Is Prius the right car ? Need Feedback

well... honestly if you live with that much snow you should buy snow tires with any car you buy. but no, you are not being overly concerned. 24,000 dollars is a lot of money and you should get what best suits you.

i'm not sure what kind of display issues there are in the 2011 since i drive an 05, but if your test drive showed issues, well maybe it isn't the right car for you. that's what a test drive is for! perhaps you can test drive it again and decide then.

 

I also live in upstate NY, and with snow tires you won't have any more problems than any front wheel drive car. If by display problems you mean the anti-glare coating, there's a product that removes it, covered in a thread somewhere here! Radio, that's up to you, some people spend thousands to upgrade car audio, that's why an entire industry is built around it! I never listen to the radio myself! Rattles are hit or miss from car to car, some have a lot, others none. If you're testing it in cold weather and don't hear any, that's a good sign! Is it worth 24k? It all depends, gas is heading up fast and the Prius will save you quite a bit in the long run over a conventional car, in gas and maintenance!

 

Go look at other car forums, i'm willing to bet that most of them are full of problems/concerns of owners. I can't seem to find one where are the owners are completly happy and nobody had a complaint.

 

Yes. Too much reading on the forums is making you prey to the availability heuristic.

Most owners of these cars are not having issues. Consumer Reports gives it very good marks on everything except for the now-solved brake issue in 2010. That kind of data is what you should go on. You can find any car in the world with many threads about issues and this is inevitable with enough owners. Check out a site like truedelta.com also and you'll see that the 2010 or 2011 is very unlikely to cause you much in the way of problems.

I'm in Upstate NY and have had problems after almost 20k miles including in snow, radio, etc. But again, my anecdote is almost meaningless, as are the multiple anecdotes you'll get by reading forums.

 

not clear on some of what you're asking

I have a Gen II so I can't speak to the radio reception issues I've heard about on the Gen III. I hardly listen to the radio anyway and am usually listening to my iPhone or iPod in the car. If sound quality is a concern, then perhaps listen to the JBL unit and don't buy a Two.

I don't know what "display issues" you're referring to. Please be more specific. I've test driven Gen III Priuses many times and have no issue w/display readability other than the arrows on the power flow display being too small and most gen III users saying that screen is now useless anyway (maybe due to the small arrows or it being hard to get no arrows).

What do you mean by "questionable winter/low temperature performance"?

 

I had a Prius for about 18 months. A couple of issues you will run into is the lower mileage in cold weather, the low ground clearance and issues with the vsc (latter is my opinion). What happened with me was an accident caused partially by the car puttin all of the breaking to one wheel with traction in icy conditions. That made the braking asymmetric, which decreased control, and contributed to a rollover. (primary cause was a hit and run driver)

 

True, but you will run into that in all cars.

This thread is the first in a year of being on these forums I've even heard of radio reception issues or display problems! I read in one case of a guy's display going out entirely but I think that's it.

 

Cold weather needs like snow tires and block heaters are just environmental. They drive them in Canada. Prius gets the best new vehicle MPG available in the US and is a quality vehicle. The rest is just options and normal maitenance. Good luck deciding.

 

As a Prius enthusiast forum, we're bound to be overly reactive for both negative and positive views. For as many who complain about rattles, views and sounds, there are just as many (maybe more) who believe the Prius floats on water. In summary, if MPGs, technology and low-emissions are important to you, then the Prius may be for you.

 

I just bought a 2010 and have not seen many of your concerns. When I test drove package 2's, I didn't like the sound system. The package 3 offers a much better one for not much more, plus you get bluetooth. The winter driving isn't as good as a subaru, but it will get you by. I live in northern minnesota and it has taken some getting used to, but the mpg make it worth the while. I haven't tried snow tires yet, as I have only owned the car about 2.5 weeks! There is lower mpg in the cold months... averaging 5 degrees here at the moment. I plan on installing heated seats and an engine block heater to counteract the additional gas use for heat in our cold climate. I think a prius is definately worth it. For me, it was a no brainer. A 10 gallon tank that takes you at least 450 miles and up to 600 - 800 miles... plus inexpensive infrequent (every 10,000 miiles) oil changes. The pros outweigh the cons. Good luck.

 

From my experience with the Prius, with short trips, (like all ICE cars) gas mileage will suffer, particularly in the winter. With the prius, the ICE will be on until the engine warms up. I did not understand that at first, and with my five mile commute, I was not breaking 40 MPG in the winter. For short trips where the engine does not warm up, PHEV will work better.

 

Given the severity of the winters, I suggest you buy another Subaru. It is is one of the most popular vehicles in Colorado, and believe me, they have serious winters in Colorado.

 

I have to say I'm with Teakwood on this one, HOWEVER, if you answer "no" to ALL of the below, the Prius will probably do fine:

1. Is the Prius your ONLY car? I would not want to rely on the Prius getting me through ALL weather conditions if I HAD to drive in terrible weather.

2. Do you have any steep low speed hills you'll need to traverse in the winter? Particularly any where you have to start from a complete stop.

