Prius Owners: What Say You?

[Carbo]

I'm toying with the idea of buying a new car. I own a '97 Civic EX. Purchased new 11 years ago. Only 65,000 miles and never a problem. Other than routine maintenance, the only issue I can recall was having to replace the CV boots. Overall, great car. Don't need a car. And I must say that ten years without a car payment is sweet. But, what the hell. I suspect there are some starving car salesmen who want my money. . .
With that said, the cost of gas has got me to thinking about the Prius. Seems to be the car of choice in the hybrid world. So, for those of you who own and drive a Prius, what is your real world feedback after logging some miles with the vehicle?
What do you like about it? More important, what do you dislike? Does it drive the same as a regular car? What option package did you spring for?
Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[ultimatebob]

Unless you drive an insane amount of miles, the cost of the car payments is not to going to outweigh any cost savings from buying less gas.

If you don't need a new car, I wouldn't buy one right now. Put that money in an emergency fund instead.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Unless you drive an insane amount of miles, the cost of the car payments is going to going to outweigh any cost savings from buying less gas.

If you don't need a new car, I wouldn't buy one right now. Put that money in an emergency fund instead.

Depends, but either way, i'd rather put money into an object I can at least get something out of, versus money spent on gas which is never seen again.

Right now Prii are appreciating, or at the very least staying flat, in terms of resale.

 

[Carbo]

Guys, I understand that purely from a numbers standpoint, buying a new car is a losing proposition. As I said, having a trouble free car and no car payments for ten years is sweet.
But I am looking at this purely from a should-I-treat-myself perspective, and so I'm looking for some feedback from Prius owners.

 

[Abel007]

Sounds like you have one helluva car right now that is probably very good on gas, and you want to get rid of this helluva car for a Prius that may or may not give you trouble all the while paying $25,000 out of your pocket for it and getting maybe 10MPG more than you are currently getting.

 

[frostedflakes]

Not a Prius owner, but I think I know enough about them to throw in my $0.02.

Something to keep in mind is that for optimal gas mileage, you have to drive hybrids a certain way. Part of the reason hybrids are so efficient is because of regenerative braking. Ideally you should coast to red lights long before you reach them, or start to coast if you are far away and know the light will turn red before you get to it. If you're one of those people approaches a red light or stop sign at full speed and basically hits the brakes right before you get to it, you won't achieve maximum fuel economy. Also, I'd assume you realize this, but for a lot of highway driving, a hybrid like the Prius would offer little/no advantage over a pure gas drive-train.

Something else to keep in mind is battery life. Sounds like you get a lot of use out of your cars, so you may have to replace the batteries eventually. I'm not very familiar with battery life and replacement cost, maybe somebody else here can provide more info on that. IIRC the batteries are supposed be good for at least 150k miles, and replacement cost would be at least a few grand.

 

[Funyuns101]

Originally posted by: Carbo
Guys, I understand that purely from a numbers standpoint, buying a new car is a losing proposition. As I said, having a trouble free car and no car payments for ten years is sweet.
But I am looking at this purely from a should-I-treat-myself perspective, and so I'm looking for some feedback from Prius owners.

I don't think I need to repeat the other comments about this not making sense since your Civic must get very good gas mileage.
However, you may want to wait until the refreshed 2009 Prius comes out.
You can either get the new one or possibly a better deal on the outgoing model.
autoblog green

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Carbo
Guys, I understand that purely from a numbers standpoint, buying a new car is a losing proposition. As I said, having a trouble free car and no car payments for ten years is sweet.
But I am looking at this purely from a should-I-treat-myself perspective, and so I'm looking for some feedback from Prius owners.

Do you like gadgets? The Prius has tons of nifty features, plus there are quite a few interesting hacks out there.

 

[Thump553]

Prius owner since January (wife's car, so not fulltime driver):

Pros: lots of room, comfortable, backup camera is excellent, in-dash display of current mileage, etc. is very nice (but distracting when new to car), fancy key system (forget what its called) is a much nicer feature than imagined-keeping the key in your pocket and pushing start button makes other cars seem old fashioned (but "key" is outrageously expensive if lost-$300), mileage as good or better than advertised (we get 50+ now, will improve in summer, seems actually better in town than highway), handling is fine, acceleration is more than adequate for average driving (obviously not a hod rod), nice solid car with huge resale value (see below). Also, some insurers give you a discount for having a hybrid as their accident history is less (probably drivers more than the car)

Cons: current price (we got it at $1000 discount, now waiting list and full list, been to dealers charging $10K over list for program cars with 6-10k miles on them), highway ride a tad rough-more like an economy car than a luxury one, no sunroof/moonroof option, option packages over level II (backup camera & cruise) all overpriced in my view.

I've been shopping for a new car myself, thinking strongly of a Prius but I may wait until the 09 model (due out April, 2009 from what I've heard) as it will be a plug-in.

Go to forums at Priuschat.com for everything you want to learn about them, nice site.

PS-as far as gadgets go, a Prius is like an Apple computer-emphasis is on simple and functional, definately not the swiss army knife philosophy. I like their dash and controls layout a lot.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Abel007
Sounds like you have one helluva car right now that is probably very good on gas, and you want to get rid of this helluva car for a Prius that may or may not give you trouble all the while paying $25,000 out of your pocket for it and getting maybe 10MPG more than you are currently getting.

I bet he could get top dollar for that Civic and it would sell easily. If he sold the Civic for $5k he'd really only be paying $20k for the Prius.

There is no reason to assume that a new Prius would be anything but reliable transportation.

Still, I don't think I'd get rid of a Civic that's paid for with such low mileage for a new Prius and a car payment. That Civic still has a number of years left in it.

