Anyone have the scoop on the Toyota Prius?

Question

I'm looking to get a new car, preferably a hybrid, and I hear that the Toyota Prius was/has been on backorder for a year. Im assuming its for a good reason, but I'd like to know the people's opinion on the car, especially owners if possible.

I mean... it is Prius for the People =P

Answer 1

Obviously the peanut gallery here knows nothing about the Prius.

Yahoo Answers is probably THE worst place to ask about hybrids because of all the "I heard it from somewhere" myths those guys spout.

Try asking actual Prius owners what their experiences are, because they are the ones with the firsthand information.  This is where a lot of Prius owners hang out:  http://priuschat.com/forums

The Prius has the highest owner loyalty of all cars out there, according to the latest survey:  http://wot.motortrend.com/6281340/auto-n...

That's saying a lot about the car.

Answer 2

Did you know that hybrid cars are only "green" after they are completed and on the road? The production of hybrids involves a lot of nickel mining, a filthy business that wreaks havoc on the environment near the battery plants. Buy a Corolla, you will save money in the the short and long run, and it's actually less harmful to the air.

Answer 3

They are too expensive.  You will be paying more and not saving enough on gas to recoup.  

Answer 4

With the most recent run-up in gasoline prices, demand has gone up in the last few months for the Toyota Prius (among other hybrids and high-MPG vehicles).  Unfortunately, Toyota at the moment is facing a supply shortage of hybrid batteries for its fleet of hybrids, so production is down on the Prius at the moment...  So, depending on the dealership and their allocation of Prius, you may find several-month long waiting lists, or cars available on the lot without a waiting owner.  You may also find dealerships adding on an "availability surcharge" over MSRP just to get one today, or adding on dealer-installed options (like new tires, paint/fabric protectant, pinstriping, glass etching) or pushing overpriced extended warranties or prepaid maintenance plans to pad the price upwards.  Contact several Toyota dealerships (internet departments often have different pricing than the sales floor, so even more than one salesperson at the same dealership can get you different info!) and get on their lists.  If you are not picky on color or option package, then you can probably find a Prius sooner, rather than waiting for the exact optioned Prius to be allocated to your dealership(s).

Even still, the Prius is Toyota's 3rd highest volume sales model in the US.  (see pressroom.toyota.com for sales figures).

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/...

Consumer Reports puts the Toyota Prius in their Best Bets list for used cars based on reliability.

The Toyota Prius is also listed as a best bet for a new car as well, based on road tests, reliability, and safety: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/...

Check out the Consumer Reports April issue if you want further reliability information.

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/bestbet/a...

The Toyota Prius is also on Edmunds' best bets list for used cars, for reliability, safety, and availability.

The Toyota Prius also makes Edmunds' Lowest True Cost to Own vehicle list: http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/tco/2008/...

The Toyota Prius is also the most fuel efficient vehicle available in the US today, for both city AND highway driving, at 48mpg city/45mpg highway/46mpg combined: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/f*g/bymodel/2...

Actual owners report on average mid-upper 40s for MPG: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?a... and http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/milea...

all that for a midsized vehicle! your actual MPG may vary, depending on how and where you drive.

The Toyota Prius is rated an AT-PZEV in California-emissions states, meaning SULEV emissions (90% cleaner than the average car) plus zero evaporative emissions and a 10 year/150,000 mile emissions warranty (which also applies to the hybrid battery).  For many years new diesels haven't been able to be sold in CA-emission states as they could not meet the basic emission standards...

In the US, the Toyota Prius comes with a basic new vehicle ("bumper to bumper") warranty for 3 years/36,000 miles, powertrain warranty for 5 years/60,000 miles, and a hybrid vehicle system warranty (which includes the hybrid battery pack) for 8 years/100,000 miles. If you live in a California-emission state, the hybrid battery is further covered under the CA emissions warranty out to 10 years/150,000 miles. (that's a full warranty - not pro-rated.)

Hybrid battery replacements are extremely rare (in or out of warranty). If you plan on buying the entire pack from a dealer, new it would be about $3000, but then again you could just replace the individual bad cell, or you could get an entire used battery pack from a wrecked vehicle for much cheaper (less than US$1000 on eBay).

