Who says a Prius is a waste of Money??

Those of us in "non-block-heater-country" use the acronym "EBH" for two reasons:

1. We've never needed a block heater in another vehicle, so we aren't accustomed to calling it one thing or another.

2. The acronym stands for "Engine Block Heater," which is accurate, if not overly descriptive I guess it could be heating some other block... like the one between our shoulders.

 

I trust that was "tongue-in-cheek"!

 

If it was a financial decision I would still be driving my 05 freestar. $252 monthly payments. with 2.5 years left to be payed off.// Prius is $395 monthly for the next 5 years, plus dont forget the $5k down. <IT WAS WHATS BETTER FOR THE PLANET CHOICE> 22mpg vs 44mpg

 

Yes, regular. There is no benefit to a higher grade of gasoline in a Prius.

Also, besides jumping in the car and driving off on a cold morning, leave the heater off for a while. You won't get much out of it right away, anyway. If you are in city traffic, you can easily toggle the heat on and off with the button on the steering wheel. Off will encourage the car to shut down the ICE at stoplights. When you drive off, you can toggle the heat back on.

Every drop of gasoline counts...

Harry

 

Premium isn't necessary in the Prius.

 

I purchased for $22,490 with #2 package, $1,550 negative on the trade, then put 5K down. plus $950 ex warranty. Financed $20630 for 60 months came out to 392 monthly, no big options packages or dealer installed items.

 

When it's cold, I don't drive until I can see out the windshield.

It doesn't matter if I have Auto A/C on or not... our humidity is so high here all winter, that the least bit of cold, and the windshield is completely fogged. Wiping it off doesn't really help, either.

So, I will occasionally sit in the Prius for a couple of minutes, until the fog lifts.

 

Biggdogg, don't use premium gas in that Prius!

We just use regular on 2005 Prius for 3 years now (not previously mentioned in my gloating over the 2008 purchase). The low mileage may or may not change in the cold. With my 2 or 3 mile commute and very little other driving, we have gotten as low as 38 mpg on occasion in very cold weather. More typically 46-51 mpg, on regular.

Gee I'd be doing so much better if I were a former SUV driver....

Guess I am clueless, but WHO DOES say that Prius is a waste of money? Nobody I talk to (but I don't go looking for trolls to chat with). In my experience, any new car can be considered a "waste of money" because of the beating I take on collision and comprehensive insurance. Never needed that on my string of old cars and I will never save enough on gas to make up the cost differential. Everything always depends on what it's compared to. But we love Prius 1 and expect to love Prius 2 in another week! We consider the Prius a good value.

 

Be easy on the throttle. It is not like your Pathfinder that has a lot of horsepower. I also have an '08, but I get between 44 to 46 mpg lately. (2.3K)

I warm-up for about a minute in the garage and after that you can hear a slightly different tone on idle, which is an indication that you are ready to go. Anything longer than that the engine will shut-off.

Drive safe.

 

?? When mine is ready to go it says "Ready" on the dash. Unless you're defrosting the windshield there is no reason to let it sit and warm up for any length of time. Doing so is a waste of gas.

 

Defrost goes faster using outside air instead of recirculated air. Note the display on the dash.

The main battery does not charge when the car is in Neutral. If you shift when moving the loss of charging action can feel like the car is leaping forward. Fanatics can improve their MPGs by using N but they must carefully watch the battery's state of charge.

 

After two road trips up and down the east coast totalling nearly 5,000mi, I can't imagine a better bang-for-your-buck car. For one thing, it holds a ton of stuff. On the way back south we had two people, two cats in carriers, one black lab, one huge duffel, one small duffel, a whole bunch of christmas presents, and some formal wear on hangers. There was some other miscellaneous junk (books, shoes, food) stuffed into the cracks, too. We didn't think everything would fit but there was room to spare even while giving the dog the entire hatch area to herself. (Try that in a Camry!)

As for mileage, I've never driven this car as hard and fast as we did the other day. I hate to confess to sinning, but travelling with the flow at 70-75mph made a huge difference over each 900mi leg vs. my normal commuting speed of 60. My old Accord was good for maybe 27mpg in conditions like that. The Prius returned 46mpg despite the really nasty head/crosswinds and temperatures of 37F at most.

Not bad for a car I bought new for $23k.

 

Study also agrees that Prius is the most reliable, fuel efficient and most satisfied car of 2007.

 

I bought home my new 46 inch flat panel TV in tha Prius, I don't think it would have fit between the suspension towers in the Camry. Still very happy and not a waste of money.

 

Gosh, that makes me glad that Rudy is satisfied!

 

I can't help but comment on NRMA's calculation on the operating cost of the Prius. It seems very high at $199.60 per week which is comparable to my previous car a Honda CR-V at $200.47. This includes fuel costs and running costs over a 5 year period. It shows obvious savings in fuel costs but it did not explain how it arrived at the running costs.

Light cars - 2007-2008 Operating Costs table - NRMA Motoring & Services

First of all, the CR-V felt a lot higher to maintain in terms of fuel costs - around 12 litres/100km in the city. The Prius at 4.7L/100km. Maintainence of the Prius (servicing, part replacement) is cheaper than the CR-V. Consider this: $180 standard service; $350 major service (Toyota) compared to $250 standard service; $800 major service (Honda). My comprehensive insurance is cheaper by 35%.

My only conclusion with NRMA's high calculation is that they think it costs more to maintain a Prius... perhaps its the battery that needs constant replacement, therefore leading to a higher than average depreciation. However, the Prius battery dying is a very rare occurrence. In fact, the Prius is known to drive for 400,000km in 2 years without any incident. It is used by cabbies in Canada.
DailyTech - Cab Driver Passes 400,000km Mark in Prius


The Prius won many awards last year including Lowest Operating Costs and Lowest Ownership Costs.

Looking at the reports below, we can clearly see that the Prius is a lot cheaper to operate over a 5 year period.

2007 Toyota Prius - Cost of Ownership
2007 Honda CR-V EX 4WD - Overview

My conclusion is that NRMA needs to revise their running cost figures. Prius is definitely cheaper to run.