 

[The Stigenator]

i dont think the prius is all that, i drove one for a week in sacramento. There was no power up the hills, even with the battery assist, while it was nice that the engine shut off when idling at the light, the AC is woefully weak regardless of engine being on or not. The car's nice, smooth, and easy to drive, i liked that a lot. Lots of space.

Personally I would test out the prius and the civic hybrid, both give about the same gas mileage.

 

[StageLeft]

People like their prius' but they command a major price premium now.

 

[JeepinEd]

I'm on my 2nd Prius.

My first Gen1 Prius had 236K trouble free miles when I traded it in.
I just purchased an '08 Prius and like it much better than the first one.
My commute is 99% highway and I'm averaging 49.3 MPG (140 mile commute). If this new Prius is anything like my old one, the MPG average should go up during the summer.

I would not recommend one if you just drive a few miles a day. The hybrid system takes some time to warm up.
I would, however recommend that you wait for the *2010* Prius. The 2009 will have no major changes from the '08 model. The big change will come in 2010, when they will have new models, including the plug in. Don't know what the pricing will be like, though.

On a side note, one of the main reasons I chose to purchase a Hybrid was not to save money. I like the technology of the Prius and I LOVE the fact that OPEC will get less of my money.

You should also look into the Civic GX....

 

[Carbo]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus

Originally posted by: Abel007
Sounds like you have one helluva car right now that is probably very good on gas, and you want to get rid of this helluva car for a Prius that may or may not give you trouble all the while paying $25,000 out of your pocket for it and getting maybe 10MPG more than you are currently getting.

I bet he could get top dollar for that Civic and it would sell easily. If he sold the Civic for $5k he'd really only be paying $20k for the Prius. . .

Hehe. I had an offer last month from some kid, unsolicited. I was getting the oil changed at Sears, and when he saw the mileage was only 64,000 he gave me his number and told me to call him when I was ready to sell it.

 

[T2urtle]

my question would be... how much of a tax break go you generally get?

i get a 3k bonus at work if i buy a new hybrid. I'm in the market for a new car. My drive to work is 10 miles one way on the highway. I would say i travel 700 monthly, my current car gets me 22mpg.

i'm in the same market as OP, car paid off but my 22mpg VS his 30+ civic. I love gadget

 

[halik]

thaa-aanks!

 

[Thump553]

Originally posted by: T2urtle
my question would be... how much of a tax break go you generally get?

i get a 3k bonus at work if i buy a new hybrid. I'm in the market for a new car. My drive to work is 10 miles one way on the highway. I would say i travel 700 monthly, my current car gets me 22mpg.

i'm in the same market as OP, car paid off but my 22mpg VS his 30+ civic. I love gadget

The income tax break expired last year, AFAIK. My state (CT) doesn't charge sales tax on hybrids (expries 10/08), a very nice 6% instant rebate.

Most other hybrids I looked at (Camry, Accord, Altima, Saturn-some kind of sedan) all got a little more than half the mileage of the Prius, roughly 30-35 compared to 50-60.

I have no complaints at all about the AC, but I live in New England (muggy and mid-90s is about as bad as it gets). It's plenty hilly around here and I have no complaints about the power-it's no Corvette but noone will run you over, either.

I could have been wrong on the model year for the upcoming plug-in Prius-it's either 09 or 10, but it's laucnh date is supposed to be next April.

I'd say rent one for a weekend, test it out. Frequently people get buyer's remorse on the first day, but then begin to love it by the second.

 

[Carbo]

Still on the fence. Maybe I should buy it and then pimp it out??

 

[thomsbrain]

The Civic hybrid still gets the tax credit.

Honestly, a Prius for "treat?" If you're going to throw money away on a car you don't need, why not get a fun weekend car instead of another boring commuter to replace your perfectly good (and probably less boring!) commuter? You'll barely save on gas compared to the Civic, and that Civic has at least another 10 years in it at the pace you're driving.

Also, there are some interesting cars coming in the next few years. Toyota, for one, has announced their intention to sell a plug-in hybrid by 2010 (though I don't know if that includes North America). At any rate, if you're thinking "treat," choose a car that will truly be a treat, and keep driving your Civic to work.

 

[DOTC]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain
The Civic hybrid still gets the tax credit.

Honestly, a Prius for "treat?" If you're going to throw money away on a car you don't need, why not get a fun weekend car instead of another boring commuter to replace your perfectly good (and probably less boring!) commuter? You'll barely save on gas compared to the Civic, and that Civic has at least another 10 years in it at the pace you're driving.

Also, there are some interesting cars coming in the next few years. Toyota, for one, has announced their intention to sell a plug-in hybrid by 2010 (though I don't know if that includes North America). At any rate, if you're thinking "treat," choose a car that will truly be a treat, and keep driving your Civic to work.

I like this idea.

 

[Thump553]

Got to agree with Thomsbrain.

And the thought of a "pimped out" Prius makes me shudder-its so wrong on so many levels. People on Priuschat do extensive mods on their Prius, but they are more along the lines of geeked-out than pimped out.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Originally posted by: Carbo
But I am looking at this purely from a should-I-treat-myself perspective

Somehow treating yourself and the prius just don't go together

Treating yourself is getting a vette

 

[w00t]

Prius drivers are lame, they go 10mph under the speed limit just to get better mileage

I don't drive my car for ride comfort or gas milage, while I do consider it an addition it's not my main concern

 

[Uhtrinity]

Originally posted by: Carbo
Still on the fence. Maybe I should buy it and then pimp it out??

You realize "pimping" out a Prius means adding battery packs, plugin charger, and an EV switch

 

[Uhtrinity]

Originally posted by: w00t
Prius drivers are lame, they go 10mph under the speed limit just to get better mileage

I don't drive my car for ride comfort or gas milage, while I do consider it an addition it's not my main concern

Not everyone equates performance with hp.