pls advise on buying used Prius

[mywhitenoise]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Highly ImPriused @ Apr 4 2007, 03:23 PM) [snapback]417786[/snapback]</div>

I agree that airbags are a great safety feature and come closer to must-have than VSC. The thing is, airbags will protect you from all kinds of accidents even when another driver is a fault. VSC is primarily going to protect you when you've done something wrong. Anyway to each thier own, but I think the hype about VSC is a little overboard. Nice feature, but not the second coming of seatbelts, airbags, or even ABS in my estimation. And yes I've seen the demonstrations.
[/b]

Agreed, it's a nice feature, but nowhere near as protective as an airbag, or a seatbelt (which I've heard people say were the second most safety feature compared to ).

[Betelgeuse]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Highly ImPriused @ Apr 4 2007, 04:23 PM) [snapback]417786[/snapback]</div>

I agree that airbags are a great safety feature and come closer to must-have than VSC. The thing is, airbags will protect you from all kinds of accidents even when another driver is a fault. VSC is primarily going to protect you when you've done something wrong. Anyway to each thier own, but I think the hype about VSC is a little overboard. Nice feature, but not the second coming of seatbelts, airbags, or even ABS in my estimation. And yes I've seen the demonstrations.
[/b]

My point is that I could take your first statement, replace "VSC" with "airbags" and it would sounds exactly like the type of argument that was made ~10 years ago. In fact, I think I'll do it :

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Fake Person @ 10 years ago)</div>

This is a curious comment. How long did you drive cars that didn't have airbags? Sure, it could save your life but the chances of that coming into play are very very small. I don't doubt that it's a reasonable safetly feature, but to call airbags "absolutely must-have" when 99.9% of the car-driving public did just fine without it for 100+ years seems a little over the top to me.
[/b]

I think that comparing them to seatbelts is a little less honest, if for no other reason than people realized that seatbelts were important much longer ago. And while I agree with your point that airbags protect you even if the other driver is a fault, there are cases where VSC can protect you and airbags can't. For example, airbags (at least front airbags) are less useful if you roll the car, something that VSC can do a lot to help you prevent.

In thinking about it, I think it's hard to quantify how important VSC is (and whether it really is "more" or "as" important than airbags), but evidence seems to show that it does do a lot for preventing some accidents and, in fact, is complementary to airbags in some cases.

P.S. If you have your feature list for each package number memorized, you'll see that my Prius *doesn't* have VSC. :P

[sguilliot]

VSC is very important. The IIHS has done plenty of research into the effects of VSC, and the evidence is pretty compelling. VSC is almost the best safety feature since the seatbelt.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/21/...usiness_2202695

This is just a quick Google search for relevant info. There's lots more out there. The IIHS certainly has the resources and incentive to be authoritative on which safety features work and which do not.

I agree with the OP, in fact my two vehicles are the Rav4 and Prius in part due to the availability of VSC at a reasonable price.

I was rear-ended in my Acura Legend last week (totalled) and my airbags did not deploy. Should I concluded that airbags are unnecessary? We need to consider safety in total, not situation by situation.

[Highly ImPriused]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(2bits @ Apr 4 2007, 08:20 PM) [snapback]417884[/snapback]</div>

VSC is very important. The IIHS has done plenty of research into the effects of VSC, and the evidence is pretty compelling. VSC is almost the best safety feature since the seatbelt.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/21/...usiness_2202695

This is just a quick Google search for relevant info. There's lots more out there. The IIHS certainly has the resources and incentive to be authoritative on which safety features work and which do not.

I agree with the OP, in fact my two vehicles are the Rav4 and Prius in part due to the availability of VSC at a reasonable price.

I was rear-ended in my Acura Legend last week (totalled) and my airbags did not deploy. Should I concluded that airbags are unnecessary? We need to consider safety in total, not situation by situation.
[/b]

I never said VSC wasn't important (I believe it is in some situations) just that I don't see it as being "absolutely must-have." And air bags aren't meant to deploy when you are rear-ended. Since the force in such an accident is from the rear, you are driven backward (or rather the car is pushed forward at a greater rate than you are) so there is no risk of you hitting the dash unless your car hits something in front of it (in which the air bags would deploy if it was forcefull enough).

[JimN]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Highly ImPriused @ Apr 4 2007, 09:14 PM) [snapback]417949[/snapback]</div>

I never said VSC wasn't important (I believe it is in some situations) just that I don't see it as being "absolutely must-have." And air bags aren't meant to deploy when you are rear-ended. Since the force in such an accident is from the rear, you are driven backward (or rather the car is pushed forward at a greater rate than you are) so there is no risk of you hitting the dash unless your car hits something in front of it (in which the air bags would deploy if it was forcefull enough).
[/b]

I believe airbags are designed to deploy only when the vehicle hits a stationary object. My Prius does not have VSC. I have airbags in the Intrigue only because I didn't have a choice. I can say the same thing about the Prius because in NJ the base model was not offered. As the quality of driver declines technology becomes more important to keep the occupants intact. Why not increase your own safety margin by wearing a helmet, HANS device, or fire retardant suit?

[alief]

Oh no, I was hoping for some advice but I definitely didn't mean to set off an argument. Peace all.
Thanks to everyone for the input about safety features. I'm weighing it all.

What about GEOGRAPHY? Anyone found certain regions where the resale value is softer - thus better deals to be found?

Homer - what a quick response, I'll pm you for sure. Sounds like you're not moving to SF for a few months which is good because I'm not ready to buy right now today.
Mywhitenoise - you got a 2005 pkg 6 for $17k - sounds like you did really well. Did you get it from a dealer or thru a private sale?

[mywhitenoise]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(alief @ Apr 5 2007, 01:31 AM) [snapback]418082[/snapback]</div>

Oh no, I was hoping for some advice but I definitely didn't mean to set off an argument. Peace all.
Thanks to everyone for the input about safety features. I'm weighing it all.

What about GEOGRAPHY? Anyone found certain regions where the resale value is softer - thus better deals to be found?

Homer - what a quick response, I'll pm you for sure. Sounds like you're not moving to SF for a few months which is good because I'm not ready to buy right now today.
Mywhitenoise - you got a 2005 pkg 6 for $17k - sounds like you did really well. Did you get it from a dealer or thru a private sale?
[/b]

Through a dealer, Roseville Infinity.
There's another 2004 for a little less than $18,000 on sac bee classifieds. There was also a Honda Insight for $12,000.
Check eBay too, I've seen some good deals in the Arizona area.