OT - Toyota Prius V or Prius owners

[Howard Rosenberg]

Well, the time's up on my current lease.

I love the car - 2007 KIA Rondo - great seats, small outside package HUGE interior room, 3 rows of seats. BUT this thing gets TERRIBLE mileage and the lack of a telescoping steering wheel has killed my neck since I got it.

I'm the only person in it about 98% of the time. The way I figure it, we need one more family car before there are NO MORE family trips. Then I can get what I REALLY want - a FIAT 500 Abarth - small, nimble, good performance and great handling.

So until then, I either get something small-ish with better mileage like a KIA RIO5 and get my wife the family car - she has her eye on the Mazda CX5. Or I get a Prius V for family purposes and get my wife a Subaru Impreza.

I test drove the Prius V today. Smooth ride, ok performance, terrible ergonomics, a weird plastic sunroof that doesn't open - BUT - great mileage with a huge interior capacity. Even if I end up getting half of what Transport Canada says, that'll still be 3x what I'm getting now in basically the same style of vehicle.

Any personal knowledge and experience or opinions and rumours would be welcome.

Thank you.

Howard

[harry hood]

I don't know anything about the new Prius but my 2004 is the best car I've ever owned and I've been through a lot of them. When I bought it I was doing a heavy 90 mile round trip SF bay area commute and that's the the ideal for that car miilage-wise. I'm too tired to go out and look at my log book but my 5 year average for that time was something like 56MPG; I get between 55-60MPG depending on traffic and weather (the heater in particular can kill your mileage by forcing the engine to run when set above 69F). Your mileage will most likely be much lower, maybe even down in the mid-40s if you just make lots of short trips around town or just 70MPH on the freeway. Mechanically I've had no trouble and at 135K miles it still is on the first set of replacement tires (although I need to replace them again) and original brakes are at 80% last time I had them checked. I have the extended warranty on the batteries but I can't tell that the originals aren't working as well as when they were new. The ability to use the carpool lane at the time and not pay bridge toll was just icing on the cake, the car paid for its slight premium over the other car I was considering the first year in gas savings and now I just get to chuckle at these paying $4.40 a gallon for gas to burn while sitting in traffic. Comfort-wise it's probably high-end for small Japanese sedans but with the fold-down back seats I can easily fit cut down sheet goods and a fair amount of 8' lengths of lumber (I think my record was 15 2x6s but the last couple were sticking out the passenger window).

[Alan Lightstone]

My 2008 Prius was bought back by Toyota under the Lemon Law after a prolonged legal battle that I won. I wouldn't recommend it in warm climates, but in Toronto, probably OK. Mileage was scary good.

[Larry Edgerton]

I need to do something about fuel costs myself, so I was thinking a small wagon for the days I don't need a truck. Not many out there.....

The VW TDI's are in the same mileage range as the Prius, look a whole lot better in the parking driveway, and the wagon has a lot of room.

I'm reading up on reliability now.

Larry

[Joe Leigh]

Firstly, no one buys a Prius looking for performance. That said no other car comes close as far as mileage. My company leases a fleet 2011 Priuses (Priui?) cars so I have about 6 months of experience driving them. I will say they are very roomy, extremely quiet and well appointed for a compact car. There is an initial learning curve to operating one but that fast becomes second nature. The technology and level of refinement is impressive but the real proof is in the numbers. I consistently get in the low 40's around town and 50-low 50's on the highway. My range is 400-450 miles per tankful.
The engine operation takes a little getting used to as it turns off frequently when not need and it's a little wierd to hear it turn off while you are sitting at a light. It's also strange to have air conditioning and power steering functioning while the engine is off. The electric only mode has too many limitations and is rarely useable. In my opinion the car spends too much time recharging the battery instead of consuming the battery. My battery indicator is constantly near full. The dash has some cool graphical display that shows when the engine or battery is being used to power the car as well as a bar graph to indicate how much energy is being saved at any point.
The fit and finish is good and like I said earlier the interior is very roomy. It's not for everyone, but outside of a straight electric there is nothing that can beat it for fuel economy.

[Stephen Cherry]

A new car every 5 years? Sounds like financial and environmental irresponsibility to me. I've sworn off highly depriciating assets, and I would absolutely not consider financing a car. Why not take out a bank loan to flush the money down the toilet?

For the sake of the environment, why not just find a car you would be happy with for 10-15 years, and stick with that?

[Joe Cowan]

I had a Prius and sold it too a friend that was driving a Suburban around the state. You do not buy a Prius for anything but getting your butt around cheaply (gas wise). It is a small car without any luxury. I was getting close to 50 mph when I drove it, but my wife would get upper 30's as she brakes hard and has a heavy foot. She wanted bigger and I caved in. Every family should have one car like this and one car that is more comfortable for special occasions.

[Jamie Buxton]

If cost is your primary issue, not saving the planet, the problem with the ultrahigh-mpg cars is the initial cost. You have to drive lots and lots of miles to get back that higher purchase price. Most analyses I've read conclude that for most of these cars, you don't actually recover the initial cost, even with projected increased gas prices.

