Got it

After seriously shopping around for a few weeks, i got my Prius yesterday. Pretty exciting. It's an immaculate pre-owned one owner 2007 magnetic gray package 6 with California HOV stickers. That was one of the main reasons i got interested in the Prius in the first place, HOV stickers. the other was pumping gas into my Accord at almost $5 a gallon, i drive on my job, all over the place, and commute in gridlock traffic. But it turns out the Prius is much more than a gas saver with carpool access. What an excellent car!

 

Thanks for the reply Rokeby, and that important information!

I actually in the past week or two since i joined this forum, i did run across the gas filling issue, but had forgotten about it until you mentioned it. Would you say the majority have this problem, or a large minority? Unfortunate that Toyota doesn't have fix for it.

I will definitely follow up on the dangers of running out of gas. I've only run out of gas once in the past 10 or 20 years but never say never. Is there a way of knowing when your gas level is critically low? This will be my first tank, actually a half tank, the gas it had in it when i got it, and i'm wondering at what point it runs out. My previous cars all had orange warning lights that let you know it was time. I'll try not to let it get much below a quarter of a tank, but it's a new kind of car for me and some things have to learned by trial and error. I hope i don't make the out of gas error.

Do the tires tend to lose pressure regularly with Priuses? The pressure used to stay stable on my Accord and previous cars.

About imperfections, actually the first night i had the Prius i was having ambivalence about it, there were/are some things i liked better on my Accord (while shopping for the Prius, i looked at an Accord SE that i absolutely loved and was strongly tempted to get. But the reasons I had come to focus on the Prius are still strong important reasons. I weighed pros and cons for months after being told my Accord was going to need the 3rd expensive repair since March and it appeared i better get a new car because i drive so much and even if i wanted t put the money into the Accord, apparently it's no longer as reliable a car as i need.

But what i was annoyed with or disappointed in on the Prius on the first night i took it out for a drive is visibility of the road and surrounding conditions. The rear window is very annoying for me. It's not mainly the view in the rear view mirror. It's when i look over my shoulder to change lanes and i can't really be sure if there's another car there, the blindspot is too big. I knew about this problem, just from looking at Priuses on the road, thinking i wouldn't like that restricted view. And then, unexpectedly, I made a left turn in it the first night and found that the blindspot in the front, on the drivers left, at the corner, where the windshield meets the side of the car, is much larger than any car i've ever driven. I guess it's because of the stereo speaker in that spot, but the car body piece that divides the drivers window from the windshield restricts my view. I like to see as much as i can.

It was nerveracking for me to make the change to the Prius, i've had three Accords in a row and loved all of them, and the last one was the best of all, even at 166,000 miles it still looks new, the paint looks great, nothing rattles, it's quiet, it's powerful, and it's very comfortable, well designed, great AC/heater, bose stereo, sun/moonroof, and the one i test drove had all of that, leather seats, and only $12,000.

I've been thinking about Priuses for months and it wasn't really an easy decision, to spend quite a lot more, to have that restricted visibility, the relative smallness of it. But the pros did outweigh the cons. I knew i would regret not getting a Prius if i didn't get one and continued to drive around looking at them on the road. The plusses include the gas mileage, the HOV stickers (very important to me), the quality of the car and the high value usefulness of the features like GPS, the bluetooth hands free phone, the smart key and the more i learned about them, the more things i loved. Although i hated to give up the Accord experience, i decided it was time for a change (common theme for most people these days i guess).

But the first night, i was ambivalent. It doesn't seem to have the power and pick up of the Accord, though not far behind. The drivers seat is not as comfortable, though again, not far behind. The visibility--maybe i'll adapt to it, i am wondering if people do, i can't be the only one who is bothered by it? The backup camera makes me nervous--objects appear farther away than they are, i'm not able to judge distances, but when i turn to look, my vision is more blocked than i'm used to.

But even as i thought about the possibility of selling the Prius after trying it for a while, which i've never felt about a newly purchased car before, I couldn't dismiss the positives, and i didn't choose it lightly. I have almost wished that the Prius didn't have its distinctive selling points, so i could just happily get another Accord. but i fell out of love with the Accord while pumping gas, filling the tank for $65 three times in two weeks, because i drive a lot on my job. And there is that carpool lane. And not only that--while at first i didn't much like the small squushed look of the Prius, over the months they grew on me a lot, i love just about all the colors and they became eye candy for me, i would see them and want to drive near them. LOL. When i finally started test driving them and looking at ones for sale, i could see first hand how well they're made, how solid and stable (compared to what i might have thought from looking at them), and roomy inside. The inside storage is better than the Accord that i had, though newer ones are better. I love the console display with different menus. I love the climate control, i love the stereo, i love the feed back on the car's performance and fuel consumption. I love the GPS. I've been using, previously, my Verizon cell GPS which is excellent, very user friendly, easy to see and good voice volume from the phone, giving directions. I later tried a Magellan GPS that you try to somehow place on your dashboard (not easy) and found it very annoying to use, and returned it. So i didn't know how the Prius GPS would compare. I'm very pleased with it, though i haven't had a chance to learn it and do get frustrated when it doesn't work together with my intuition--but i will have to learn it. What i'm pleased with so far is the good visibility of the maps, the good volume on the voice, and the voice activation. There's no comparison with the Magellan. It's a great quality GPS, and on one test drive, (the only one where the seller/dealer/scheister let me take it out by myself after copying my drivers license), it was an area where i lived long ago and i wanted to find my old house i used to live in, and i knew the intersection it was near, and was very easily able to find my way to it with the GPS, it was then that i decided GPS was a must have feature for me. Before that, i was going to be satisfied with Package 4.

