Tell me about your Prius or other small sedan...

[wendibird22]

DH and I are car shopping and looking to replace his 2dr Civic coupe. Our other car is an Ody so we are all set with a comfy, holds the dog and kids type car. DH has the longer of the commutes (20mins each way...but mines only 12miles) so I'll drive the Ody and he's looking for something with good gas mileage. He will be doing daycare drop off and pick up so it has to comfortably fit our FR and our MA (RFing) and be a reliable, safe vehicle.

He test drove: Focus, Fusion, Prius, Civic, Accord, and Altima. While the Prius is the most expensive of them, they are getting 50mpg. We plan to have this car for 8yrs and anticipate gas only going up from the current $4. He was really impressed with the Prius as far as ride, comfort, and amenities. We've ruled out the Focus and Civic because Focus back seat is just too small and the Civic wasn't a comfy ride compared to the others.

Any feedback from current Prius owners? Thoughts on any of the other cars?

[BillK]

As much as I like the idea of a hybrid - the thoughts of replacing the battery ar 60-70k miles scares me. I've heard numbers from 6-8k for a hybrid battery replacement.

When my wife's van is paid for I'm seriously considering a Hybrid Highlander to replace my $120/tank Yukon XL - but that battery deal worries me.

[crl]

We had a 2007 (I think) Prius. It got 42 mpg. At first we liked it okay, but over time it started to feel tinny to us. Then Toyota had all those recalls. We got rid of it. Personally, I wouldn't get another.

Catherine

[khalloc]

DH drives a 2010 Prius. He's getting like 55 MPG on it. We love that car. Had it for over 1.5 years. Its a great car. It fits our 2 carsets (both FFing). I have put the dog in the back if its a short ride.

Right now I drive a 2005 Subaru Outback with the larger H6 engine and I am seriously considering getting a Prius too. I feel like I dont really need a bigger car more than about 2-3 times a year. So why am I spending $55 a week on gas when I could be spending about $15 or $20???

Toyota is coming out with the Prius V sometime this year which is a little larger. The gas mileage on that isnt as good (38 - 42ish) but way better than the 18 I get with my Outback.

I wouldnt hesitate to buy a Toyota.

[robinsmommy]

We have an '05, we got ours back when there were waiting lists still....we love ours, I will say that it's good you have the van - 3 across a Prius isn't easy - but since it sounds like that isn't an issue, I'd get one again in a second. We're looking at the bigger Prius V for down the line, but we plan on keeping ours another few years yet.

The battery - well, I'm pretty sure they still have the long warranty on the battery (is it 100K and 8 years?), and ours (the hybrid battery) is doing just fine at 63K. The other battery (a traditional car battery used to start the car) is also doing fine, which is quite a good lifespan. If you're in CA, the battery warranties are even longer. They do have the plug-ins out now, or coming out soon, I think.

We've been really happy - I fill the tank every week, and even now it's under $30 if it's almost empty (though I will say that our gas is cheaper than average). We did get the side airbags, wouldn't get any small car without the extra safety features like that and ABS, but much more of that is standard now.

There are lots of Prius people over at carseat.org, too, and they have a review up there somewhere as well.

I'm not thrilled to have a car with a lot of recalls, but I challenge you to find a big car maker who hasn't had a lot of recalls in recent years. Do I like the way Toyota dawdled? No. Do I think that any other car manu. would have done differently? NO. Our Prius has much been much better than the Honda Civic we used to have, which had all sorts of major problems - we ended up with a free extended warranty after much complaining to Honda - the computer(?) died about a month before the extended warranty expired - it'd been $5k to replace it without.

The other "big" issues for me - the gas gauge isn't great (it's a bladder tank, which makes it finicky to measure, I guess), and our model doesn't have knobs for heat, fan, etc - I prefer them to using the screen, but I'm a Luddite. They might have added knobs back in for the newer models, and they are a hair bigger than ours in the back/width, so 3-across might not be as awful with the right seats. Oh, and the area under the "spoiler" never gets all the way clean at the car wash. Small things overall, but full disclosure...

Really, overall, I love ours - and we also think that gas won't be going down very much in the coming years.

ETA: This is our ONLY car, so reliability is huge for us.

[Moneypenny]

We've had a 2011 Prius for a couple of months now. LOVE IT! I'm getting mid-50's for mpg. As a PP said, the hybrid battery is warrantied for 8 years/100K (even longer in some states). Replacement cost for the hybrid battery in our area is currently about $2500, but I really don't expect to have to replace it. Consumer Reports just did a review on a 10-year old Prius and the battery was just fine. We also have lots of friends with Priuses (Prii??) who have never had to replace a battery.

I think starting with 2010 models that gas tank is an actual tank and not a bladder, so the gas gauge should be more accurate. My only real complaint is that it has some rattles that I can't quite find to fix, but generally it's only when the weather is cold. I think it's just the plastic parts in the dash when I go over bumps.

