Advise before I buy my first Hybrid

I guess we're the Prius demographic

 

I'm not sure that the safety features will get annoying, I don't have them, but have visited a number of dealerships (and brands). I've only tested one car with them, and found them great as far as I could tell on a test-drive (I purposely didn't test the auto braking, but when the salesman was driving, it intervened once and I thought it was appropriate that it did)!!

In not too long, they'll all become standard (Auto Braking is likely to be mandated here in Australia in the next couple of years), and cars without them may depreciate quicker.

Interestingly, 2 lady salespeople were adamant that "I would never buy a new car WITHOUT them". Several guys said they don't mind them, but don't use them much because they don't have them on their home cars. Only one salesman was adamant that he found they were annoying - but I found him annoying in a few ways too, so I can understand why he argued with the safety features.

I did like the HUD - probably not a deal-breaker, but seeing it's standard on all Prius here in Australia, not a consideration. I didn't drive with HUD at night, but I'm told that it's amazing.

 

Hi Kim,
Welcome! I have driven many cars from many companies over the years. I have done most of the repairs on them myself. Toyota for me, is the best made (affordable) car. As an example, it has been noted that one car manufacturer builds its brand new mini vans with B grade disc rotors for their brakes. By doing this, by the time the vehicle gets to 30,000 miles, one would have to replace the rotors and the pads! And then, when one buys the rotors to replace the others from your local shop, you find the grade quality of them better (A grade) than the rotors when you bought the mini van! Why do I say all this? You will find that you will be able to drive your Prius for 10 years and experience less costs in repairs than what you would in 3 years of other non-hybrid cars. This has been my experience with Toyota cars. They are built to be driven.

 

Thanks for that - there are 2 links in the 2nd top paragraph which don't work - they are links to videos on production of Gen 3, but they all show that the videos are private.

 

I would if that was an option for me. Not sure any CARB states near Florida. And some. Also had two with the sunroof and decided not to do it or the HUD this time around. personal preference and does not reflect the views of the management.

 

Good luck Kim! I have a Hypersonic Red 2016 that I fell in love with

I knew I wanted a gas efficient vehicle for my next car but I figured that I had a few years before that was going to happen but then my 2005 Audi A4's electrical system basically died. After spending already thousands of dollars in fixing other issues last year, I was not willing to dump any more money into it. The day I found that my car was going to cost additional thousands of dollars, I decided to swing by the Toyota dealership to test drive the Prius. A few hours later, I was driving the Prius home. I know I didn't take a lot of time to investigate but I'm happy with my purchase. The only surprising thing to me was different from other cars was the battery under the back seat and making sure that you don't cover up the vent for that battery.

I read on here that obviously you can get better gas mileage by actively working on it but really the key for a new Prius owner is to just drive. And that is what I do.

 

Toyota is offering $1000 cash back for a Prius during May.If I'd known how great grand-daughters are, I think I would have had them instead of daughters.

 

No CARB near Florida , Maryland and northeast and West Coast. But you have to register vehicle in a CARB state to get the benefit. So you did not miss out on anything...you did good.

 

.....or 0 % financing for 60 months. I went for the financing.

 

An advantage or nice thing about Prius is that it doesn't really take a lot of special magic skills to drive one. You can pretty much get in and drive it like ANY vehicle.
You can apply different techniques as you become more familiar, OR NOT...and still enjoy the benefit of owning a Hybrid.

You evidently are already familiar with technology like HUD, Cell Phones and GPS, so there is no technology in a Prius that I think would leave you in the dark.
I think for some unfamiliar people, sometimes the "idea" of driving a Hybrid more daunting than actually driving one.

Intimidation of the technology is not something I would worry much about.

My only concern is whether you REALLY want a Prius?
If you weren't considering a Prius, what swayed you towards a Prius? Outside of it being "cute".
There is a big difference between a regular ICE Rav 4 and a Prius, as far as what end tools they are.

My only advice is make sure you REALLY want a Hybrid and a Prius. There are a LOT of vehicles on the market that are cute, quite, smooth and peppy.
Somewhat refreshing to hear someone interested in Prius based on those attributes, and not the usual proclamations of wanting gas efficiency and lower emissions. Toyota would be happy to know they've reached you.

But since you originally were looking at a Rav 4, my only caution is make sure a Prius is something you will be happy with, once the newness wears off.

 

Well?
As a general statement I'm sometimes amazed at what damage humanity can do...with knowledge and without.
But again, in general if you are capable of driving ANY vehicle, I'm going to say no.
If you wish, driving a Prius can be reduced to the exact same operational choices as with any vehicle. Probably less if you factor in a push button start and a smart key system.

If you don't want to apply hypermiling techniques, or even deal with the different driving modes, it is possible to simply start and drive...just like your Camry, or a Rav 4.
There's no Willy Wonka glass elevator button on a Prius that you are going to accidentally press and it would cause you to crash through the ceiling.
You're safe.
Minutia can be learned at a desired and leisurely pace if you wish. I would recommend learning as much as possible eventually. But owning and operating a Prius is IMO not really any more daunting than owning and operating any new to you vehicle.

 

I'll never go back to driving a traditional vehicle. The Prius has an excellent reliability above and beyond most other cars that have so much less going on.


XT1585 ?

 

You might consider renting a 2016 model for a few days, before purchasing. (I wish I had waited and done that.)

Prospective buyers, and those that never owned a hybrid before could learn so much more about the characteristics of the Prius, rather than taking a few short test drives.

 

See if your dealer has rentals available. I rented one for a week, but 3 days were satisfactory and answered the doubts I had. Just waiting for the lease vehicle to go up for sale as it would save me a ton of money because it's used.

Edit: Coast Cruiser beat me to the punch while I was typing. Dealers have short, carefully chosen routes that don't reflect your particular driving.

 

I took my sales critter to a loop and did 5 miles on cruise control and got 99.1 MPG. Then I told him 'not good enough' which blew his mind.

Bob Wilson

 

Actually that happened to me by accident. I rented a Prism for a business trip and got phenomenal MPG. So I lifted the hood and it said Toyota all over the place.That sums it all up eh! The next week I went to the Chevy dealer and bought their last one on the lot the last year they were made. very nice car.