Usually the mythic "article" from The Mail (mailonsunday.co.uk) on the nickel in the hybrid cars' NiMH batteries is quoted from a now retracted article.  (They were using data from the early 1970's about the INCO-Sudbury nickel mine, which was more than 20 years before the first hybrids needed NiMH batteries, and the plant has greatly cleaned themselves up and reforested the area since then. If you were to add up the amount of nickel in the million+ hybrids sold since 1997, the total is less than 1% of the world's annual nickel production. (far more nickel is used for stainless steel, for example).)

I've never seen anyone do a cost-benefit analysis for a v4 vs v6 vs diesel engine, so why do one for a hybrid drivetrain? Most cost analysis articles neglect trade-in value which the Prius does very well in maintaining. (in some areas, used Prius are still selling for new prices for availability and rising gasoline prices!). Don't forget to include federal and any state tax incentives in your calculation (Consumer Reports forgot, and had to issue a retraction that hybrids are cheaper to own/operate than their gasoline cousins). Edmunds.com still doesn't take into account the true depreciation value (as seen by manually looking for a Prius trade-in value) when calculating their TCO, but they still say that hybrids will pay for themselves even when using their lower than actual trade-in amounts: http://www.cnn.com/2006/AUTOS/08/22/bc.a...

Hybrids do cost less in the long term than their conventional counterparts. (Intellichoice used a 5 year ownership comparison in 2006) See: http://www.intellichoice.com/press/Hybri... and http://www.intellichoice.com/carBuying10...

Answer 5

Sucky cars the only good thing is the gas mileage, but is it worth looking like an idiot while driving it, i think not

Answer 6

Over rated.  You need to do a little math to see why.

You would be better off buying a fuel efficient gasoline only car and pocketing the $4000+ you will spend on the hybrid.

$4000 will buy a lot of gas, even at today's prices.

I will use some of the other Toyota models to prove my point.

A 2009 base Camray costs $18,920 and gets 31 MPG highway

A 2009 Hybrid Camray costs $25,650 and gets 34 MPG highway.

A 2009 Prius is going to cost $23,770 and gets 45 MPG highway

Lets use a nice round number of $4.00 a gallon for the price of gas.

Compare the Gas only to the Hybrid Camray:

The Gas only Camray is going to cost about 13 cents per mile for fuel.

The Hybrid Camray is going to cost about 12 cents per mile for fuel.

You will need to drive the Hybrid Camray about 591118 miles to save enough fuel to make up for the $6730 price difference in vehicles.

Compare a gas Camray to a Prius:

The Gas only Camray is going to cost about 13 cents per mile for fuel.

The Prius going to cost about 9 cents per mile for fuel.

You will need to drive the Prius about 120817 miles to save enough fuel to make up for the $4850 price difference in vehicles.

These fuel economy figures come from the Toyota website with the standard "Actual mileage will vary" disclaimer.  And everyone knows that few hybrids get the mileage the company claims.

So someone explain to me, how does a Hybrid save you money?

Answer 7

bad cars. all they have is feul economy.the interior sucks. they are too exprensive and plain

Answer 8

I too never have figured out why the Prius (or any other full hybrid) has to pay for itself in fuel savings.  What about the other 4 digit dollar value options that people get, do they have to pay for themselves too?  I mean a factory installed GPS navigation system could in theory pay for itself in gas savings if the person who bought it gets lost often enough that they burn thousands of dollars worth of gas in the lifetime of the car just roaming around trying to find their way and the GPS puts an end to it.  I doubt someone could come up with how leather seats or larger rims and tires could save enough gas to pay for themselves also.  (BTW GPS, leather, and larger rims are all options on the Prius along with lots of other cars)

Answer 9

what you really need to do is look at cost. i had to do a report for economics and actually found out you lose money by owning a hybrid, yes i was surprised too. the initial extra cost you pay to get a hybrid doesn't actually out way the gas savings until you drive the car for 15 years before you start to make some of your money back and since the batteries have not yet been tested that long because they haven't been out that long if you do have to replace them you are losing money buy owning a hybrid because the batteries will cost more than the vehicle is worth. so if your goal is to be "green" with less carbon emissions that is the only reason to buy a hybrid other wise just buy a good regular gas only engine car and don't lose your money.