originally Posted by Antnee20x

1. What is real world gas mileage? I live on Long Island (NY) and will be commuting daily with it. My commute will be 19 miles, 16 highway where I can use the HOV lane. Around town driving will probably be frequent (main street type driving.

Try searching on this site -- even for "real world gas mileage" and you'll find several threads where this is discussed. The best part of your question is that you've provided real specifics. Chances are you'll have a Long Islander answer you with numbers you'll be able to trust.

You can see in my signature below what my fuel economy number look like. I have a much shorter commute than yours, and when that is all I drive, my numbers are lower. Today, I drove further, because I ran two errands on the way to work. I drove about 11 miles, and my FE was nearly 60MPG. I didn't use A/C (beautiful morning!).

MY FE for the 2010 is a bit skewed by its higher than normal ratio of highway to city miles. It also is higher than I would expect for a 12-month number, because I've only owned it from May 25 through today, and summer mileage is MUCH better than winter mileage in northern Illinois! Further: I have a Prius V with the 17" wheels, and that is supposed to be lowering my FE. If that is the case, then I expect I would be getting better than 60MPG were I driving a car with the 15" wheels.

Also remember: It appears the computer-generated numbers (and that is what I report below) are about 5% higher than what is calculated by using the standard method of dividing odometer miles by gallons of gas purchased. In other words, the 57.1MPG I currently report as my combined number is showing as 54.4MPG when using the standard calculated method. (My use of the computer numbers stems from my earlier Gen2 when the bladder caused all sorts of grief with calculating MPGs based on fuel purchases.)

Originally Posted by Antnee20x

2. For you owners out there, is there anything you wish you would have gotten in terms of options or models and maybe you are kicking yourself about?

I'd love to have the solar roof package, but I still would prefer to have the AT package I purchased. I really like the look, handling, and steadier feel of the larger, wider tires, so I'm very glad to have done with the Prius V. Still, you could get much of the same feel by purchasing your own 17" wheels aftermarket. If you go that way, you probably would do just as well to buy 16" wheels and get wider tires (they'll cost less than the real low profile tires you need with a 17" wheel on the Prius).

Originally Posted by Antnee20x

3. Storage wise, how are you finding it? Have you been on a decent trip with luggage (2 adults) and possibly a baby (we'll see soon)

I've taken our family of 4 (2 adults and childred aged 12 and 10) on a 900+ mile round trip with plenty of luggage. (See my thread: This One Really Pushed the Prius – A Four-Day Family Getaway!) Storage space is superb in this car. It cannot be matched by any other car in its class.

Originally Posted by Antnee20x

4. I have heard of horror stories (nothing first hand) about the batteries - anything to speak of?

I've heard of no horror stories. I've heard rumors about wildly outrageous replacement prices, but otherwise I've heard mainly that only a handful of batteries have failed and have required replacement. I believe I heard of only one battery failure just after the 100,000 mile warranty, but I don't know this for a fact.

Originally Posted by Antnee20x

5. Leasing at 12K/15K year - anybody have an idea of what the going rate is?

Sorry, but I have no idea.

Originally Posted by Antnee20x

Please feel free to add anything you may feel is relevant. I am in need of a car SOON as mine is falling apart and b-a-d!

Cash for Clunkers?

[FBear]

First of all I drive a 2005 Gen II I've owned it since Oct 2004 and it now has roughly 63k miles on it.

1.I would say that I average around 47 miles per gallon. Getting better gas mileage in the spring and fall around 52 mpg, when the A/C and Heat are not on and 45 mpg winter and summer.

2. There are so many new options on the Gen III that I wouldn't know where to start but the addition of the tilt/telescoping steering and height adjustment on the seat is great. Just don't overdue it on options unless you plan to keep the car until it's ready for the junk heap because otherwise all trade-ins are usually based on the base price of the the car plus some small increase for some of the options.

3. The Gen III is bigger than the Gen II and I have no problem with space we do craft fairs and the entire booth including four 6.5' poles fits inside the car.

