No Prius yet; doing the research

I think the bottom line here is, We cannot convince you to buy a Prius. Only you can make that decision. If you came here to get advice, we try to give it but, we are mostly biased to the Prius (as am I). I just think it is an exceptional car and can't see myself driving anything else. It is an extremely versatile car that gets unmatched fuel economy. Once you own one, it is very hard to see yourself driving anything that doesn't turn the engine off at stoplights and when you release the accelerator pedal.

As for the "disconnected" driving experience, I'm not sure what that means but if anything, Prius owners are extremely connected to the driving experience. The Prius is a "high performance" vehicle (contrary to popular thought). It just concentrates its "high performance" in fuel economy and versatility.

I recently traveled home (Effingham, IL (about 270 miles one way)) with all 4 family members (me, wife, son and daughter), all of our luggage and several Christmas presents (about 900 lbs total weight). We got 46.3 mpg's, while maintaining a cabin temp of 72 and watching DVD's on my son's laptop (plugged into an inverter). We charged our phones, listened to ipods, charged ipods, played Nintendo DS and just made ourselves comfy.

I'm guessing that you don't play Nintendo or watch DVD's but this experience illustrates the versatility of the car. This is however not even the best part. The best part is the summer city mileage (50+mpg's) and the trips to the gas station (which average about $30 for a fillup for me and about 400 miles). I know of no SAAB that can do that.

With all that said, that doesn't even take into account the maintenance (or lack thereof) savings. Prius mechs are like the Maytag repairman (very bored).

 

This is my opinion. My parents are retired. Perhaps the most important considerations are Reliability and economics. Although the Plug in cars seem attractive based on 20 miles per day with most or all of that on cheap electric.However I believe this car may be in your ownership for 10-15 years. Based on that my heart felt advice is to not consider the Volt or Pip and consider a standard Prius Hybrid. I just never put retired people in the early adopter area it is to dangerous. The hybrid Prius has been around for 12 years the generation is now 3 and if your in a Carb state the battery warranty is 10 years or 150,000 miles.the maintenance costs are much lower than European cars. My parents own a Avalon but they always liked big cars. The Camry hybrid gets 42 MPG and loaded with leather is about the cost of a well equipped Prius. Best of luck and happy motoring.

 

Part of this really depends on what is important to the buyer:

Initial cost?
Fuel and maintenance cost?
Damage to the environment?
Damage to the national trade deficit.
National security.
Ride and handling quality?
Cool new technology?

Any priority order you place these in is not right or wrong, it will just help people give you better suggestions to a better fit for you.

I would second the suggestion of the Lexus hybrid if comfort and handling are bigger concerns for you.
Hybrids come in many shapes and sizes. Some give performance much better than the Prius, some worse. What you described as not liking about hybrids has virtually nothing to do with the hybrid aspect, and more about design decisions.

 

Assuming everyone shares the same definition of fun... It's like trying to get agreement on what it means to be attractive... you simply cannot. For that matter, your own preferences change over time.

Take the time to list out your priorities, then check out a variety of vehicle. You'll often discover appealing traits that didn't seem as important or were even on the list.

 

I don't know how you feel about Consumer Reports, but the latest issue just came out and named the Prius 4 the best value of any new car. The article might be worth a read for you.

 

...was wondering what put you off about Prius hybrid technology?

Anyways I find Prius a very practical car and economical with lots of room. You can put one or both rear seats down to get a very large inside cargo space. Put on a roof box and you have some serious total cargo space. Today however you have many more car choices than I did in 2006. Perhaps if you could say some of your other car candidates, we could say where Prius fits in. It does not sound like you are a PiP (plug-in Prius) fan...so we are focusing on Liftback hybrid model for you.

 

I would second Paradox's assesment , however, I would still recomend renting one... it might surprise you.

 

The test-drive experience was what captured interest of those sitting on the fence in the past.

 

I was ready to sign off on a new CR-V, but figured I was at the dealership, I was mildly interested in the Prius-v being in the same size/price range as the CR-V and other cars I shopped (although $27k gets you a CR-V fully-loaded, but 0nly a base model Prius-v).

One trip in the Prius-v and I was sold. I don't know what it is about it, it's not sporty at all, but it was and continues to be really enjoyable to drive.

 

The Camry is Meh. When my kids were very young my wife drove one. It's big and safe and reliable. After that my wife drove a Acura TSX with the 6 cylinder. Fun car. I drove a BMW with a sports tuned suspension. Now that was a fun car you can take a Turn at 60 MPH and the car sticks to the road. The Acura had problems but warranty took care of that and she sold it soon afterwards. I drove my car 7 years and maintenance and repairs just took it's toll. Heck new run flats $1,200. Oil change $150, brakes $300 per tire, oil gasket $500, and other issues. The ultimate driving experience is the primate reduce your retirement fund machine.

Everything is a trade off. When I purchased my Prius I had 2 buddies who owned one. One of the sales guys in my office was looking for a reliable ad practical car and purchased one. I went out on a few appointments with him and I thought it was roomy, comfortable, and the clients enjoyed talking about it. My other friend a Nurse had one a few years a gen 2 and she could no say enough good things about it. Her only complaint was when her husband purchased new tires they were not as good as the previous tires low resistance and that she lost her car pool lane privileges in California.

For me I grew used to the car immediately and started enjoying it immediately. The ride is comfortable. It's not sporty like a Volvo can be or comfortable like a Cadillac but it's quality. I have taken it around town and on a few long trips and I don't leave the car achey and beat up like I did in the BMW. I used to Pay for gas from $250 to $325 per month in my BMW. The Prius is always less that $100. For a retired person lowering expenses is important, that eaves more for you to do fun stuff.You want lower monthly costs and lower repair costs. Also the car can go 10 years with mostly routine expenses. If you garage and baby the car 15 years is easy to achieve. You just won't get that value anywhere else.

 

I drove VW TDIs for years, but became tired of the unreliability of VWs, so I started looking into hybrids. I settled on the Prius, despite what others told me about them, and can tell you the transition was quite smooth.

 

Can somebody post a good link to a video on how HSD works? It's not complex. It's beautifully simple. The functional complexity is in the software.

The system adds EV components, but replaces some conventional components and reduces wear on others. The result is a very reliable system with some potentially expensive repairs.