Wow toyota really cut corners on the PIP

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Interesting that you say they are not selling well. In Hawaii the dealer is saying we have a wait of 2-3 months to obtain a new PiP (That's OK, I've got mine), claims the wait is due to Toyota devirting cars to California, due to high demand.

 

Tell that to the dealers around here (San Francisco Bay Area) that have have a dozen or so PiPs sitting in their lot. I understand the situation is the same in the L.A. area.

 

blakemster: "if you just drive it like a normal person it's signifigantly less, like 50-60"

I thought I had been driving it like a normal person (insofar as I can be normal), but am averaging 97 mpg. (And mpg has taken a sizable dent this summer with lots of trips up and down the mountains, etc.)

 

If I was in the market the omission of spare tire would cross the PIP off my list.

This vehicle is too much a regular Prius with more robust battery squeezed in, with little re-engineering: just ax the spare. It looks like they're still testing the waters, avoiding significant engineering investment.

 

They did a lot more than just throw a bigger battery in there and get rid of the spare. They had to do some pretty extensive reprogramming of the HSD to take advantage of that bigger battery. They also spent the better part of 2 years gathering data with the 2010 test mules. And the data they gathered from that resulted in some significant design changes with the production model.

 

beauty is in the eye of the beholder. this car is so much more than the regular prius, it's genius!

 

just the fact that you can get 10-25% better mileage than a gen II is incredible.

 

mpg is an ambigous term with these cars since you can have a real short commute and never use gas ... 999 mgg .... In my world, I charge at night ... Get in with almost always less than 10 on ev charge ... Try to drive mellow, not flooring it .... Take it off ev .... Save ev for the la traffic ... Had car since April .... Done over 10,000 miles .... Getting around 50 mpg .... Ain't complaining because I got the sticker I wanted ... But I think the mpg is bs ... Maybe for a short commute? My sales buddy has the same car .... with the Same result, minus 2 months and maybe a few missed charges. And you know what I mean by driving "normal"

 

what other car were you getting 50-60?

 

My 07 Camry hybrid got 40mpg .... Was more than 10 grand less and was a waaaaaaaaay nicer car ..... Smoother ride .... Nicer nav .... Nicer interior .... Much, much quieter .... Doors shut like real car, not a tin can .... For 40 geez, I could have bought a Lexus .... Or a lot of other cars .... Without the hov .... This thing is just for tree hungers .... My opinion, way over priced

 

wow, you must have really wanted that sticker!

 

But the HyCam gets worse mileage and likely doesn't have some of the features on the advanced model of PiP.

Blakemstr could've spent less $ (and had less of a delta) by buying the standard model. The extra $ on the advanced model doesn't make it quieter, doesn't give it a better interior (or than Softex), make the doors feel any more solid, etc.

I'd also be curious about the equipment level of the HyCam in comparison. Did the one in question come w/Homelink, nav and heated seats?

 

my wife's 08 hycam listed for $26 or 27,000.? has homelink, but not gps or heated seats. for 30K i'm getting 17 miles electric and 75 mpg's in pure hv. hycam is smoother, quieter, more comfortable. but it won't get you an hov sticker. think toyota doesn't know that?

 

My hycam cam was 30 geez in in 2007 ... Nav, home link, heated seats with the passenger seat being power ... Just an all around better value ... I bought this car solely for hov and that's all that sets it apart for me .... It's actually a pretty cool car and I'm way more sold on it now than when I first bought it ... It's just waaaaay over priced

 

blakemster "mpg is an ambigous term .... In my world” & "you know what I mean by driving 'normal’ “ & " tree hungers"

-not really ambiguous, but YMMV certainly applies. I’ve often thought that the subtitle for this site should be “YMMV (maybe even favorably”. My PiP has only a quarter of the total miles of yours, but that much is part of my intent.
-sounds silly, but I really don’t. This is my first hybrid, and honestly, the first car that has made me laugh with glee in a long time. I have a tendency to drive sports cars, usually with the tach hugging the red. This car doesn’t even have a tach, but it does have a ton of input that has made my driving of it completely different than of other cars.
-funny typo, but I am guilty as charged. Spent much of the summer elsewhere and couldn’t wait to get back to my forested home, and I really do want to save it if possible. I don’t really think the car helps much, however...

I can’t speak to the HOV sticker, but I’d guess that spending a little less time in the car will, in the end, be worth much more than you’d think. Heck, in a way it turns the PiP into some sort of ferocious road-eating beast because you get there faster than everyone else. Race for pinks...

 

I have a 92 mile r/t commute. I'm getting around 59 mpg per tank. I save the EV for traffic situations or when on flat surface streets. I charge at home, and I can charge at work. I get about 525 miles per tank, with about a hundred of that being all EV. I'm at 11,500 miles on the car. EV range after a full charge is usually around 10.3 miles (with A/C on). I have a lot of elevation changes on my commute, so if it weren't for that, I bet my MPG numbers would be even better. In my old 2005 Prius, my commute to work would be around 42 to 44 MPG. With the PiP, it's between 60 and 67.

 

in my inital 500 miles these are the numbers i'm getting too with my pip

mind you its sort of annoying thinking you would ge 98 (realistictly 80) but end up with 60-67 AND i'm going out of my way to stretch the gas/hypermiling

its a nice car but i agree paying 32k for this car i was hoping/expecting more

if i could do it all over again i would of gotten at 2012 gen3 with moonroof+nav+cam for 25-26k and saved the 5-6k

or maybe gotten it used for 20-22k (2010)

but sort of figured these things considering we are early adopters

 

I had no illusions that I would get 98 MPGe. I also knew that with my commute length, I'd be using the gas engine a lot. I'm not doing any hypermiling. I was hoping for a little bit more EV range, but that's about it. The only thing special I do is use the EV/HV button to pick the best mode for the current conditions. Initially when I got the car, I'd leave it in EV mode until the charge ran out. Which meant no EV use for the last part of my commute when I'm back on surface streets.

If I could do it all over again, I'd probably get the same exact car I have now. While I love the bells and whistles available on the Advanced package, I couldn't justify the extra $8K, and I still can't in my mind. Maybe the next time around in 7 years.

 

When I plug, I get 72-75 with traffic southbound ugly. With traffic southbound good, I get 60+ .. and while my northbound morning traffic isn't usually bad... I seldom use the full charge so it's a 50-55 situation mornings. My best days are Sundays when I ruun a few errands and can plug in frequently... some Sundays I use little to no gas and go 40-50 miles. This car is absolutely a YMMV car. I did it for the HOV sticker and the coolness factor for certain. I was OK with 45-50 mpg in my other Prii but it is pretty awesome to get around town and turn the car off at 999 mpg!!