Anyone move from a SUV to a Prius? In need of a "support group" :)

I kept my 4runner when I bought a 2010 new IV prius and have loved it. One or two things I've noticed in E Tennesse is that hilly terrain brings down the mileage on any vehicle, esp. a hybrid. I was lucky to get an average of 42 mpg but that was fine after the 16 mpg 4runner. Kept the 4runner for snowy weather of which we have about a working month. Well, 6 weeks ago I was driving into work and I have no memory after that. I had a wreck with a Jeep of the larger type and prius was totaled. It did save my life but the passenger side was completely destroyed. The two glove compartments and the console ended up on the dash of the driver's side. All the airbags deployed and the curtains probably saved me as well. The passenger side was pushed into the driver cockpit. I had upper spinal problems and this really disturbed this. I had 3 vertabrae fused and bolted with plates. Broke loose other spinal stuff such as bone spurs, legimates, etc. I'm still off work recovering and wondering; what will I purchase next?? This is side impact safety only. After living through something like this; would you all purchase another prius? I'm back in the 4runner with pain pulling up into and down out of it....

 

I forgot to post a picture
Also, I ended up being propelled into the back of a tanker truck which was parked--several feet.

 

I haven't owned a SUV/truck but have driven them, and larger Diesel 2 ton trucks and buses, for work at times. Any hatchback car can carry more than most people that don't use them realize. I have an '02 Accent 2 door hatch that I will be replacing with a hybrid, only car I owned that had more room for carrying stuff was '71 Chevy Impala THAT car had lots of room! I would say unless your hauling 4'x8' plywood or similar every week that you can get by with Prius for most things. For the times you need more a rental is really pretty cheap, Uhaul, Hertz, Enterprise, etc will rent you truck or minivan. So with a little planning it isn't a big deal. Say you need that almost once a month, is only going to run you $40-50 for rental x 12 months=$600 and that would be a lot of hauling, you would still be saving. Also if you really need to haul stuff that big all the time a Minivan will get lot better mileage than non diesel trucks. With rear seats out/folded they have over 8' long cargo bed. In town I don't think there is much difference, but on highway the higher editions of the Honda Odyssey will get better mpg than toyota's because of the VCM (they can actually run on only 3 of the 6 cylinders when they don't need the full power of the engine). So far though VCM is only available on higher editions and hybrid models AFAIK.

 

I went from a 1993 Cherokee Sport to my Prius Gen II. I thought I'd miss the Jeep, but I fit almost all the same stuff in the Silver Surfer as I did Sport--and I tripled my MPG! Read: I go from LA to Yosemite on one tank now. I'm also a semi-pro bike racer and can easily get my bike, trainer, and gear into the Prius hatchback; when I have to take two bikes or more, I use my roof rack. (I'm NOT gonna hang $5K of carbon fiber frame behind my bumper for some dingbat to smash in a parking lot.) The only sacrifice I've made is for camping; I can't put a standard air mattress in the Prius hatchback to car camp. :-(

 

Wow... sorry to hear about the accident and hope that you fully recover! About getting another Prius... I don't think I would get in another car of any type after that, accept possibly an M1 Abrams

 

+1 for the recovery.

I'd rethink using an M1A2 for personal transport! They have a pretty good crash rating, but the mileage sux!!! Like 2 gallons per mile, or about 250 miles on a 500 gallon tank. They're really easy to park, but you might not like what it does for your insurance premiums.
They also burn JP-8, which Exxon does sell a lot of, just not at your local gas station!
The G3 isn't the car I would pick first if I were all that worried about crash survivability (I don't care how they fudge the numbers at the NHTSA) but that's not a really big deal for me, since I often roll around in (on) a motorcycle.
Priuses are better than those.

 

I did the exact same thing. Except when I saw the stack of boxes, I thought I would have to come back with my wife's Escape. They went right in and the hatch closed. Amazing.

I came from a 2009 Venza to the Prius (had a Camry hybrid before that.) I only miss the back seat room for my older passengers. I will be getting the v next year.

 

I'm sorry to hear about your crash, but I'm glad you survived! That might not have been the case in a lot of other cars. I wish you a full recovery, or at least as close as possible!

Safety is one of my primary buying criteria these days. If it doesn't have at least 4 stars, I'm not interested in the least. I drive too much to make it worth the risk and I see way too often the results of skimping on that criteria.

Personally, I probably would, but I'd make sure to adopt the Phoenix mentality of not entering an intersection on green without checking both ways for red light runners. For what it's worth though, I've avoided more accidents others didn't see coming than I can count, so that choice would take my own driving ability into account. Not many people can claim over 750,000 miles accident and moving violation free.

Barring another Prius though, maybe a Camry Hybrid instead? It is a bigger car so there's a bit more mass and a bit more metal between you and the idiots around you, and I can attest that they do hold up pretty well in accidents, although I haven't seen how they hold up to side impacts.

My mom and sister were in her old Camry stopped for wildlife in the road in the mountains and got rear-ended by someone in an SUV doing about 45-50 who wasn't paying attention to the road last year. The back end and trunk were where the back seat used to be, and rear seat passengers might've had some kind of neck or back injuries, but my mom in the driver's seat was fine and my sister in the passenger's seat only had some minor whiplash (I suspect from not properly adjusting the headrests). I was impressed how well it held up in that scenario. She chose a '11 CamHy to replace her old '05-ish Camry. After seeing the aftermath, I whole-heartedly approved.

She's in her late 70s now, so her driving habits leave a little to be desired, but she still gets 37-39 MPG even through the winter months. On the rare occasions when I drive it, I can squeeze 43-47 MPG out of it, but it's a challenge for me. With more practice I might be able to do that pretty regularly in the warmer months. In the winter, probably not so much.

 

The Prius is one of Toyota's better performers in the updated NHTSA testing. Toyota has had some trouble in the new testing for some vehicles, specifically for the smaller female size dummy in the front passenger seat. The 2011 Camry/Hybrid, in particular, fared quite poorly for that test and also the new side pole impact test. The earlier versions also fared poorly for the standard side impact test for the female dummy in the rear seat. The Prius did much better in those tests and received a 5-star overall rating. Plus, the difference in mass is not as great as you might think, only a couple hundred pounds according to the Home | Safercar -- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (3287 vs. 3082) The Prius is certainly smaller than the Camry, but still larger than most people think.

2011 Toyota Camry HV 4 DR FWD Later Release | Safercar -- NHTSA

2011 Toyota Prius 4 DR FWD | Safercar -- NHTSA