[Scott T Smith]

We've had one since 2008. The positives: Very good mileage (between 45 - 50 for us), one note - tires make a difference in the mileage; ours dropped by 15% when we replaced the origianal tires with some Michelin "high MPG" models - surprising to say the least).

Practical from a storage standpoint. The back seat folds down flat and you can stuff a lot of items inside.

Dependable - we have had zero unscheduled maintenance on the car.

Performance is acceptable; I'd rate the acceleration as very good.

The con's: Our Ford pickup trucks are more quiet and luxurious than the Prius (and we have the top option package on the Prius too). The stereo system is not great either.

All in all, a great commuter car with fantastic mileage.

[Matt Day]

I don't have any Prius experience, but I have a few friends with TDI's and they get great gas mileage. One of them has an mid-2000's Beetle TDI and he's never seen below 50 mpg if I recall correctly, he picked it up used too. I have not done my own research on the environmental impact of manufacturing the batteries that power the Prius, but that's a whole can of worms in itself.

If I were in your shoes, I'd make sure to look at TDI's too. One day, Subaru will finally bring it's diesel engine to the states then I might be looking for a new car!

[Steve Meliza]

It's rare that I see a Prius, CRV, RAV4, or Subaru wagon that is able to go fast enough to reach the speed limit so you might want to keep looking.

Rumor has it that in the UK you can get small diesel cars that get 60+ MPG, can you get those in Canada as well? If I had the parking space and if I could get that kind of car in the US I'd leave the ~13MPG truck parked during the week and drive something economical to work.

[harry hood]

Unless your talking about 299792458m/s speed limit not really. The Smart cars sold in Germany originally had a diesel model (and discounted Deutsche Bahn tickets since the range was so short) but there's no small production diesel car that gets 60MPG. I have a couple friends with Volkswagon TDIs and they reliably get 40MPG on the freeway but, other than a Jetta just being more comfortable and generally nicer than Prius, the Prius or Insight beat it for efficiency. For the price the new Fiat might be worth looking at, especially if you have a pickup for when you have to move something other than a couple people.

[Tim Morton]

A new car every 5 years? Sounds like financial and environmental irresponsibility to me. I've sworn off highly depriciating assets, and I would absolutely not consider financing a car. Why not take out a bank loan to flush the money down the toilet?

For the sake of the environment, why not just find a car you would be happy with for 10-15 years, and stick with that?

Do you think he takes his 5 year old vehicle down to the landfill *rolling eyes*...i bet someone else drives it after he does. So win win...good for the economy...and good for folks looking for good used vehicles that can;t or choose not to buy new.

That being said...i am in a similar situation...3 years into my Mini cooper, which gets great gas milage and is a ball to drive...but i need omsething a touch larger. ( keep that in mind before you buy the fiat)

So i am looking at the VW Golf TDI, and the VW Jetta sportwagon TDI...they both feel way more fun to drive than a Prius.

[Larry Edgerton]

What I need is the Euro version of the Ford Transit Connect [Dumb Name!] that has the turbo diesel/stick and is long enough length to be of some use. Give me the one that will hold a sheet of plywood! I have read claims of 55mpg imperial, so a touch over 40 US. The one they sell here is useless, and not all that efficient.

The federal diesel smog standards are ignorant. They are keeping a lot of efficient vehicles from our shores. I think our smog standards should reflect Europes exactly. Safety standards as well. This is costing us a lot of money up front, and the added weight is penalizing us at the pump.

There is nothing out there that is practical for a contractor that want to save on fuel costs right now. Its frusterating. I'm looking at cars because there are no other choices. Mahundra has a midsize direct invected turbo diesel truck that they want to bring over, but Federal regs and red tape are keeping it out.

Larry

[Jim Becker]

Howard, we've owned two Prius vehicles (a 2002 and a 2008). They were great cars in most respects, especially the 2008. We started to consider the Prius V when it was time to move on this past fall because we've always enjoyed the excellent fuel economy and also have an appreciation for the concept of hybrid vehicles in the evolution toward less use of fossil fuels. (they are not perfect in that respect, of course, for a variety of reasons. We also have truly enjoyed the service and support that Toyota and our local Toyota dealer have provided for many years. (I happen to drive a 2006 Highlander Hybrid Limited myself)

That said, what caused us to take pause with the idea of a third Prius variant was two things: Difficult field of vision to the rear and horrible traction in the winter. Professor Dr. SWMBO has enough visual issues under normal circumstances that the view to the sides and rear ratcheted up several notches in our decision process. Getting stuck a number times in our own driveway in winter conditions didn't help matters. We also didn't like the way they have changed the center console in the current generation of Prius models from the more open arrangement that we enjoyed in the 2008 to something that felt closed and confining. In the end, we chose to purchase a Subaru Outback which provided the additional interior cargo space we desired (and the Prius V could also have filled with it's more wagon like design) as well as exemplary traction in any kind of weather. The sacrifice was doubling our fuel cost, but for us, the safety of a better view for Professor Dr. SWMBO's eyes and the more sure-footed traction was more important.

I would honestly love to own another Prius at some point, but for now, it wasn't the best choice for us when we made our buy last fall.