Mpg in London

Difficult question to answer as everyones driving route and conditions are different.

I ran a gen3 Prius as a taxi for a year over 30,000 miles and averaged 49 mpg UK (be aware US gallons are smaller, so 49 mpg UK is about 41 mpg US).

Presently I do a 4 mile commute through heavy traffic and in winter with the heat on I'm getting about 41/42 mpg. In summer when the engine doesn't run as often, I get mid 50's.

The worst average tank I ever had was about 38 mpg which was in -5c temps with the heater running pretty much all the time.

I would say the Prius isn't magic. You can't just hammer it and floor it everywhere and expect it to get 75 mpg. It will do 75 mpg, but you will need to be gentle with it to get that.

Any further questions?

 

I thought I'd better add. You are very very unlikely to get less than 35 mpg, and that will be in worse case weather, heavy traffic etc etc. You should get over 40 mpg with a Prius (gen2 or the later gen3 versions). It's also a really smooth drive, nice and quiet when at the lights. The car will crawl on electric when in traffic jams. The a/c still runs when the engine is off. The road tax is free on the gen3 which is one less worry. The car also does 0-60 in about 10 seconds, so whilst not fast, it keeps up with traffic. It also overtakes with ease. There's plenty of room in the back.

Just avoid the very early Japanese imports - they're really not worth the risk despite being cheap. The official UK gen1 is now getting a bit long in the tooth and likely to cost more than it saves in repairs.

 

But that applies to any car. Depends on your usage. Why buy new? Get a nearly new 12 month old car which someone has already taken the hit on depreciation. That way you say a fair few grand AND still have 4 years/upto 100,000 miles of warranty.

Also living in London you'll know how bad the air pollution is. Replacing a Prius from a diesel mean you'll be cutting NOx pollution by upto 200 times! You could run 200 Prii for the same pollution as ONE diesel. If you, your kids or family have asthma or breathing issues, that is some reduction.

Your call.

 

14.000 miles a year? and 25.000 on fuel cost?? is that a typo?

 

ok pfffiiiii i was already thinking how did you do that haha. what the heck if the fuel cost in london hahaha

 

Depends on your priorities. The Focus will be cost you between £130 and £230 a year in road tax. That's between £10 and £20 a month saving against a gen3 Prius. Then your fuel costs will be about 40% less.

If costs are your issue, why not get an 11 plate Prius with the 100k warranty? They're about £11k. Minus your Focus so what, about £10,000 to finance? Your fuel and road tax savings help. If you're self employed you MAY be able to offset more by having a hybrid.

If you're just doing this to save money, then why not consider the old shape Auris HSD? It's effectively a gen3 Prius running gear with the Auris body. A lower mileage one goes for about £8,000 and they still have the free road tax. That'll make your sums add up easier. £8,000 - £1,000 possible trade in? = £7,000 to finance (£200+pm over 36 months). Fuel economy is ever so slightly better than the gen3 Prius so you should still get the same mpg's in reality.

 

What makes you say that? Other than having a service interval of 10,000 miles, there is nothing strange or weird about servicing than any other car. The gen3 needs 0w20 oil which is about £40, but is more than paid back in fuel economy returns. Tyres for my gen3 t3 are low rolling resistance types and they're about £70 fitted for a branded make. Unheard of Chinese tyres are about £45 by comparison.

You've not really said what your budget is or can stretch to. If you're calculating this down to the last penny, it might be prudent just to get something 'normal' for peace of mind. We can't make the final decision for you, only you can decide if the car is for you. If money is really tight, you might just want to get a cheap Fiesta or Corsa.

 

The Prius holds its value quite well. They're going for £22,000 now and you would be lucky to find a high mileage 2009 gen3 for less than £7500. Even an early gen2 holds over £3,000 for a nasty one.

If you're looking for a gen3 try and get a late 2010 with the 5 years/100,000 mile warranty. The early gen3's (2009-mid 2010) only get 3 years/60,000 (5 years 60k for the hybrid) and are priced lower accordingly.

 

Other things to add into your figures are road tax is £10 on gen2, £0 on gen3. Gen3 also is London congestion charge exempt, not sure about the position of the gen2 at one time it was so check first.

John (Britprius)

 

You sure? I thought only gen3's already registered with TFL were exempt as the rules have been changed to mainly allow plug in's.

 

Not 100% sure, but my last understanding were vehicles below 100 gpm figure were exempt the gen2 is over this, gen3 under.

John (Britprius)

 

Vehicles | Transport for London

Cars or vans (not exceeding 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight) which emit 75g/km or less of CO2 and that meet the Euro 5 standard for air quality qualify for a 100 per cent discount on the Congestion Charge.

Guess the Prius no longer applies.

 

GC You are correct another case of moving the goal posts. The road tax is still relevant or was last time I looked. Getting me nervous now.

John (Britprius)