My surprises afer 2 months owning a Prius

Overall it's better than I anticipated. What's better is...
1) I calculated that the car will actually pay for itself in 7 years in petrol savings.
2) I'm big, 6' 2", and it's about the roomiest small car I've driven plus comfort and the fun of all the gizmos most of which I can't figure out.
3) My wife is happy, she's Japanese and the look of triumph on her face when she's in the car makes me the wonder if she's thinking that they won the war.
4) I'm using Toyota service instead of the criminals down the road and I suspect that with all the babying they give the car it may last a long time.
What's worse is
I think global warming is hooey and since I got the car I've had my back patted by a large percentage of the population of Sydney congratulating me on my carbon footprint.

Congrats and thanks for sharing your observations (and opinions!).

The great thing is that regardless of whether global warming is hooey, everybody wins with your purchase. You enjoy the car. You get better mileage, use less gas and spend less money. AND, everyone who wants you to have a smaller carbon footprint is happy!

Regardless of the cause/effect of global warming, is anyone going to argue with energy conservation and the lowering of pollution? I hope not!

You make a good point: the Prius is a wonderful car, even without its low carbon footprint and fantastic mileage. When we bought ours, I though I was going to have to compromise to get great mileage. Now I would be happy with my Prius even if it only got good mileage, instead of great mileage. It's a fabulous car.

Tom

I'm sorry for the stereotype, but this line makes me picture your wife behind the wheel of your Prius, wearing a white head scarf emblazoned with the rising sun, like a Japanese pilot from a WWII movie. I'm staying out of her way in traffic.

Tom

You're actually very close. That's exactly how she drives, probably looking for a Korean manufactured car for some kamikaze glory. The mileage difference between us is worthy of a new Priuschat thread. Also worthy of a new thread is husband/wife communication on the subject of the family car. My beloved would rather be hit by a truck than part with a dollar yet she drives that car like she's coming out of a pitstop and views the concept of the gentle start as anti-Japanese.

Gas must be very expensive where you are, or you are comparing your savings between a Prius and a military tank. Or... maybe you are planning on driving 100K miles/year.

Fuel savings (at least for me) are estimated to be about 900.00 a year over a comparable non-hybrid choice, such as a Civic or Corolla. It might take me more than 7 years to have the Prius pay for itself in fuel savings alone. Still, 900.00 a year is 75.00 a month. That is significant to me (I am poor).

But... you save on more than just petrol. Consumer Reports magazine says with all things considered (fuel use, maintenance costs, depreciation, insurance, etc.), the Prius saves you enough to pay for the extra cost of the Hybrid system in ONE year, when compared to a similar non-hybrid car.

I thought that was interesting.

Mike

the op may be referring to his fuel savings over his former car. i know if my mom gets rid of her '03 saturn vue in favor of a prius, she'll pay it off in fuel savings in roughly 6 years.

its great that you have realized AFTER the fact, what we have as well.

i did buy the car to make a smaller carbon footprint and for the techno geek factor... but i have realized that this car is simply a great choice for personal transportation as well.

as for the question, if i had to do it all over again, would i?

well the answer is,

been there, done that!!

I know its fiction but I'd *like* to believe that everything is opposite south of the equator, like tornadoes and toilet flushes spinning counter-clockwise.
But, alas, for us on the top half of the earth, global climate change is real.

We do 30,000k a year. In the Prius that's $2400 Australian dollars in petrol. In the other car it's $7,200 per year. Over 7 years the difference in spending is about $34,000.

Well I changed from a 2.0 deisel turbo Avensis to a Prius.. savings per month are about £70 in fuel. And as an IT tech I LOVE IT!

Since I had a good price for the Prius (11k UK pounds) that works out a payback of just over 2 years.