Make Me Love The Prius

I don't know why some people are complaining about being unstable at high speeds? Are you guys drafting with jeff Gordon or something? That is one of the things I like about my prius, it's comfortable and fine (for me anyway) on the highway. It seems surefooted to me. I love going on long trips on the highway with this car and sometimes i get up to 80 with it, so I'm in the dark as to what all the fuss it about?????

 

If there is anyone else here that has had or remembers driving a Corvair, you'll have a better understanding of the feeling of instability that is trying to be described of the Prius. The Corvair with it's original belted non-radial tires, worm and gear steering and heavy rear weight bias ('cause that's where the engine lived) helped make your a highway driving experience a two fisted white knuckle thrill! ...and I loved it! and my Prius!

 

It sounds like it won't take that much to "convert" you. Cool!


> Adequate acceleration

Was that based on FEEL or what the SPEEDOMETER said? There's a very significant difference. The CVT is so smoooooooth, you will be disappointed if you expect a power sensation. The needed speed is there, only your butt won't feel it.


> Unstable at high speed

Soft tires and tires with an improper pressure balance (a 2 PSI front bias is required) will do that. And of course, tall cars like Prius are naturally less stable than the short that was considered "normal" just a few years ago.


> with the Prius’s 40MPG (that’s what I get)

Don't jump to a conclusion about MPG until both you and the car itself are broken in. Even if your driving habits don't change at all, you will monitor both oil-level and tire-pressure more closely. And the various moving components within will loosen up as the miles add up. They all improve MPG.

 

DBM, there have been one or two people who have had problems at freeway speeds - but that is quite rare. What I suggest is test driving another Prius different from the one you took out - maybe perhaps a dealership has one nearby that you can take out for a spin - one with more miles on it, maybe with better tire pressure, etc. This is an absolutely amazing car, no doubt about it - but make no mistake, just like with every vehicle ever produced, a few that come out have some problems - it's like computers - build 100 exactly the same way with the same parts, and tell me you can get them all to run the same, and I'll worship you as my new God.

As far as selling you on this car - my first instinct when I saw this thread was 'oh well, if you don't like it, then don't get it.' Truly, very little cars have this sort of feel - where they are designed not necessarily for the entire world, but just for a small group of people - I guess one could say that's probably how Hummer stays in business, perhaps.

Anyway, like Tony, its common for me to see porches, and hundred thousand $ cars on my way to and from work. Yet, I've come to realize the most amazing thing ever - if I won the lottery, or had an infinite source of income - I'd still be driving this car. Sure, maybe I'd have a 911 convertable to show off occasionally, but my main car would be this one, period. I am driving my dream car, and at 27 years old no less. And, I will never want a non-full-hybrid car again, nor will I ever want to have a non SS/SE equipped car again, nor a car that can't get at least 50mpgs (I'm at 18k, averaging 51.2mpg, it gets better in time).

I have spent my previous years assuming I'd have to settle for a few pluses in a car, never getting what I really wanted. I no longer have that.

-m.

 

being a fellow geek i can say that i didnt expect a perfect car by any means... but at just over 20,000 i have to say the car has far exceeded my expectations and that of nearly everyone that has ridden with me.

a very close friend of mine bought a VW Passet. paid more for it and is already having issues with the car. he drives more than i do and considered a Prius but couldnt wait (also i dont think he would have because he wanted a sportier type car)

you can see by my byline that i get much more than 40 mpg and would under the worst of conditions. but all that has to do with driving styles and conditions. so you can improve there.

but i am a computer geek and its pretty common knowledge in circles i run in that Japan is a good 2 years ahead of us in the geek department. i sometimes want to cry when i think about all the cool things they got to try that never made it here.

so when the new Prius came around, i was determined to be one of the ones who got one in case it faded fast. obviously that concern is moot now, but i have taken up the role of imforming all who show an interest the benefits of owning this car.

i guess i have to say that i never looked at the car as a perfect driving experience (although its pretty damn good. i dont have control issues and my car is tight as a drum but i dont have the upgraded stereo where i guess the speakers have been a culprit in some vehicles) but simply the right thing to do.

its not a perfect solution to anything. but its here now and any perfect solution is YEARS away. it is a deceptively large step in the right direction though and that right there is worth the price of admission.

 

well said rflagg... i had a choice of nearly any car but chose the Prius because there isnt anything else i want to drive.

 

Having rented far too many cars in 45 year career, very few were what I would consider premier examples of their manufacturer's intentions. To put it bluntly, rental car drivers rarely give their rented cars any respect! Therefore, they generally SUCK as top of the line performers. BTW, this experience was with most rental agencies in North America.

 

I like the unique design and driving the optimum coeficient of drag fusiform shape. The 50+ mpg fuel economy goes hand-in-hand with the SULEV (super ultra low emission vehicle). Style and minimum emissions speak loudly. Driving in stealth mode makes pedestrians take notice because of the lack of noise.

The JBL 6 CD system, cruise control, energy monitor and relative quiet make me feel in control. The custom fit heat shields for every window speak loudly of quality. Japanese engineers do what they do best: package a lot of information into every component.

 

And even if they wanted too, they simply aren't familiar with the car. That means they are likely to bump into a curb... which will cause a tire to no longer be balanced... which will cause a rough ride at high speeds.

 

Okay. My two cents worth:

I've only ever had one rattle. It turned out to be the garage-door opener I had put in the cup holder. No squeeks. I'm at about 6,000 miles.