3. Do you ever take the car off road where you may run into any steep gravel hills?

I would say most people say no to all of these, and some may be OK with the risk involved with saying "yes" to number 1 and will still get a Prius.

As far as all the other complaints you see here, I'd say they're relatively minor. If you do decide to go Prius, get aggressive STUDDED winter tires (they are legal in NY, yay!) and you'll be happy every time you have to stop at the gas station.

Zhe Wiz

 

Wiz: I have a Prius and a Focus. I guess I can say that Prius is my main car and I just don't see the risk driving a Prius in terrible weather/road conditions. In NC we get some horrific ice storms and black ice. My Prius has not yet let me down. If weather is so bad that I'm concerned for my safety, I don't get on the roads. At that point, schools are closed, and businesses are on delayed schedules. NC also gets high winds, tropical storms and hurricanes. My Prius has been in high winds and tropical storms and handles as good as any vehicle can under those circumstances. In New York, I suppose you get blizzards, heavy snow depth and blinding conditions. Is any driver/vehicle safe in those conditions?

Regardless of weather conditions, I guess I just love my Prius and can't imagine why I shouldn't considered it the car for all seasons.

 

2010+ Prius is at least as good as the average FWD car, for realz

 

If you get it, definitely get snow tires if you truly, regularly have to drive in snow. I drive on main roads so I stuck with summer tires to avoid the mileage hit. Even in winter the roads are clear most of the time. With sensible precautions I feel safe in snow, even if it's a little slippery. Depends on how much grip you need to feel comfortable.

If you have to drive in deeper snow that's tough. I haven't had to do that, I think a bumpy 4-6inches at most and not often.

Big thing on winter fuel economy is travel distance. If you're making lots of short trips the Prius advantage is much less and particularly in winter when it takes much longer to warm up. (Grille blocking and engine block heater could help with that to some extent.) If I take the 22.6 mile Interstate route to work the car will be running around 50mpg once it's warmed-up, even at 10F. (That's on summer tires, inflated above normal door pressure) Once it reaches a balmy 20F, my warmed-up Prius will be over 50mpg.

I suggest you wait for a good amount of snow and then head to your nearest Toyota dealer and see if you can test drive a Prius. You could always try asking if they have a test model with snow tires on. It can't hurt even though they'll probably try to up-sell you to a guzzling cross-over.

Note that the traction control is aggressive since it is also protecting the hybrid system, but you can either wait it out or ease off and re-apply.

 

Sorry! OP doesn't live in NC. If *I* lived in NC I'd still have two Priuses, wouldn't have sold the other. It's the snow & slippery conditions I'd be worried about. Not everyone has the luxury of staying home when the weather is bad. My wife does, she has the Prius.

Sometimes schools close in the middle of the day and someone needs to get home in time for the bus unexpectedly. We have kids and an elderly father, if I HAD to get to one of them and the Prius were the only car I had, that'd make me, that DID make me VERY uncomfortable. Thus the second car - an AWD vehicle that will get me through anything that can be "gotten" through. I would not want the Prius to be the ONLY vehicle at a moment when I HAD to drive on slippery roads. If they were flat and plowed, great. But you can't always count on that in NY.

THAT'S the risk I'm talking about. For some, the chance of the above happening would be slim enough it would be worth the "risk" of going with the Prius. For others (me, for example) even the slightest chance of that happening is too great, not worth the risk. Especially when the Subaru is costing me less money than a Prius would. I'd think differently if I lived in a "reasonable" climate.

Zhe Wiz

 

My wife drives our Prius around until its wheels come off, to work, shuttling kids, all that, through Western NY winter. AWD is overrated. It breeds excessive confidence and only assists when accelerating. As we've never, ever gone anywhere that the Prius had any problem in coming up to speed AWD really isn't much of a boon. Most of us grew up without AWD, without traction control, without stability control. These are nice systems but definitely not requisite.

 

Great! Which is part of why you have one and I don't. I grew up without AWD, Traction Control and VSC (add ABS) too. But they're all there, and if done correctly, they usually help. The Prius' TC gets in the way and does NOT help IN SOME SITUATIONS. It's VSC is quite good.

I drive off road, I drive before the plows come out. I drive on hills the Prius won't climb (gravel), I drive with a trailer in winter on unplowed roads to go hunting. I tried the Prius for 3 years, it didn't work. For ME, AWD is not a luxury, and definitely NOT over-rated. It's AWESOME to know that if I need to get there, I can. I sure didn't feel that way with the Prius. FWD (particularly the Prius' TC hampered FWD) won't get me where I need to go. Your wife's needs are likely not as challenging as mine are. Most people don't drive where I drive, I get that.

I gave the OP some questions to think about, only HE/SHE can decide which way to go. I didn't say he/she should get AWD. I said based on the answers to some questions, he/she should decide. What's wrong with that?

You have to remember, not everyone drives in the same conditions you do or that I do. Snow is only part of the equation, risk aversion is part of it too.

Zhe Wiz