Prius Myths and their Rebuttals

My Prius C saves me around $130 a month compared to my Fit on gas. So even after the supposed extra cost for a hybrid I'm saving money immediately, not just after 60,000 miles or some point down the road. By my estimates it will save me $9,000 over 5 years, much more than I would have saved on a cheaper car. Plus, the features are better than a $16,000 car.

Hi secondspassed--

I'm in full agreement that owning a Prius will save more $ in the long run over a decent economy car (Fit, Yaris, insert your base model here). If it didn't make long term sense then I wouldn't have bought a Prius in the first place, as much as I love driving one around - if it doesn't make economic sense, I simply can't afford to do it.

I guess I'm just limited by being really cheap - I don't place much of a premium on features?

Hi Corwyn--

I'm currently batting 1.000 with Toyota's. I crunched the numbers on my old vehicle (an Echo) which got my butt through college. After fuel, maintenance and insurance it cost me something like 14.5 cents per mile - or about 1/4 of what it costs an average motorist. After five years of driving it, I sold it for only $700 less than what I paid for - and by then, it had a clutch that was misbehaving. The Toyota logo is all the warranty I need to know I'm getting a good value

I bought my Prius used and for the lowest price I have seen with exception of salvage titled ones on Craigslist. My wife worried a lot about me riding my bicycle to work on a 55 mph rode that lacked a shoulder for a couple of miles. I have already had someone tell me I won't make my money back. I responded are you going to make your money back on your Chevy Duramax? I bought my Prius because it is a quality car and it gets better gas mileage than most vehicles on the road.

It's pretty clear that Art Spinella is a bald-faced liar. In 2007 he tried to justify his claim that Prius has a lifetime of only 100,000 miles:
http://cnwmr.com/nss-folder/automotiveenergy/Why 1001000 Miles for Prius.pdf

"The 100,000 mile life expectancy for Prius is time as well as distance sensitive. The historical data (WHAT DATA, ART? FROM WHERE?) shows early Prius models were driven an average of only 6,700 miles per year (rounded). At that rate, the vehicle would require 15 years to reach 100,000 miles. It was our determination that is highly unlikely the '05 or '06 Prius models would still be in active service let alone serviceable 15 years from today."

He then goes on with even bigger lies:
"The latest data (WHAT DATA, ART? FROM WHO?) shows Prius owners are driving more than early Prius owners and the use of the vehicle is becoming a primary means of transportation in a household rather than a novelty. But the average annual mileage, outside of certain southern-tier states, remains barely above 7,000 per year."

See how his conclusions are based on his magic, secret data? The lies grow:
"surveys of Prius owners by us and other research companies (WHERE'S THE DATA?) show barely 16,000 miles average life for original-equipment tires compared to 43,000 for Toyota Corolla."

Then comes the whopper lie:
"As for Hummer, much of the design, development and manufacturing energy costs are spread across more than just this single model.
In addition, the platform, power train and other mechanical components are shared with a variety of other GM products and have a significantly longer post-disposal life in the replacement market. (WHERE'S THE DATA?)"

So now he wants us to believe three whopping fat lies: That more Hummers are built than Prius (he supplies no data), that Hummer components are used in other GM products in higher volume than Prius (he supplies no data), and that Hummer components are somehow more recyclable or reusable than Prius components and... He again supplies no data.

The lack of data here isn't mere quibbling -- in each case, he's making outrageous claims which counter the data we know: Prius vastly out-sells Hummer, they have vastly higher lifetime mileage, Prius components are cheaper and far easier to come by than Hummer parts, Prius stock tires last longer than 16,000 miles... and he never once says where he got this information.

He is simply a liar.

"I heard that..." isn't fact. The fact is that the NiMh battery used in Prius is the most recyclable, environmentally-friendly type of battery made today.

Whenever someone says that something isn't environmentally-friendly, it's true, but only to the extent that any type of manufactured product has some environmental impact. But you can't look at a single component of an automobile and claim that, since it has some type of impact on the environment, the car is environmentally-unfriendly.

