Are you satisfied?

I'm not getting the EPA #'s (yet), but I have no complaints. I understand how the EPA numbers are put together, and how out of date the calculations are. Most cars don't meet these #'s, but it's more noticable with higher mileage vehicles (there have been plenty of posts about this).

It's a safe car, a fun car, and high in the 'geek-factor'... perfect for a high-school physics teacher <g>. If it fits your needs, it's a fine car.

 

Well all I can say is that it gets better and better each tank. The car is teaching me to drive, and beyond that I am a calmer driver. I am a little slower and more observant of the people around me. I am averaging better than 50 m.p.g. for my life time average after more than a half year and that is twice as better as I was doing. I also have the satisfaction that the emissions from this car is more than that.

 

I love it, and can't believe I waited so long to get one. efusco is 100% correct in how you drive it determines your mpg, but I want to add something to what he said. This car can change you without you even wanting to change. I used to drive a 2003 Toyota Matrix and always drove 80 mph on the freeway and tollway here in Houston. Since getting my 2005 Prius I am now only going 67-68mph in order to get better mileage and I do it willingly. In fact, I smile as people zoom by me on the left, as I drive in the right hand lane now, and take pride that I am polluting less than any car around me and getting better mileage all the while in absolute comfort with the auto airconditioning. I used to be always worried about cops, but now I don't even think about a ticket. That should get figured into the cost comparisions in my opinion. :mrgreen:

Get one, you won't be sorry. Right now, after about 3300 miles on my Prius I am starting to see the mileage go up. This tank is 230 miles into it and I am getting 51.3mpg. My drive is 80% freeway and Tollway and most of my trips are about 40miles long.

You also need to read http://john1701a.com website as it is a great historical log of life with a Prius.

 

well my worst tank was 42.9 mpg. during that tank i did 6 trips of one mile in length every day, 5 days a week. it was winter time, so if that is probably as bad as it will get for me.

right now, i have 209.4 miles and computer says 54.9 mpg, i have 7 bars. you can look at my signature and decide if that is good enough for you. realize that my mileage is probably at least 2-4 mpg higher now from a combination of break-in and driving smarter.

but we also have to look at the fact that any other car would be lucky to get 35 mpg...to me, i dont think i could do that badly even if i tried.

 

Indi: i love my car. I drive almost 200 miles a day. It's simply the best car for the job. I have never had a full tank under 40mpg.

Remember, there is a break in period for the MPG to climb. Mine was between 15k and 20k.. then i was able to achieve 60mpg on a full tank. Screen calculated 59.7 i think ( on my signature ) with my calculations it was more like 63mpg.

The more you drive, the better the car gets.

Trying to justify the cost with gas saving? so far with 29k miles on my car, i have saved well over 1,000 dollars (USD)

The car is estimated to last 500,000 miles. The battery should last 19 years ( Toyota estimate ) If you were to drive 200,000 miles in the next ten years, you will save a lot of money. your cost for gas is also a lot higher than mine, right?

 

Last tank was 654 miles at 58.9 MPG. This tank so far is 250 miles at 58.7 MPG. If I set the cruise control at 75-80 mph with a full car, I get 40-41 MPG. Am I satisfied? You bet. In fact I'm starting to look for one for my wife. If she gets only 50
MPG, her gas and maintenance savings will pay for 250 of the 400 dollar a month car payment.

 

We are totally satisfied. We were looking to replace a midsize 6 cylinder and saw the Prius at an auto show January 04. We searched around to find one to test drive (not too easy at that point) and when we did, my wife fell in love with it. She wanted a zippy car and is completely satisfied with CarMyne (her car). However, the 6 month wait did upset her at times. The mileage we get is easily 2-3 time better than anything else we were considering. But we didn't buy it specificly to save gas (or the environment). The car has a well designed interior and plenty of room for my 6'2" height in the front or rear seats. We have no complaints...

 

We love our Prius!! I am the primary driver so my husband usually smiles induljantly at me when I talk about gas mileage. Well, he has taken it a few times on his long commute and now we argue (mostly good naturedly) about who gets the best/highest mpg. I find myself also driving in the right lane now as opposed to the fastest lane going. I'm so laid back a driver that I forget how I can take off when I need to - such as getting onto the freeway quickly. There is NO OTHER car like it!

 

This is absolutely the most favorite car that I have ever owned or driven. It is a joy to drive and I can see myself driving a Prius for the rest of my life. The car actually makes me feel happy when I am putting about in her.

I only have 1K on my car so far but I have been averaging around 45-50 MPG and I drive about 50% highway and 50% town.

