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New Prius owner says hello from Minnesota.

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by samaruf, May 11, 2011.

  1. samaruf

    samaruf New Member

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    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
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    II
    Hello fellow Prius owners,
    today I went to our local Honda dealership hoping to lease a Honda Insight and instead ended up purchasing a 2008 Prius that was sitting in the used car lot. I shelled out $18K for the car which had been driven by single owner for 37,000 miles. Not sure if it's a deal or not, but it was the best price I found in the Twin Cities area for this model.

    When I took the car for a test drive, it felt like I was in a video game of some kind. Didn't even know how to start it until the salesman showed me the ignition button. The car is very smooth and I hope it will save me a lot of gas in my 70 mile round trip commute everyday. The car has JBL speakers, mp3, bluetooth and a host of other gadgets and the salesman kept saying it was option #4. Did he mean Prius IV?

    Anyway, glad I found this site because I'm sure to have lots of questions as to how to get the most out of my Prius.
     
    #1 samaruf, May 11, 2011
  2. mikewithaprius

    mikewithaprius New Member

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    Location:
    Rhode Island
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Welcome to the forum! Sounds like it will be very practical for you on that long commute. The price doesn't sound *un*reasonable given the recent Prius shortages. Enjoy reading the many nuggets that PriusChat has to offer.
     
    #2 mikewithaprius, May 11, 2011
  3. samaruf

    samaruf New Member

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    Thanks.
    Can you really get 57 MPG on your 2007 Prius? Since I bought mine at a Honda dealership, the sales guy wasn't too knowledgeable about the car other than some basics. I am still not sure what pkg option I got other than the fact that it's got the features I mentioned above. Wonder if it's got a rear view camera. I didn't bring the car home with me as the dealership is yet to clean and prep it up.
     
    #3 samaruf, May 11, 2011
  4. mikewithaprius

    mikewithaprius New Member

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    I'm fairly ignorant on the options side of things, since mine was also used, and I just liked how it drove. With all the other gadgets inside you must have a backup camera, since mine does, and I don't have all of the other options you mentioned.

    Yes, 57 is certainly possible, tanks are currently in the low 60s for me in this weather. Others on here get higher (edit: I don't mean to imply it's normal mileage to expect...I work hard for the fuel economy :-D). It's really in those cold Minnesota months that you'll see a drop, but most people can get 45 mpg with "normal" driving, and with a bit of effort right around 50 should be possible barring extreme cold or lots of short trips. There are some Minnesotans on here whose lifetime numbers are right in that ballpark.

    Is that commute going to be flat highway by any chance? What speeds do you drive on them?
     
    #4 mikewithaprius, May 11, 2011
  5. samaruf

    samaruf New Member

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    II
    Having a rear view camera will be really nice if it's there. My Nissan Quest minivan has the rear sensors and they have proven to be very useful in parking lots.

    The commute is basically 10 minutes of city streets, 30 minutes of flat I-35 and then another 5 minutes of local roads. On the interstate I can go 70+ on most days depending on when I decide to leave for work. There's a section of I-35 in St. Paul that is about 5 miles long and has a ridiculous speed limit of 45 mph.
     
    #5 samaruf, May 11, 2011
  6. mikewithaprius

    mikewithaprius New Member

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    Yeah, I still look all around while backing up, but love the camera for really tight spaces behind the car, you can pull right up to a wall without hitting it.

    I used to drive 75-80 mph all the time till I got the Prius and realized what a difference driving style makes. Now I'm a right lane sort of guy :D If you do keep the same habits it sounds like 45 mpg would be there for you, cause at higher speeds like 70+ mph wind resistance is just too much to get anything really special. 45 mpg, of course, is still quite good, and will save you a lot of gas money over the minivan!

    If you do find yourself slowing down, with those flat highways (I dream of flat highways haha) you'll find the Prius can do wonders with just holding speed with as little gas as possible. I can't comment on 70 mph with the Prius, but for example over flat ground at 50 mph you could just hold speed while getting 70 mpg with a very light foot (you'll use the "Energy" display on the screen instead of the bar chart screen for those numbers). This may not be practical for you, but as an experiment it'll probably reveal some useful ideas for use at any speed, plus has some of that video game aspect you were talking about.

    Have fun and congrats again. Give a little update when you fill it up the first time, too!
     
    #6 mikewithaprius, May 12, 2011
  7. Behindblueii

    Behindblueii New Member

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    I agree.... Please don't rely only on the back up camera... I found it to be difficult to judge since it views as a "fish eye" lens ... But it's a cool feature.... Contests on your new purchase
     
    #7 Behindblueii, May 12, 2011
  8. twittel

    twittel Senior Member

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    Congrats on your Prius and welcome to PriusChat.:welcome:

    Enjoy the high MPGs, technology and low emissions.
     
    #8 twittel, May 12, 2011
  9. Mark57

    Mark57 2021 Tesla Model 3 LR AWD

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    Welcome to the forum!
     
    #9 Mark57, May 12, 2011
  10. geraldvaldez

    geraldvaldez New Member

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    Welcome to the forum guys!!
    _____________
    Gerald
     
    #10 geraldvaldez, May 12, 2011
  11. samaruf

    samaruf New Member

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    Thanks for the warm welcome everyone.

    I brought the car home today and believe it or not, I was doing pretty good on the MPG. The bars hovered around the 45-55 MPG most of the time. I do have to say that I was hugging the right lane on the freeway, even taking advantage of trucks and semis in front of me to cut down the wind resistance.

    I have yet to learn how to set off from a stop/traffic light because it seems that's where most of the gas is used. People were starting to tailgate as I was not speeding up quickly. It was taking around 10-12 seconds to accelerate gently to the speed of moving traffic. I am trying to avoid jack rabbit starts but may be it's better to just drive normally when traffic is heavy.
     
    #11 samaruf, May 12, 2011
  12. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    Welcome... and watch out for me when you're in the southern burbs. My driving is quite different, because I've discovered brisk acceleration can be more efficient overall.

    The brief jump to about 3,500 RPM gets you up to speed quickly while at the same time taking advantage of both the engine & generator. Give it a try sometime.
    .
     
    #12 john1701a, May 12, 2011
  13. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    why did you not lease the insight?
     
    #13 bisco, May 12, 2011
  14. samaruf

    samaruf New Member

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    II
    I am in Dakota county, so we might cross paths. A colleague at work who drives a Prius mentioned to me there's a local group of Prius Hypermilers who get together every month. I am going to get more info and may be will join it.

    I'll give the brisk acceleration a try and see how that works out. I'm willing to try anything to get the most MPG as last month my wife and I spent over $500 in gas just commuting.
     
    #14 samaruf, May 12, 2011
  15. samaruf

    samaruf New Member

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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
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    II
    The Honda dealer didn't have any in stock and the wait was going to be a several weeks. Also, I thought of leasing the Insight only after seeing the high lease rates that the Toyota dealer was asking for the 2011 Prius. When I found the 2008 Prius with only 35K miles for $18K, I felt it was a better deal to purchase it outright.
     
    #15 samaruf, May 12, 2011
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