What if you had a friend who wanted to buy a bike to commute to work, but didn't because of the environmental effects of the steel and rubber production involved, and the environmental impact of disposing of the tires... So that friend buys a Hummer instead?

Prius Success Undermines Attacks On Electric Vehicles | ThinkProgress

Ha ha! So there, naysayers.

I am reminded what I was told by a manger years ago when the company we worked for was switching to a computer system for point of sale. He said that all technology has some sort of pollution. Back then no one really understood the pollution of the metals in computers. Add to that the volume of paper that the "paperless society" that computers was to give us....

I can't count the number of reams of paper that we go through each week. Yes, paper is recyclable - but there is hidden costs in getting to be recycled. In the end what we can hope for is that the technology we use can be recycled in some way to limit its footprint for the future.

Hi Rebound--

I just simply don't understand why anyone would buy a Hummer in the first place. OK, maybe an H1 if you were into some serious offroading, since it was more or less a carbon copy of the military Humvee (they shared the same production line; civilian models went to another building to get painted). Although a Wrangler could probably accomplish the same job for a fraction of the cost and far better fuel economy.

The H2 is basically an oversized Chevy Tahoe. The 6.0 engine in the H2 produced the princely sum of 300 horsepower - given that the H2 weighs slightly more then Jupiter, it's performance wasn't exactly that noteworthy. I seriously wonder how GM managed to get such a small amount of horsepower from a six-liter V8?

I read that people who live in Barrow, Alaska think the H1 is the perfect vehicle for their community. I don't think it's very useful anywhere else. I lived in mountainous country before, and I'd be terrified to drive a vehicle that wide on those treacherous, cliff-side dirt roads. I'd MUCH rather drive a Prius on those roads, although I'd prefer something with a little more ground clearance to avoid bottoming out.

I taught for years, and the only time I ever swore in class was when a kid asked me "Would you buy a little Hummer?"

Without thinking I shot back "Only if I wanted people to think I couldn't afford to be as big an a**hole as I wanted to be."

I too frequently observe vehicles idling for extended periods of time. One bizarre explanation was "I don't want to wear out the starter," "it has to warm up," etc. When I comment my vehicle has no starter and does not normally idle I get looks of disbelief. People feel they must idle to support their iPhone, heater, radio, etc.

I bought my Prius in 2006 and received a $3,500.00 tax credit. I get 51 mpg average (my wife gets 54 mpg)
I have 177,000 miles with little repair. I stored the Prius and the hybrid battery went dead. I called a company and they came to the house, replaced the battery ($2,000.00) and I haven't had a problem since. (Toyota wanted $4,000.00) I plan on getting 300,000 miles on the vehicle. It pays for itself. However, I agree with the writer
that said you must drive a Prius hard. 25,000 miles per year or more. I will buy another one.

Hi...

Got my Prius in 2007. Mostly because a friend of mine had one and I liked it. Gas mileage a plus, of course. It has long since been paid for and has performed superbly. I best remember how nice it was at the time to pull in for a 'fill up', get change back for a $20 bill, then go drive another 350 miles or so.

Nowadays, with my health insurance up over 125%, more taxes and with cost of living significantly more than it was in 2007 I REALLY appreciate the amount I continue to spend for gas (albeit closer to $30 than the $20 I spent in 2007) as compared to what I would have been paying now for a 'fill up' had I purchased a cheaper 'ride' in 2007.

Modern new cars DO tend to last longer than those delivered years ago. If one can not afford to buy a new car every couple of years (for whatever reason), then paying a premium for a Prius (with unique technology that seems to have withstood the test of time) may well be the best choice in the long run in terms of operating cost.

(BTW: Got 4 years left on the traction battery warranty, and I really don't expect that it will fail the day after the warranty expires. By then, I expect the cost of traction battery replacement (which has already dropped significantly since 2007) should be much more affordable.

Gary...