Thinking about getting a black prius

That's funny, I read that article and it looked to me like it was saying the Prius is very reliable at high mileage as long as some under-informed tech doesn't try to rob you by replacing the whole hybrid battery rather than cleaning corroded connections.

If you've ever driven a regular ICE car into the ground you've probably seen corroded connectors on a car battery before and know that they need to be cleaned for optimal performace.

 

that also sounds to me like more of a problem with the dealership than with the car.

and there have been a whole lot of improvements since the 2001 model.

put it this way. my husband fixes them for a living. he sees EVERYTHING that can go wrong with them (and all other toyotas) and still felt most comfortable with me driving a prius than any other car.

 

Having a non-black Prius was a must for us- I do not have the time to wash it every weekend plus it gets hot here in So Cal. grin... We have Driftwood (had Silver first- seems every car we have had was silver , so then we switched to another LIGHT color...). The OCTA (bus people) seem to have all the white ones in Orange County,CA.

 

In California you're warranteed for 10 years, 150,000 miles on the hybrid parts.

The rest are 3 years, 36,000 miles unless you buy an extended warrantee then it's 7 years, 100,000 miles (they vary. I have 7 years, 75,000 miles)

I'm averaging 48 mpg on each tank. Sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower. Usually no lower than 46 mpg. I keep the tires 42/40. Current tank has 52 mpg.

Don't believe everything you read. Don't rely on one source.

And test drive the car.

While I could keep this car longer than ten years (that's my pattern, ten years, then buy) I'll probably trade this one in for a 2009+ model. I'm hoping for LiI batteries and plug in (and dark blue).

I'd start saving my money and looking to purchase Fall of 2008 when the 2009s come out.

No Prius (not even the Japanese 1997 ones) has had to have the batteries replaced.

A taxi driver in Canada has run his over 200,000 miles with no problems.

Right now, no one knows how long or far the car will last. But Toyota has invested a lot in the HSD. They're not going to build them to die right after they are out of warranty.

 

RED!!!!!!!!! RED!!!!!!!!!!!! GET A RED ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:lol:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcbrunnhilde @ Jul 26 2006, 01:58 PM) [snapback]292661[/snapback]</div>

What's funny is that I haven't seen a color I dislike or wouldn't take..... They all look good to me!

 

Black is an excellent choice and a Toyota Prius is a smart, reliable choice. if you really do keep the car 5 years and 160.000 mi. then you will get the max benefit of ownership.

 

Definately stick to your guts and get black so you can join the "Cool Chicks with Black Pruses/Prii" club! Unless you're a guy, in which case there might be a "Cool Dudes with Black Priuses" division starting soon. B)

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=17802


And because of PriusChat, I've no fears about the performance or reliability of this car. Even if something ever goes wrong (knock on wood), there seems to be a significant host of Prius owners on here who know how to get it fixed immediately, suggest measures to prevent it ever happening again, and all for the best price with bonuses to boot.

 

I'm ready to spearhead the "Cool Dudes With Red Prii Demolition Derby Club" (known as CDWRPDDC for short). Ha ha, it will probably be 10-15 years before the first Prius makes it to the demoltion derby circuit!

 

My Black Prius just hit 5000 miles so I can't speak to its reliability at 150k....but I love it every bit as much now as I did the day I bought it. I'm glad I did it. Although I occasionally dread the 15th of the month but that's just b/c it's putting a damper on my saving for school. I'll have it paid off by July 07 if I keep this up.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BlckPrius @ Jul 26 2006, 05:51 PM) [snapback]292784[/snapback]</div>

It's not only CA, but not all states either. MA has the same warranty as CA. It has to do with requirements of the states. CA, MA, NY and others have higher requirements (pro-active green) and this forces Toyota to give better warranty. Other states don't.

What can I say? Vote for change!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 26 2006, 12:52 PM) [snapback]292657[/snapback]</div>

Well, the first line is definitely correct, because the next one isn't. I'm not the final expert on this, but my understanding is there have been a few replacements due to accidents, perhaps a rare defect, and I would bet the occasional person who runs out of gas and then thinks they can go another 2-3 miles to get to the gas station, meanwhile frying their batteries most of that way. (If the battery level goes under 40% (bottom of the MFD gauge), the lifetime is seriously reduced, if it goes down far enough, the batteries are toast on the spot). There was one person here on PC, a Kiwi as I recall, who bought a used pre-2001 model (classic? gen I? NH10) and the batteries went bad. But generally if it's due to normal wear-and-tear, at least the theory is you can replace the bad cells, no reason to replace the whole pack.

There have now been at least two taxi drivers in Canada with over 200K miles on the original batteries, and also Jesse in Mass (from John1701a's website).

 

In California, the battery is considered "emissions equipment" and thus falls under the 10 year/150K mile provision.

Remember -- on a car, black isn't a color, its a hobby!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Ichabod @ Jul 26 2006, 11:21 AM) [snapback]292597[/snapback]</div>

I agree. This was a car that needed some minor maintenance at 113K miles, and instead the dealer tried to get them to sell them a new unit they didn't need. Everybody's heard stories like this on any type of car out there. You just have to be vigilant, and informed and sometimes ready to make some noise about something that seems fishy. But a good cautionary tale, now I know if they say I have a bad battery, I'll ask for a listing of voltage drop on each cell first. I wonder if there's something unique about cell #13?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Jul 26 2006, 12:52 PM) [snapback]292657[/snapback]</div>

Just to clarify, the NON-hybrid parts carry the standard 3-year, 36,000-mile warranty. The hybrid components carry an 8-year, 100,000-mile warranty. California is a different case because of the requirements, so they have a 10-year, 150,000-mile warranty on the hybrid components.

Here is what the Toyota e-Brochure says about warranties:

 

I Don't give into this junk personally. Toyota put themselves on the line and said, THIS CAR WILL WORK FOR 8 YEARS, 100K MILES for the hybrid system. Im sure some tech was paid alot of money to figure out if they could do that and could sell them buy the thousands, taking in that consideration.

...this to me is just another article that is super skeptical of the "alien technology" that is saving thousands of people, thousands of dollars... thousands of gallons of gas saved...

i have had my 06 for only 3 or 4 months but i have full trust in confidence in it. its quoted:

"My 2001 Toyota Prius lasted five years and 113,000 miles. And then the batteries seemed to die. My dealer estimated the replacement cost at $7,000. They recommended scrapping the car for parts."

Personally I see it like this, if you got a tax break of 3k (for buying a car!) and you save 2k on gas a year for 5 years, i wouldn't complain about this. I'd buy another prius.

if taxi's do it, don't see why your car can't. TAXI's drive all day!!! All week!!

"Andrew Grant, the Vancouver, Canada, taxi driver who drove his Prius for more than 200,000 miles in 25 months, tells all about his Prius, which has taken a pummeling and kept on humming."

Sounds like a Dealership is ripping people off.

what are you waiting for, you know your going to love it when you get it...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(nerfer @ Jul 26 2006, 05:05 PM) [snapback]292791[/snapback]</div>

Galaxee did say two have been replaced but under warranty.

What I meant was that no one has had to PAY out of their own pocket to replace a battery for any reason.

I'm not worried about anything. They aren't going to warranty a car for 150,000 if it falls apart at 151,000. Because they can't take the chance it will "die" early. So I expect going 15 years or 250,000 miles won't be a problem.

I'm not worrying about wearing this car out. It's built too well. I'll probably be trading up for an improved Prius long before anything is close to needing to be replaced. It may even have the OEM tires.