Now a two Prius household

I did it. I just purchased the 2005 Prius I laughed about my sister buying a decade ago. She had passed it down to our little brother who moved to Japan years ago. He finally committed to staying there and sold it to me with 129,000 miles.

My first impressions of the vehicle 10 years ago was that it was severely under powered. Fuel economy was in the high 40's not 50's as Monroney sticker assured. The intense rattling of the trim pieces up front and back drove me bonkers. Handling was borderline dangerous. If I have to risk my life for LRR tires, I'll rather buy regular tires and suffer even worse fuel economy. The tires were also very stiff, uncomfortable, and did little to help the rattle situation.

10 years later, 3 of which after owning a Gen 3 Prius my impressions on the 2005 is more favorable. 2008 EPA estimates are now more inline with the mid 40's fuel economy I average. The OEM LRR tires have since been replace by cheap brand tires meaning the cabin is a quieter and more inviting place. Handling is par with my PiP. Power steering is noticeable less boosted. More force is needed to 3 point turn than in a Gen 3. No seat height adjuster. No 3.5 mm AUX in, no USB, and no BT means I use a lousy Bluetooth FM transmitter. Only one 12 volt slot. No HSD indicator so I just drive the car not being cautious of how hard I have to press the pedal. Using the MFD to control HVAC is interesting. I'm glad they changed that for Gen 3. My coworkers MFD failed and he has to control using the steering wheel by feel because he has no display. California forced me to do a smog check when transferring title. Looks like they only recently required hybrids to do smog. Insurance fell $14 from a 2006 Honda Civic LX with the same coverage. Coincidentally, I bought that car 10 years ago while my sister bought the Prius. We sold the Civic with 190,000 miles. Even now my choice would've been to keep the Civic and sell the Prius, fuel economy be damned. But 60,000 miles is quite a bit more risk. Although the Civic with it's timing chain has required no major engine service over it's lifetime with me. 1 brake pad change (I hypermile) and 10k oil changes with dino oil. The Prius with its 5k OCI would've been double the cost.

Overall though, this vehicle has aged extremely well for a 10 year car. The rattle that seemed so out of place when new is now acceptable for its age. All electronics still work. My 10 year old Civic from new is now louder, engine vibrates at idle, sun visors split open, acceleration is noticeably slower. In other words Prius still seems new. Civic is well worn. I now have a spare tire I can borrow whenever I like for my PiP. No more stupid flying buttress. Although putting a cup in the cup holder just like the Gen 3 causes rattle. Anyone else understand that?

 

Sorta, it's a smaller diameter than the Gen 3 spare.

I've been jabbing the empty space to the right of the steering column on the Gen 2 where the start button is on the Gen 3.