4. No horror stories about the battery. Just like anything else you abuse it something will go wrong. Don't run the car out of gas too many times. Don't forget to turn off the headlights over night. Things will be fine.

5. Leasing is the most expensive way to own a car if it is not deductible for business. Leasing means you have to keep full insurance coverage on the vehicle the entire time you lease it and the buyouts are a large number. Leasing is enticing because they weigh the lease to keep the monthly lease payments low but that makes the buyout at the end high. You are better off buying the car and running it until it drops.

Good luck, I love the car and will get another one when this one dies, which should not be for quite sometime.

[TKY]

Hi Antnee20x,
This is my first Hybrid. I have a Prius iV Blue Ribbon Metallic, heated leather seats, with Solar Roof, Moonroof, Nav, upgraded audio including XM. I've had my car for about three weeks. My routine trips include runs into town, which are about 5 miles (one-way), the first half of which is a 60 MPH two lane state highway, and once a week I travel about 12 miles (one-way) go class. I'm planning an extended road trip in late September-early October.

I've experimented with XM and I don't care for it. With AM, FM, CD, Aux jack, and streaming my Ipod, XM seems like over-kill. I will not subscribe when the 90 day trial ends, in fact it's likely I will barely listen to it during the trial period. I wish they hadn't bundled it in the upgraded audio package.

I'll give you my limited experience:
1. What is real world gas mileage? My on-board computer calculated mileage is 54.6. When I'm on level ground, surface streets I have been very mileage conscientious. I'm not trying to be hyper-miler driver, just learning to drive the Prius.

2. For you owners out there, is there anything you wish you would have gotten in terms of options or models and maybe you are kicking yourself about? I purchased the IV because of the leather seats and Solar Roof. I did my research, I test drove three Prius' and I'm very happy with my choice. There are no options I wish I had gotten. It might be a neat effect to have the lighted logo door sills, but I'm sure the novelty would wear off and I'm glad they were not already on the car.

3. Storage wise, how are you finding it? Have you been on a decent trip with luggage (2 adults) and possibly a baby (we'll see soon). We are just two adults and I have loaded packs, picnic supplies, and folding chairs with no problems. My real test happens when we pack for our September trip.

4. I have heard of horror stories (nothing first hand) about the batteries - anything to speak of? I have not heard any horror stories about the batteries. This was a concern to me so I did a bit of research about battery problems as I researched which car to buy (Prius, Insight, Fusion Hybrid, Civiv Hybrid). The most significant problem I've seen has to do with the transaxel (I think that's what it's called), but the Prius appears to be relatively trouble free and I'm wondering if the extended warranty is really worthwhile or an unnecessary expense.

The interesting thing is I just checked the Toyota website and the Solar roof package doesn't list as available under any model. I think it was previously listed as an optional package for Prius III and Prius IV.

Good luck. --TK

[krousdb]

Originally Posted by Antnee20x

I have heard of horror stories (nothing first hand) about the batteries - anything to speak of?

I've heard stories about horror stories, but never the horror stories themselves. Can you give an example of the stories that you have heard?

By the way, a used battery from a wrecked vehicle goes for $400-$600 on ebay. If mine ever goes, thats how I will replace mine. 177k miles so far. Battery is still playing nice.

[Antnee20x]

What does "hyper-miles" mean?

THANK YOU so much for all the awesome replies thus far. There is nothing better then hearing real people tell real stories when trying to decide on cars. The more education I have, the better off I will be in the long run. I enjoyed reading every single 1 this far and hope for more.

Somebody asked what stories I heard...

Hoopla. None ever mentioned the warranty on them. But for amusement, the last story I heard was that the batteries run about $8,000 and last only a few years. They go without warning and leave you stranded and Toyota wants is hiding information that they are faulty designs.

[FBear]

As far as the traction battery (that's the big one) on the Gen II they are made by Panasonic or Hitachi and can be gotten on Ebay for about $400.00 to 800.00, plus installation.