Talk me out of buying a Prius....

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tanglefoot @ Mar 29 2007, 11:53 AM) [snapback]414172[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prickly commute @ Mar 29 2007, 08:48 AM) [snapback]414097[/snapback]</div>

Dude, dump the Tacoma -cool truck for sure, but nowhere near a Prius.

 

Well, I don't think I can talk you into or out of buying, but do think it through clearly.

There are some here who would drive a Prius even if the car cost $100K and gas were free. They feel good about doing their part to assure that Al Gore won't have to flee to the highest peak in Appalachia when the polar ice caps melt and swamp the rest of us.

I'm not one of them. However, I know I will be driving a fair bit for work reasons, so economics do matter.

The hybrid premium is real (although I will be excommunicated for saying so) but modest; I think 4K is generous since the best frame of comparison is the HCH, which uses a less robust hybrid strategy. Figure out how much you expect to drive and what you expect to pay for gasoline, and you can decide if it will be "paid back" in the long run. Mine will be.

As for the "Buy American" arguments I've seen in this thread, I'd agree if you were just "buying Toyota" because it was cool or some other silly reason.

However, this nation was founded upon ideals, and one of the central ones was the free market. If you are in the market for a high FE vehicle, and the domestic manufacturers choose not to make one, then I'd say that the "American" thing to do is to reward the company whose products meet your need by giving them your business.

 

Ok, I am going to try....

DON'T buy the Prius. It is highly addictive when driven. Do not feel the responsiveness of the electric motors at low speed. There is no going back. Warning: You better stay away!!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ethereal @ Mar 29 2007, 10:31 PM) [snapback]414616[/snapback]</div>

Exactly!

I certainly am not buying Toyota because of some silly reason, and people who take the time to post on this forum most likely share the same interest in the Prius : high FE, low emissions, high tech, mid-size car. No one here is a Toyota bigot.

GM and Ford simply don't sell anything like the Prius. If there was some comparable competitive domestic vehicle similar to the Prius, then maybe Marlorn wouldn't be considered trolling.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(usbseawolf2000 @ Mar 29 2007, 10:11 PM) [snapback]414633[/snapback]</div>

Great point, you may have to join a support group 'er I mean user group. The addiction is real.
I too traded in a Japanese 4WD manual transmission and haven't looked back for a second. Then again, I am now part of a support group.

 

YOu will find very few poeple on this site who will talk you out of a Prius.

If you really want some bashing from folks who hate our cars visit this site :here.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prickly commute @ Mar 29 2007, 07:48 AM) [snapback]414097[/snapback]</div>

Let me put in my two cents worth. I owned an 03 Civic Hybrid for almost five years. ( Would have been five years if I had kept it until the first of July.) I also own an 05 Avalon. In early February I had the Avalon at the dealer's for some warranty work and the rental car manager who knew that I had the Civic Hybrid loaned me a Prius for the day.

To make a long story short, in less than two weeks we had a new Prius and a few days later I sold the Civic. It is silver pine mica with package 1 and some other options put on by Gulf States ( the distributor that several of the southern states dealers get their cars from). Seaside pearl was our first choice, but it got sold about two hours before we got there. The seaside pearl and silver pine mica colors at not as easy to come by as the other colors.

I have had the car about a month and a half and am still discovering neat things. I know it sounds silly, but sometimes I just go out and sit in it without going anywhere. It is so far ahead of the Civic Hybrid (at least the pre-06 models) that there is almost no comparison, and I was perfectly happy with the Civic until I drove a Prius for the day.

We took advantage of the 0% interest and the $1,575.00 tax credit and drove out of the dealership with no money down and the first payment not due for a month. Couldn't have been easier.

So my answer to your question, is DON'T WAIT, JUST GO GET ONE. You will love it.

 

[TO:'prickly commute'

Toyota has been selling the Prius in Japan since 1997. To date they have not had to replace any Hybrid batteries. Toyota expects the batteries to last the life of the car simply because their system is designed to operate the batteries at optimum ranges. They do not fully charge or discharge. Toyota Hybrid batteries are also replacable in modules so you might only have to replace a small portion of the total battery package. Remember even if they last 7 years, by then, the number of Hybrids on the road will be substantially more than today thus the increase in manufacture and new technology in batteries will drive the cost down. Prius is one Hybrid that is really holding it's value on the used market.

I have a 2006 with all options, and almost 20,000 miles on it without any warranty issues yet. Toyota quality is very evident and the technology in this car is like a space ship... Fly by wire = no mechanincal connections from the accelerator to the engine, same with the shift. No transmission gears = CVT continous varible transmission, Blue tooth =connects to many cell phones.

