Looking to get a Prius - any tips

With the price of gas in the UK, a Prius makes a lot of sense.

 

Are there other benefits for you like no congestion tax and no road tax?
What is the alternative to buying a Prius? Do you own a perfectly good car already?
Do you put any value on being a good global citizen?
What is the price of petrol where you live/work?

Most important, what do you think is the answer?

 

...and there are some Prii owners that get over 100 MPG. I think a lot depends on one's driving methodology. I now have well over 3000 miles on my Prius, and have never gotten below 51 MPG on my daily, 60 mile round-trip comute to/from work...and during the Summer months, routinely got over 60 MPG.

But high mileage diesel vehicles are far from being clean....and in some cases, not that safe.

Lusting for Europe's Illegal 60-MPG Cars | Hybrid Cars

 

It depends on what you want. The Gen3 Prius is very popular so unless you can bag an ex demonstrator, you are in for a wait. This could be until March/April but you need to ask your dealer to see what stock is in the supply pipeline. With a bit of flexibility (model, colour, options), you could reduce that to Jan/Feb. It may also pay to shop around because many dealers have sold their quota and can't sell any more until Q2/2010 so to get one sooner, you need to find a dealer with some quota left.

 

It has been my experience in life, that usually things in short supply and/ or high demand are worth waiting for....and at the very least, should you not enjoy the Prius, will benefit from a it's high re-sale value.

 

You might think about waiting for the Plug In. For you short commute I would think that would be ideal.

 

Yes, many of us have been waiting, and waiting for the plug-in version. It still will be a hybrid, that will also have the gasoline engine...simply because the all electric version(s) don't have either the range, or the top speed one can find with a gasoline powered vehicle. Except for the niche market, you are not likely to see electric ONLY vehicles for quite some time.

I finally stopped waiting for three reasons:

(1) The plug-in, when it finally is released, is based on the Lithium battery. There have been several issues with this battery (for use in hybrid vehicles), which has resulted in the delay of the plug-in release.

(2) At least in the US, the plug-in hybrid from Toyota - for the average customer - will not go on sale for 1.5 - 2 more years. A small numer (I think 200) are currently undergoing testing in the US, and some in Europe/Japan. Until there is a complete shake-out of this new product, it's not going to be released.

(3) Cost. When it does hit the markets, it will be more expensive than the current Prius. There's absolutley no question about this. The Lithium battery (alone) is twice the cost of the current battery. When finally released, I expect the asking price will be $4K-$7K more than a comperably equiped 2010 Prius.

 

I've decided to put off all major decisions until after December 2012, just incase the Mayans were correct.

Also since I live in the US, I'm contemplating getting a mid 70's GMC product so that I can fully take advantage of the next Cash for Clunkers. Why should I buy an older economical car and get screwed out of the free money?

Since you don't live in the US, and if you have no allegiance to the Mayans, I'd consult a Magic 8 Ball. Those things are amazing. You can't go wrong with "Picture Unclear Try Again".

 

Hire a Prius for a weekend and go for a long drive. Then hire a mini for a weekend and go for a long drive.

That was what made me choose the Prius. Its sort of like a Tardis with the amount of room inside comapred with the outside dimensions.

The fuel economy and all the gadgets are icing on the cake.

David

 

Yeah the people here on PriusChat are a special bunch I tells ya!

 

Hate to say it, and I love my Prius in the US, but in UK my choice would be simple. If either I lived in London and commuted significantly within the London congestion tax area, or if I were a dedicated aficionado of automatic, I'd buy a Prius. Otherwise I'd buy a diesel and enjoy the pleasures of manual shift -- a feature that's impossible with the gearless Prius.

 

You have to calculate your total cost of fuel savings vs. a small engine car like the Corolla. With only 3 years of driving, I don' think your expenditure on the lease cost is justified. Unless your major intention is to protect the mother earth from the damaging CO gas. May be look into the Second Gen Prius which is cheaper to lease, still friendly to the environment, gas saving too. Good luck in finding it though.