I bought this car because I'm a gadget freak and a moderate environmentalist. I was not enough of an environmentalist to buy an Insight or the Classic Prius, but I love the bragging rights about mileage and emissions.

Don't buy this car to save money. If you need to save money buy a used Civic. Late 1990's will give you a fine, reliable car, and your lifetime total cost will be far less than a new Prius, But, hey, you don't buy a BMW or a Porsche to save money either. You buy them because they are special, and because you feel they're worth what they cost. The Prius has features and quality only found in much more expensive cars, reliability only found in Toyota and Honda, and a drivetrain design so elegant it is a work of art. (No clutch, no transmission!)

My Prius is stable enough at 75 mph (the speed limit on our freeways) and even 85 for passing. However, it requires constant effort to drive in a strong crosswind. That's a drawback. But I don't do much freeway driving.

I have an irrational prejudice against automatic transmissions. I liked my old manual Civic. But the Prius gives me the best of both worlds: It simply eliminates the transmission entirely.

I suppose comparing a Prius to a BMW might be like comparing a speedboat to a sailboat. The BMW is a powerful car, built to go fast. If you want to go fast, you want a speedboat. You fly across the water leaving everything in your wake. But I like a sailboat better. It's more soothing, more relaxing. It's more environmental. The analogy breaks down because the Prius will go as fast as the law allows, so you get there just as soon. But the trade-off is there: the BMW gives you muscle. The Prius puts one-tenth as much smog-forming emissions into the air. And the Prius is no slouch on acceleration. That electric motor has got torque like nobody's business. After a Civic, the Prius has oodles of power.

We don't have traffic jams here in Fargo. A traffic jam here is when it takes two cycles of the traffic light, and an extra 2 minutes, to get past an intersection. But plenty of folks have reported the soothing effect of waiting in traffic, engine off, electric motor moving the car when all you can do is creep forward a few feet, while all around you the SUV's are paying big bucks through their gas tanks to sit still.

The Prius is not for everyone. But if you can afford a new car, you like gadgets, and you want to minimize your impact on the environment, without giving up very adequate power and size, then the Prius is for you.

And the $3,000 more that you suggest the Prius costs, that's not for the hybrid power train; that's for all the features you get, and the pure Toyota design and build quality. This car is worth more than its price, IMO.

Now, someone who does not care about technology, and does not believe that oil is finite, or that the Earth can absorb only a finite amount of pollution, would have no reason to buy a Prius except that for $24,000 (pkg "AM") you get a car that's worth $30,000.

 

daniel... Kelly Blue Book shares your opinion

http://priuschat.com/forums/money-in-the-b...?highlight=bank

 

I didn't set out to buy the Prius. I wanted a decent car with the following: ABS, traction control, stability control, brake assist, side and head curtain airbags. Those options alone really limit your choices. For example, a Toyota Camry will allow you those options, but only in the top-of-the-line V6 that costs just as much as the Prius, and returns 1/3 to 1/2 the fuel economy, especially in city traffic. The Toyota Avalon here in Canada costs $12,000 MORE than the Prius. I first noticed the Prius as one was parked next to the aforementioned Avalon in the showroom at the dealership. I sat in the Prius, became intrigued, was talked into a LONG test drive with the sales guy (Slow day??), and ended up cutting a check that day. Overall, I don't regret my decision. I think Toyota could have done a better job prototyping, as I did have one breakdown that was software related. Then again, one of my neighbors at my condo drives a 2004 BMW 745Li with that mind-numbing IDrive control system. The BMW is ALWAYS in the shop, it also left him stranded a few times, and cost around 3.5 X what my Prius cost. I gave him a ride to work one morning and he REALLY liked my Prius. I love the attention I get in my Prius, though I have to always clean fingerprints off the side windows (People gawking at the interior when the car is parked somewhere). I'm not on an ego trip here, but it's really cool how an average four door hatchback gets a LOT more attention than a $100,000 luxury German import. Can you buy cheaper cars? You bet. Cars this cool and attention-grabbing, especially for the money? I doubt it.

 

DBM, I'll chime in

 

I think that once you drive the Prius regularly, you might possibly go through what many of us have - 'Road Calm' (opposite of road rage), 'Prius Zen' - whatever you want to call it.

Here's what happens with some of us. We drive our old cars aggressively and have road rage. Hate sitting in traffic, get angry and floor it and block out anyone at any chance we get.

Then you get this car. For me, this car showed me something - regardless of how much I *heard* it, seeing it was much more real - I saw how my bad driving affected my mileage. I begun to realize 'hey, if I don't punch it from the stoplight, I can coax the car to stay in stealth mode for a few seconds longer', or 'hey, if I'm more aware of the stopping/stopped traffic ahead, I'll coast instead of hard braking'.

Obviously, it might happen to you, it might not, no one is to say. But if you begin to see yourself making changes to your driving actions in attempts to nudge that mileage ever higher, you'll begin to realize the true joy of Prius.

Now, as Evan has said before, I look for the Semi and get behind him, because I know he'll start off from a stop slow, and I get more stealth - and he'll also do more coasting than normal drivers & less hard braking, another good thing for the car.

And you know what's the most amazing part? I'm not any later or earlier to my destinations. Driving to work takes me the same amount of time, but saves quite a bit of money driving the Prius vs. my 2000 Neon.

-m.