News Flash to you suckers: Prius only gets 25mpg

pull the guts and make it into a bev. where's bill the engineer?

 

My daughter had one of these with 5 doors and a 4 cyl motor.

Funny story - she and her friends went away one weekend, and when I entered her fuel in the spreadsheet, I was horrified - 16 (US) MPG (it had averaged 35 US MPG). I asked her what they'd been doing. "Oh, Steven drove, and took the boat"!!!

The handbook showed towing capacity as "0" - though when we bought it, it had a towbar on which we'd ignored. But the boyfriend noticed the towbar ...

Reliable little car, very tinny, a rebadged Suzuki - I'd hate to see the safety/crash rating on one of those now.

So, a minor similarity to the PRIUS - ZERO towing capacity.

 

"The 3rd most fuel efficient vehicle of all time. 41 city / 51 hwy."

How can you tell when a politician / used car dealer is lying? ...

According to fueleconomy.gov, its original EPA rating was 44 city / 49 hwy / 46 combined. On the modern (2008) EPA scale, it rates 36 city / 42 hwy / 39 combined.

 

Lol

 

Zero towing in the US. Many small cars have a respectable tow rating in other markets while the the Prius is still zero.

In this esteemed gentleman's defense, you might be looking at the automatic transmission ratings. The revised manual ratings are 36 city/ 43 hwy/ 39 combined. Then there was a manual only ER model that is 44 city/ 51hwy/ 47 combined. I'm unable to view the original ratings currently.

 

I remember those when I worked for chevy. Junk!

 

No, I did look at the manual transmission. The automatic comes in at 38/40/39 original, 32/36/34 new scale.

But I missed the ER variant, which the ad did not specify. That version really did have a high EPA rating: 54/58/56 old scale, 44/51/47 new scale. If one considers only gasoline vehicles (excluding plugins and other fuels), lumps all Prius variants together as one, and likewise with all Insight variants, then a 1986 Chevy Sprint ER indeed can be portrayed as '3rd most fuel efficient vehicle of all time'. The 1987 Sprint ER then ties for 4th place with the 1988 Sprint Metro, and with many Geo Metros and Accord Hybrids.

But this advertised car must be an ER for the claim to have any vague resemblance to the truth. The regular model falls way short.

 

It must be an ER since it has a 1.0 liter 3 cyl. engine.

 

Fueleconomy.gov lists all versions, ER and non-ER, as having 1.0 liter, 3 cylinder engines.

 

Well, you gotta give the guy credit for trying to sell his car.

 

The ER must be like the lean burn Honda engines then.

 

Yeah, I bet all of them came with that towbar in case another Sprint breaks down, can tow each other, just help each other out! . The good old days of Chevette, Vega, Pinto, Geo Metro, Rabbit diesel, etc...

 

Per NADA guide, $2500 is very high for this model/year, so the seller is obliged to misdirect in some way. A way has been chosen and maybe it will work.

With $2500 in pocket your used-vehicle choice is going to depend on many things. We have discussed at PC several reasons why an NHW11 Prius might not be your best choice (later Prius have not gone into that price range yet). There are many choices in used Toyota and Honda sedans and I suppose that most buyers would find the most satisfaction somewhere in that market segment.

But giving such advice is not what we do here mainly. When a clearly under-informed individual rags on Prius (in this case, with obvious motivation), we respond more or less reflexively.

 

"the last of pure econoboxes" that must be an euphemism for chity ride comfort. my last "pure econobox" was yugo. it was not very gas efficient thought. 30/30 city/hwy. gas was about $0.70 then IIRC, probably more expensive than now adjusted for inflation.

 

But he needs more homework on selling. I want to know how good his car is - not his opinion on other cars that "suck"

It might be a good project car.

 

My GenIII actually does only get 25mpg. At the deepest point in Chicago winters, and when I only drive it the 2.2 mile round trip to work, and the coolant has no chance of warming up.

 

lol Australia was burdened with Suzuki Swift also rebadged as Holden Barina both the biggest duds for that era, everyone hated them (except the mechanics) I never had the pleasure of driving the 3cyl G10 powered swift but the G13 was underpowered and horrible enough for me, id rather catch the bus than drive that thing! seriously ...

 

Well I suppose when you are looking for $2,500 for nearly a 30 year old vehicle, that you admit needs engine mounts and strut tower mounts, you have to come out swinging with your sales pitch. If that means making an unfounded swipe at Prius drivers, I have to applaud the moxy, if not the reality of the statement.

If the seller thinks Prius Ownership is a 25/32 mpg, planet destroying proposition?
Then I'm going to tell him....That Sprint is very near the finish line.