Considering a 2010 Prius.. a few questions.

1. Every car I've been in an accident with required serveal weeks or more to repair.

2. I am not affected by the blind spots that some people talk about. I did have a big rig sneak up along side of me once so maybe there is a spot and I missed it but overall I really don't have any issues with blind spots. I tend to turn my head a lot and rely less on my side mirrors though.

3. I'm not sure why anyone would want to put higher than 87 octane in the Prius since that is all it requires. You will not get better gas mileage with anything higher nor will you get better performance.

4. I think we are still in limbo on this one. I do not see why you can't but I'm sure someone will chime in on that one soon. As for the weight, yes you want to keep the wheel/tire combo as light as possible otherwise your MPG will suffer. The GenII Prius had no problem with switching from 15" to 16" or 17" wheels. Some people even went to heavy stock-style wheels but expect to lose 3-5mpg like they did.

 

Every car has blind spots. The most common, to the left and right rear, can be seen easily by adjusting your side mirrors to point to those blind spots. Move your outside mirrors far enough out so that you can't see the side of your car (since the side of your car is not much of a threat to you). You have your "rearview" mirror for seeing what is behind you.

 

1. I think, like most cars, that it depend on how much and what type of damage is done. It could take a bit longer with the 2010 models, since they are just coming out; a lot of places probably dont have replacement parts yet. But hopefullly you will not be in an accident with your 2010 any time soon, if at all.

2. The biggest thing you will have to adjust to, is the view out the rear view mirror. But yes, all cars have blind spots.

3. 87 fuel is fine, but as I have learned, you should pay a bit more for mobil, shell, bp. Dont go with the cheap-o gas. The quality may not be as good. In my chevy lumina, I used to put cheap gas in all the time. As occasionally a piston would mis-fire. There was one point where the mis-fire would not go away. (most times it would stop after a couple of days) When I switched to shell/bp, it made all the difference, and havent had a misfire since.
ps: also use shell, bp, etc for your small power equip. I had to have my new chainsaw repaired, because the cheap gas clogged the carborator.

4. A new car is a new car. Your rates will go up. I am 32 and my research showed it would be about $600 every 6 months. But of course insurance is determined by age, record, where you live, etc. But if you can tie home owners or other insurance together, the rates are usually less.

5. not sure what to tell you on the wheels.

 

2. No worse than any other car I've used, EXCEPT:

a. The view out the rearview mirror is actually two windows with a horizontal bar between them. This bar falls at headlight height for cars that are more than about 3 car lengths behind you, which makes them less visible at night.

b. The rearview mirror is low. If you're sitting at an intersection and a car coming from your right is also at the intersection, the mirror will obscure it.

Perhaps these really are blind spots and perhaps it's just what I was used to before the Prius... I haven't decided yet, but they caught my eye right away.

Totally pleased with our purchase, by the way.

 

Move the mirror up. It is double hinged.

 

a. The view out the rearview mirror is actually two windows with a horizontal bar between them. This bar falls at headlight height for cars that are more than about 3 car lengths behind you, which makes them less visible at night.

For me it does a good job blocking headlights. The answers to your questions are mostly "it depends". The view or obstructions are probably very different depending on your height & position. An inch or two may make all the difference.

 

I got a preliminary quote from State Farm, the Prius would be about $50 more than my 2007 Avalon(Cost $33K vs $25K for the Prius). It was preliminary as State Farm has to use the Gen II for prices as the Gen III wasn't out in April. My car will be delivered in 2 weeks- so I will have good numbers soon- but its bound to be a bit pricey.

 

For the insurance question, you will need to check with your agent....too many variables.
In my case, I was replacing a 2002 Windstar with a 2009 new Prius. Windstar was worth less then 4k, the prius, 25k. If I bought the prius, they told me my insurance would go down from $323 to $225 every 6 months.

I ended up buying a used 2007 Prius, so I did not get the new car discount, but it still went down. I'm happy.

 

1. All cars do this. There's an emergecy fuel-cut off feature. If the accident is severe enough, the fuel line is cut off and it has to be towed away to get fixed before it will feed any more fuel to the engine.

I would not expect the Prius to be any more expensive to fix than any leading 2010 computer-controlled car from a leading car manufacturer.

2. Go rent one at Hertz. While a tad different, an '09 rental will give you a good idea. Honestly, they are terrible. But they are terrible in most modern funky cars anyways. One learns to adapt. At least it is not as bad as some cars out there.

3. Higher octane than recommended rarelly makes a difference. A bigger difference is where you guy you gas. An old-rusty pump with possible water leakage will really make a mess of your state-of-the-arm fuel system.

4. I imagine the insurance on the Prius for someone like yourself is quite good, as it is not a sports car, a high-accident vehicle, etc. Worse thing is if it gets stolen alot in your area.

5. You can upgrade on any model, ask your dealer. Or do it yourself after market. Your worst enemy is weight. Even the thinnest looking after market wheels probably weight more than the factory rims.

 

As he's in CA, all brands of gas are made in the same place. The only difference are the detergent packages added at the point of each service station delivery. Beacon and Rotten Robbies is made in the same place as Shell and Chevron.

Also, in most cars that have ignition timing tuned for 87, will see a slight decrease in performance and fuel economy with higher grades of gas. Always use the gas that the car is tuned for for the best performance and fuel economy.

 

I have been in 2 or 3 fender-benders. The car does not shut itself off. I was able to drive away after each of them. Any car will be undrivable after a serious enough accident.

I've had cars with better visibility, and I have driven cars with worse. The blind spots are not too bad. I would say that as far as seeing the road around me, my Prius, my Zap Xebra, and my Porsche are all pretty similar. (Of course, as far as driving, they are all very different. After I got the Xebra I hated driving the Prius. The Xebra is so much more fun. )

 

Our 2008 Prius was involved in an accident 3 weeks ago and suffered $9,000 of front end damage. I was able to drive it after the accident in order to get it off the road and into a parking lot. I didn't want to run it very long in fear of damaging the engine so I only drove about 50ft. I love this car and can't wait to get it back. The body shop still has not received any parts yet but I was told it will probably take a month at least for the repairs to be completed. We're seriously thinking about trading in for a 2010 now.