 

Well, let see gas is $2.17 here and still going up and I am getting an avg of 56 MPG on the last few tanks (it took me one tank to learn how to drive it efficiently). My last vehicle (F250) got 15 MPG diesel which usually cost the same as premium ($2.39). My wife's gets an avg of 52 MPG which is up from her Honda Civic of 30 MPG. She just drives it like a regular car. We are very satisfied with the Prius.

 

First of all, congratulations on your intelligence in both considering this car and in finding this forum to help you make your decision.

Let's start by taking the mileage out of the equation. Why you ask? Because when it comes down to brass tacks, you may buy a car because it gets great mileage, but you don't keep, rave about or enjoy driving it solely because of mileage alone.

The Toyota Prius is one of the highest customer satisfaction rated vehicles in Consumer Reports history. Not good enough you say? Try this, the Prius is 2005 European Car of the year with one of the highest overall safety ratings ever recorded in that contest and the highest where child safety is concerned.

It is also one of Consumer Report's 10 best cars of the year (again). Still not convinced? How about this, some of the features that come standard on this vehicle are still optional equipment on other cars and some of the features are either not available anywhere else or are only found on extremely expensive luxury models.

Did I mention that it is fun to drive, as comfortable for the back passengers to ride in as for the ones in the front (I had a 6'4" friend in the backseat today and he had ample head and leg room even before I moved the seat forward. So much so, that on the return trip, he chose to sit in the back again.)

Shall we talk about resale value? Thought you'd never ask...I have seen and am still seeing these cars hitting used lots at full retail sticker price (2003 24,500 miles $23,000 on Saturday April 2).

Sure the fuel efficiency has something to do with this, but if the car was not a stellar machine all the way around the mileage would hardly entice folks to buy one. Think about it, the Mini Cooper does pretty well as does the Toyota Echo and the Honda Civic Hybrid, but you don't see folks waiting months or even a year or more to get one do you?

There has to be more to the Prius story than just fuel economy. This is a great car in every respect, from the sleek styling to the dazzling array of techno-gadgets this is one fun car. The Prius is probably one of the best combinations of beauty and brains currently on the road (and judging by the number that I saw on the road today, for the foreseeable future).

Ultimately, choose what you like and you will like what you choose. I think that if you choose a Prius there is just a lot more to like.

Take care,

Tisza

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Widdletink\";p=\"79264)</div>

Tisza, right on! My 6 foot son was very surprised at the legroom when he was sitting in back of me; he was comfortable with room to spare. The gas mileage of this car is icing on the cake, or should I say the features of this car are icings on the cake since the price of gas has gone so high and mileage is its best feature?

 

This is a similar situation to what I just went through the past couple weeks. I was looking on replacing my '94 Ford Explorer that was pulling down a whopping 15mpg with something new that would get a around 30-35mpg highway. My choices were a new Ford Focus (great deals going on), Chevy Aveo (just really didn't like the cheap feeling car), or a Nissan Sentra 1.8SE (was still considering it). Then I saw an ad in the paper for an 02 Prius at a dealership and had to look. It worked out to be less expensive to buy the used Prius and get another 15ish MPG also. I'm still on my first tank, car has 85000 miles and I'm averaging 49.2MPG according to traffic for my first 340miles since Saturday night.

There are many deals to be had on used Priuses if you are willing to buy used over new. I'm not a fan of buying new, but I don't mind putting a few dollars and some time in them and saving lots of cash either. The only time I buy new is for my wife's car since her and my kids safety is number 1.

dave


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco\";p=\"79221)</div>

Here in Vancouver BC the gas price has passed a dollar per liter and it will keep climbing...it will be mostly city driving during the week but I'd love to go on some road trips here and there and the expenses on gas will be daunting...

I used to drive a Corolla and the gas mileage was awesome...but getting another Corolla is just plain boring...there are two main factors in my choice of vehicle: gas and environmental friendly (in that order...based on my income). I'm not sure the dollars saved on gas will justify the cost of the vehicle over 10 years (assuming that I'll keep the car for 10 years).[/b][/quote]

Compared to buying a used vehicle in good condition similar to the Corolla or another fuel efficient compact car you will have a hard time justifying the purchase on a financial basis alone.

Compared to a comparably sized and equipt new car...you'll make up any price difference in 3-5 years depending upon how many miles you drive per year at your current fuel costs...maybe even sooner than that.

Hunt around, see if you can find anyone who feels the Prius was a bad choice....it'll be a long search.[/b][/quote]

 

Being a OR analyst i did a decision matrix prior to buying it and compared it with 4 other vehicles. The Prius came out ahead. You are partially right about the fuel economy, as long as we stay below the $5 line in the next 5 years. After that it will be a big issue.

Techincally, it would be cheaper to get the Toyota Echo. Based on my calculations it would take 24 years to break even between the saving of the Prius and the Echo. But there are many other features of the Prius I like also.