ONE suggestion though. If you buy it, get the aftermarket stiffening brace offered on this site. Easy to install and I must tell you it changes the handling of the Prius so much it is almost impossible to believe.

I drove my car for over a week, taking note of handling characteristics on specific roads. I then installed the stiffening brace replacing the Toyota Brace and it is like night and day.

Good Luck

 

Yes, that was with climate control turned off completely.
It's down to 53.? now...we had a cold snap and I've been using the heater.

I never have the climate control on auto. I just use it manually as needed or turn it off completely.

It takes a little while to figure out what gives you the best milage. Every trip you make, try a different driving style and reset the MPG average and see how it does the best.

I thought granny driving would deliver the best milage so I tried that and got 35 mpg coming home from the dealership. Then I let my leadfoot sister drive it and she got 49! So I've kind'a adopted a system of fairly quick acceleration followed by granny coasting and stops. And 53 mpg has been my lowest average since then.

Eric

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prickly commute @ Mar 30 2007, 07:39 AM) [snapback]414808[/snapback]</div>

Kelly Blue Book Private Party value for a USED 2006 (not 2007) Prius with 1 mile:
23,100

Kelly Blue Book Retail value for a USED 2006 (not 2007) Prius with 1 mile:
27,230

If you don't like it after a week, put an add in the Statesman that you'll sell it for blue book (and make a profit).

Keep in mind, even if you sell it the day you buy it, you still get to attempt to qualify for the tax credit.

As for the Vehicle Guard... look to see if it has sound proofing. If so, I think it's worth it. Drove a car without and a car with and you can really tell the difference.

Still suggest you get the port leather, but that's just me.

11011011

 

Why is it again MALORN is posting here. No Prius owned, seamingly very little common sense. All comments are negative. If you have that much free time and why don't you start a PickUP gas guzzlers website where you comment might be appreciated. Your negativity is monumental. I fully understand a Prius is not for everyone but the garbage that purports to be American family cars is not worth buying.

 

Buy a Yaris. No battery to lug around and not as common as a Prius.

 

No to the Yaris. Cute little car--not even halfway as technologically advanced as the Prius.

And I say yes about the leather, too. Spend the extra money. I wish I had. The upholstery is the ONLY thing I don't like about my car...

 

Well...(this from someone who'd DEFINITELY by another Prius)

--The traction control is really intrusive and the tires are really cheap and have poor traction...which can lead to some butt-cheek puckering moments in the winter (in curves, or when you try to cross in front of oncoming traffic and the traction control basically reduces the power to idle and you just sort of sit there wondering what happened).

--The interior plastics aren't terribly robust, and when you place your elbow on the driver's window sill, you'll feel the plastic give a little and hear a creaking sound.

--There is a lot of technology going on, so an extra cost warranty is really almost a necessity. And, if you're used to some of the mannerisms of 'conventional' cars, you'll have a bit of learning to do.

--The front end is easy to scrape on driveways and such (mine's lowered which only makes it worse)

--There's no remote trunk release

--The HVAC is almost too smart for its own good. It does work well, but doesn't do (easily) some of the things which you might take for granted.

--There's significant glare on the windscreen from the dashboard.

--The voice recognition system isn't really great. You'll eventually get sick of saying, for example, 'seventy-three degrees'...and its saying back "hospitals are not available on this screen. When you're ready, press the command button and say your command..."

--The steering wheel controls are cool, but if you're not careful you can disengage the auto AC or change other settings if you use the horn in an emergency.

--The premium stereo system sounds good for most types of music, but definitely doesn't rock.

--The 12v battery is on the small side, so if you forget any interior lights on for even a little while, there's a greater chance that you'll draw it down to where the car won't start.

--And a related issue: The parking pawl is electrically driven, which means that if the 12v battery is dead and you can't start the car, you also cannot take it out of park! There is no emergency release. This one really baffles me; a unique but potentially hassle-filled engineering oversight/compromise which isn't mentioned in the documentation...but can really screw you if the car's parked in a garage. There is a trick to force it to stay in neutral to go through a car wash, but the car has to be powered up to do it.

--It reverses using ONLY electric, which means that if you parallel park on a *really* steep hill and need to back up, the car will probably move...but it might be only at full throttle and at an unsettlingly slow pace.

Oh well, nothing's perfect, right?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prickly commute @ Mar 30 2007, 09:10 PM) [snapback]415218[/snapback]</div>

I love my little black Prius...looks even cooler with my tinted windows, mudflaps, and front black leather bra. Of course, silver hides dirt more. The bronze/tan color is good at hiding dirt, too.

I'm not as fond of the blue, but it's a popular color among Toyotas in general.