Thinking of buying a Prius: Driving School

Hi,

So here we go............. I currently drive a 2007 versa sl. Very happy with it. Gas...... about 10 L per 100 km. And I teach out of a 2006 Tacoma quad cab 4x4 truck..don't ask..lol

I am scared of the batteries. According to the dealer, she said that they have never had to replace the batteries. Is that true? Should I be worried?

Longivety of the car. Yes it's a Toyota but with the whole "Hybrid", it scares me. I am looking for a car to get me about 300 000 kms or more.
THEDRIVINGSCHOOL. CA
IS IT WORTH IT????????

Don't be scared of the batteries. I believe the dealer. The earlier generation (2001-2003) has had a small handful of battery issues, but Toyota redesigned the battery for the current model, for which failures are extremely rare. In fact, Toyota apparently is confident enough in the current battery that it is the only major component of the hybrid system undergoing no redesign for the 2010 model.

(And don't think Toyota redesigned the other components for 2010 because of reliability issues. They updated the engine, electric motors, and inverters to improve both performance and fuel economy.)

The car is very reliable. Check out Consumer Reports or TrueDelta for objective assessments.

You are more likely to have problems with the transmission on an ordinary car. I would think twice about buying a car with a conventional automatic transmission. Those things are expensive when they fail.

At the risk of being silly, you can see my point. The Prius trades off mechanical complexity for electronics, software, and a battery. Years of taxi use have shown that Toyota did it right. The Prius is one of the most reliable cars on the road.

Stop worrying about the battery.

Tom

Yes,it is worth it.....enjoy!!

Yes, Yes.

Take a look at http://priuschat.com/forums/care-ma...94-what-your-most-expensive-prius-repair.html

It's a list of the most expensive problems that people have actually experienced with their Prius. Seems like the weakest point is the inverter coolant pump. Tires and suspension components get mentioned. The traction battery isn't even mentioned.

I think the most expected problem is the 12V battery - it is unusually expensive, and generally shows up as all sorts of weird computer problems. Just figure you're going to replace it at least every 5 years, and maybe as soon as 3 years.

As for the most unusual problem, I heard about the brake rotors rusting due to lack of use. Seems if you live in a wet climate, and drive in a very conservative manner, then the regenerative braking does so much of the braking work that the brake rotors can accumulate rust. The solution is to do several hard stops to actually scrape the rust off the brakes.

I recently saw a Prius being used by a Driver Training school here in the Sac area. Excellent application for the car, IMO.

Religiously....... I get 10-11 l per 100kms and that is a combination of city and hwy!
I have a 10 sec no iddling rule........ turn off the car if it's going to idle more then 10 secs! You would be surprised how students are on top of that!!

It's a proven point that the battery is not a Prius issue. What is a proven fact is that there is a vast booming business in transmission repairs by the number of repair shops lining the roads. It's also interesting that Toyota makes the battery one of the items with the longest warranty in the vehicle.

When it comes to using the Prius as a vehicle to learn to drive with, here are my two experiences:
1) No way to easily stop the vehicle from the passenger seat. More than a couple of times, the learning driver did not realize the car was "on" and let their foot off the brake while getting out of the car.
2) If they learn on a Prius, the transition to a conventional car can be hard.

Hello,

If it is Toyota, then you can rely on it, even if it is a hybrid car, for performance as well as for the durability .


Regards,
sarah_9

I think the students will prevent this problem

Prius (at least true for my '04 G2) bumpers take very little abuse to end up with a US $400 repair bill.

Prius for a driving school sounds like a super idea otherwise, similar to taxi use. Just be sure to change coolant and oil fluids often.