The only other car I can speak to you on your list is the Accord. That's our other car. I hate it. It's uncomfortable and noisy (road/wind noise). The front seats don't adjust to fit me properly so I get a sore back from being in there for just a 20 minute ride. We generally get in the mid- or upper-20's for mpg.

[lhafer]

Well, it's not a Prius or even a Hybrid, but my DH drives an Elantra and we really love Hyundai. My ILs have a Veracruz and Santa Fe as well. No issues with them, they run great, have good gas mileage (our Elantra - can't atest to the SUVs), and have great warranties. He drives round trip ~60 miles a day 5 days a week, and he fills up about once a week.

[TwoBees]

Never mind.

[JElaineB]

We have had a Prius (2005 model) for 5.5 years and love it. Everytime gas prices go up we are so glad we have it. DH had a heart attack when he filled our other car (that we hardly drive anymore) the other day. It is very comfortable to ride in and drive. We only have one DS, so his booster is in the middle of the back seat, but would imagine 2 carseats would fit fine outboard.

ETA: No issues with the battery here either, though I'm not sure what our mileage is. I think it is pretty up there since we commuted in it 60+ miles a day for 2.5 years.

[bubbaray]

If you are buying a hybrid mainly/solely for the fuel savings, you need to carefully crunch the numbers. DH is an engineer and works with a lot of electrical engineers and they did a lot of number crunching over this very issue.

Basically, if you have a mainly highway commute, the fuel savings aren't worth it until gas is much more expensive than it is now. I recall that the fuel savings were worth it for a city commute (stop and go) at a certain point.

They also did an analysis of the maintenance costs and battery costs, etc. It was very detailed. Long and the short of it, the added cost of purchasing a hybrid did not make *financial* sense until fuel prices were similar to those in Europe.

If the purchase is for *green* reasons, there are other considerations -- added pollution to landfills because of the batteries, cost to ship the batteries from Switzerland to Japan then to North America, etc. I have a coworker who is big into "green" and she did an analysis of the green factors with a hybrid and ended up buying a Yaris instead. Then again, she traded in the Yaris after 2 yrs and got a Subaru.

FWIW, 2 of DH's former coworkers purchased hybrids (one Prius, one Highlander) even though the numbers weren't supportive of the purchase.

[khalloc]

I dont think for everyone its about the numbers. For me it wouldnt be. The car payment or price of the car wouldnt be what bothers me. its the price every week for gas. I know it might not make sense for some people. But you buy the car once, you buy gas almost every week (depending on what car you drive). I know its not sensible, but to me it would be worth it to not spend $250 on gas a month.

[SnuggleBuggles]

The Accord is so big! We wouldn't have been ae to fit it in our garage. But I did like it. However I would choose a Civic for size and better mpg. I'm still leery of US brands and adore my local Honda dealer so I would get the Civic (you'll grow to love it) or the Prius

Beth

[bubbaray]

What about a diesel sedan, like a Jetta? I just asked DH and that is what he would recommend if the consideration is price/fuel economy.

[wendibird22]

If you are buying a hybrid mainly/solely for the fuel savings, you need to carefully crunch the numbers. DH is an engineer and works with a lot of electrical engineers and they did a lot of number crunching over this very issue.

Basically, if you have a mainly highway commute, the fuel savings aren't worth it until gas is much more expensive than it is now. I recall that the fuel savings were worth it for a city commute (stop and go) at a certain point.


Thanks for this point. DH and I discussed this. His commute is almost all highway and I did ask him to calculate our fuel savings and how long it would take for our fuel economy to make up for the extra cost of the car itself. One thing that we took into consideration is having this car for 8 yrs. No way to project what fuel costs will be but I can't imagine now that we've crossed the $4 mark that it would ever go below $3 again. So while it may not be a significant fuel cost savings now or even next year, what kind of savings might we realize in 2016 or 2017? We also took into consideration that the Prius is roughly $23K and some of the other cars I mentioned, equally equipped (even the base Prius is well outfitted), aren't much cheaper so it isn't as if we'd be paying $5K or more for the hybrid over some other car.

Didn't look into the Jetta. DH mentioned it but I don't recall why he took it out of the running.

[bubbaray]

Unless I lived somewhere where driving a hybrid would give me free access to HOV lanes (ie., a non-financial benefit), *I* would not purchase a hybrid for a commute that was mainly highway.

DH and I crunched the numbers ourselves when I replaced my van last year. I (briefly) considered a Highlander hybrid and the Escape hybrid. My commute is 95% highway and it just did not make any sense whatsoever (and our gas is significantly more expensive than gas in the US).

There are definitely intangible reasons to purchase hybrids and I know many people who have done so. The financial reasons really need to be considered carefully, however, if that is your main motivator.