Best of all is the bluetooth handsfree. I use the phone while driving all the time, and i tried a motorola speaker that you put on your visor, it wasn't useful, too hard t hear, too hard to use reliably, i ended up staying with the bluetooth handset, but too often it would run out of power, and i also use two different cell phones, and if more than one was out of power at the same time, i couldn't charge everybody, and worst of all, the curly charger cord kept me from being able to use the handsfree while driving, it didn't reach my ear. Much annoyance and frustration. The Prius bluetooth is perfect, i can easily hear my calls, it's easy to dial, i'm thrilled.

To get all that stuff on a Honda Accord would probably be more expensive than what i spent on the Prius., $20,000 before tax.

There was time pressure on me to buy a new car, because of work. I would've liked to shop longer, maybe i could've gotten a better price, but probably not much better. Before i found the one i got, i was considering buying a 2006 driftwood pearl with package 6 and leather, it looked and drove like new, except there were some through the paint scratches on the left rear fender. I was negotiating with the seller about that. But the other hesitation was that it had 39,000 miles. On a good Japanese car, that's not really a lot of miles, my Accord had 80K (with extended warranty) when i got it and has been trouble free for 10 years and another 80,000 miles. But i really wanted to get one that was still under the original Toyota warranty, and then i found this one i got that has 28,000 miles. I think if i shopped longer, i would've found lower miles for the same price, but other than that, i think i couldn't have done better--unless i wanted to hold out for a touring model. Anyway, i didn't have the time to wait for that. What made this purchase hard was the absolute requirement of HOV stickers, that was restricting.

Yesterday was my second day of driving it, and i did find that i was adapting in various ways. The first day i had thought the ride was rougher than the Accord, but the next day it didn't seem rough at all. I felt happy while driving it yesterday, glad i made the choice, looking forward to the things i know i will appreciate and enjoy.

As you say, as for the problems, being forewarned can help to minimize the negative experience. Thanks again, this forum is so full of information about everything, that's another feature that helped me to decide on the Prius, after following a few threads on here. And generally, in spite of the problems that are real and important and frustrating problems, generally what i'm getting from Prius owners is strongly positive.

 

thanks for all those pointers, like about when to get gas and about tires. when i looked at the car at the dealer, the only thing i saw on it that didn't look new were the tires, they were worn on the sides. The guy was goign to put new tires on it, then he offered to reduce his price and i could get tires myself. I wasn't sure i trusted what might be his tire choices so i decided to get them myself but i don't really know anything about tires so i am happy to have the info that i will find on in the discussions on this forum.

I took the car to a Toyota dealer/agency for a triple A inspection before buying it. The guy said everything was great except it "might" need an air filter replacement, he emphasized 'might,' he said 'not really.' I asked about the tires and he said they were OK. Not very reassuring. Even i could see they were worn on the sides. But, he said some numbers, which i wrote down but now am not sure about what they mean, something about the tred, he said they were 5/32 in the front and 6/32 in the rear, i think, and soemthing about they are supposed to be 8 front 3 rear. Too bad i didn't put more detail in my notes, i don't remember exactly what that meant. 8/32?

Anyway, I have the service booklet from the previous owner, it's left blank. The Service guy who did the inpsection on Friday printed out a dealer info thing that showed when the car was serviced, it looks like it wasn't serviced at all in 2007, and then twice in 2008. Then it had complete service at 20,000 and 25,000 miles, in May and September of 08. I don't see anything about tire rotation though.

Thanks for the guidelines on tire pressure, fuel economy and comfort.

About the vision, i can see well in the side mirrors, and pretty well in the rear view mirrors, but i've had it happen where i will think it's safe to change lanes after looking, and someone comes from out of no where, going fast, so i feel more secure usually even taking more than one look over my shoulder, but even when i look over my shoulder, i can't see, the pillar in the back is in the way, on right rear. At least it's reassuring to know that if this results in an accident, the car is well built for occupant survival. :thumb:

I'm happy to hear it will beep at me when it's time to get gas, i will find that helpful.

thanks a lot!