[AnnieW625]

I agree with everything that Bubbaray said in her posts. DH is also an engineer and said pretty much the same thing that Bubbaray's DH did. He thinks that hybrids are all fancy marketing and that the numbers aren't that much different from other manual transmission cars.

We have an 01 Corolla with 140,000 miles on it. DH looked at the Prius in 2001 also but he didn't like that no one at Toyota knew how long the batteries were going to last. DH gets between 35 and 38 mpg with his manual transmission. DH is looking to replace the car with another similar sized sedan or a slightly larger Honda Accord. He was really sold on the VW Jetta TDI wagon, but he doesn't like how they've cheapened even that model in the last model year (and the TDI was the top of the line model). We might look at the new Passat too as VW is also putting in the TDI in that car, and he will also look at the Golf TDI.

[maestramommy]

If you're looking at the Accord, you might want to consider the Civic. The Accord is midsized, Civic is considered a small sedan, and definitely gets better gas mileage. They've gotten bigger, so I'm sure it's plenty roomy.

[maestramommy]

Unless I lived somewhere where driving a hybrid would give me free access to HOV lanes (ie., a non-financial benefit), *I* would not purchase a hybrid for a commute that was mainly highway.

DH and I crunched the numbers ourselves when I replaced my van last year. I (briefly) considered a Highlander hybrid and the Escape hybrid. My commute is 95% highway and it just did not make any sense whatsoever (and our gas is significantly more expensive than gas in the US).

There are definitely intangible reasons to purchase hybrids and I know many people who have done so. The financial reasons really need to be considered carefully, however, if that is your main motivator.

Oh, I definitely agree with this. We looked at the Prius and the Accord Hybrid lite before buying our regular Accord. It would take YEARS of lots of driving to get the cost benefit of buying a Prius. In SoCal this might've worked for us if I was still working, because I had a long commute, and we had use of the carpool lane with a hybrid. Also, a friend of mine has a Prius, and his battery recently died. Replacing it was NOT an easy venture. Probably not cheap either.

ETA: Sorry, I didn't realize you already replied. The Prius is 23K?? Have prices really gone down in recent years? That's only a little more than what we paid for our Accord.

[wendibird22]

ETA: Sorry, I didn't realize you already replied. The Prius is 23K?? Have prices really gone down in recent years? That's only a little more than what we paid for our Accord.

Yes, Prius 2 is $23K. Prius 3 is $24K and only difference is Prius 3 has bluetooth capability and a better CD player (neither of which we need). The 2011's get 51mpg highway/48 city. We aren't looking at hybrid models of other cars (like Accord) where all you get is extra horsepower and not better gas mileage. The other cars we are looking at are the standard gas models.

[khalloc]

Yes, Prius 2 is $23K. Prius 3 is $24K and only difference is Prius 3 has bluetooth capability and a better CD player (neither of which we need). The 2011's get 51mpg highway/48 city. We aren't looking at hybrid models of other cars (like Accord) where all you get is extra horsepower and not better gas mileage. The other cars we are looking at are the standard gas models.

I believe your info is wrong. The Prius gets better mileage in the city than the highway. And it really depends on the driver. Both DH and I see > 51 MPG in his Prius. He is seeing 57 MPG right now. My commute is mainly city driving which is great for a Prius.

[bubbaray]

City = 51, Hwy = 48, combined = 50 per toyota's website

[wendibird22]

City = 51, Hwy = 48, combined = 50 per toyota's website

:yeahthat:
Sorry...had my city and hwy reversed.

[robinsmommy]

Here is something else to consider - call and ask about a few of the cars you are looking at and maintenance costs, how often for oil changes, and the 30K, 60K , etc services.

Sometimes places are including maintenance in the cost of the car (or they were - some of the good deals are changed), but if they aren't, I think that it may be cheaper to maintain a Prius (EXCLUDING the hybrid battery). Because the brakes are regenerative, they get very little wear, and there are a lot of fluid replacements and other $$$ doo-dads (sorry, I am so NOT a car person - timing belt, maybe?) that don't happen with a Prius that do with a regular car. Don't know how often most other cars get oil changes now, but it's 5K with a Prius, Toyota says you can go 10K with synthetic - don't know if I'd push that one that far, but I may switch to synthetic with my next oil change.

ETA: call and ask the service dept, and don't say that you're looking at buying one, just ask about costs - hopefully you get straight info that way.

[niccig]

We have a 2004 Prius with I think 75,000 miles on it - I'll have to look when DH get home. For last 6 years he's been able to go in the carpool lane, but that perk goes away in June I believe - it'll be for electric vehicles only.

I look up battery life and found this

Q: How long is the warranty?

GS: The high-voltage batteries are warranted for eight years or 100,000 miles, and under California regulations the battery warranty extends to 10 years or 150,000 miles.

So we can get to 10 yrs or 150,000 in DH's prius...I thought it was just the 8, which we're coming up on. Nice to know we have more time.