Toyota Prius - Anyone Run One????

Bill VA

Well-known Member
Considering a replacement for my old Honda Civic with about 315k miles on it. On my list is another Civic, also a Toyota Prius.

Anyone run a Prius? Thoughts?

I have a one hour commute one way to work and 50 plus MPG is appealing.

Thanks!
Bill
 
No Prius experience, but I've had two Ford C-Max hybrids -- one a 2013 "conventional" and the other a 2014 "plug-in" -- and loved both of them. One of my daughters has the 2013 now, and the 2014 was a leased one that I didn't purchase at the end of the lease only because my wife didn't like the black interior. Both were very comfortable on several-hour trips, cruised happily at 75-or-so mi/hr, and achieved average since-new MPGs in the mid-to-high 40s over the entire time we had them. I recommend you consider a C-Max.
 
Bill,

My neighbor had a Prius several years ago, and was quite happy with it. The Batteries that provide the electric drive will eventually need to be replaced, and they are very expensive. For this reason, with long-term ownership, I would recommend that you stay away from the Prius.
 
I have a 2010 Prius, 200,000 miles on it, other than 4 sets of tires and a front brake job, it's never seen a repair,
I average about 48-49 mpg all the time, have been on trips out west from here in Atlanta, out on the expressways with the cruse on
I've seen 55 or so mpg, I would buy another
 
Bought a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid after the 1996 Ford Escort gave out. Quite pleased with Honda with 40-50 mpg through the years. Did replace the big battery, but when the AC and catalytic both were going out, we went looking in July 2016. We had earlier been doing some research, but hoped for maybe more time on the Honda. Honda didn't have anything we wanted on hand at that moment, so drove over to Toyota on a Saturday night without checkbook nor Honda title. Left with a new 2016 Prius a few hours later! Been quite please with it - 50-60 mpg, handles well, feels roomy (I have said, "Big car feel, but small car footprint.") I love the backup camera and wireless/touch sensitive door lock system. As with many cars today, I wish it had a little more headroom. Plenty of pick up and go on the highway trips.
 
I bought a used 2010 last year with about 120,000 miles on it. So far it has run flawlessly. Still has original battery but it tests fine. Gets about 47-49 mpg in the summer. A little less as it got cold but I pretty much only drive my 4x4 truck in the winter anyways. It was the last thing anyone ever thought they would see me drive but hey, I love it. Beats 18 mpg in the diesel truck if you dont need it.
 
I've had several Hondas and I like them. In your case, I don't think a Honda Civic falls into the same category as a Prius does it? The Prius is smaller ...... a Toyota Corolla would be more of a comparable model I think.
 
We've had a 2nd generation (2007) Prius for approx. 3yrs now and think it is great. Bought it used with 58K miles and are around 90K miles now. Replaced a front wheel bearing/hub myself, not a bad job. You don't see a lot of low mileage prius's on the market. The Hybrid battery isn't a huge deal under $1000 from Rock Auto. Not common for them to be a problem, 0.8 KW which is a really small hybrid battery. It is NiMH not lithium. I had two different Civic's before the Prius, we both like the Prius better.

You should probably drive one, the CV trans might not be to your liking. We get about 45-50 mpg most of the time. Mileage goes down in cold weather. Interstate MPG is less than around town.
 
We have a Prius. The missus loves it, a little tight for my 6'3". Been a very good car. Has 178000 miles, original battery. I would have to check the year. Great in our hilly area, recharges going down hill.
 
My wife had a choice of a milage check for using her own car, or no check and use a company Prius Hybrid. She used the Prius 1 day and turned it back in and went with her old car. She hated the Prius. She called it the gutless wonder.
 
We have 4 of them in our fleet at work. Most trouble free vehicles we ever had. If you?re buying used have someone trustworthy check the brake accumulator and main battery for you. The new battery replacement is not really much and in reality it is not hardly worth mentioning because they typically last 200,000 to 300,000 miles if the car is driven regularly. Some taxi drivers get much more. We have never changed them in ours. Don?t go the refurbished route because they just pull out the bad cell and use the rest of the old ones. The brake accumulator can be pricey if needed and if it is beyond the extended warranty Toyota gave them. One of the used ones we have had that part replaced before we got it.
I would fill our 36 vehicle fleet up with them if we didn?t need 4x4 or pickups. If you are expecting a Cadillac you will be disappointed but if you?re happy in a car that size you will probably really love the economy.
 
The boss/supervisor had one (Prius) his assessment was that it wasn't as efficient as advertised. WHY? First thing in the morning the gas engine had to run till it was warmed up--then you could go. AND if you live where the commune speed is 40 mph (I think he said) the gas engine had to run for enough power. But you could sure sneak in and out of the garage without the wife hearing you.
 
No first hand knowledge. But used to work with a guy whose wife had one and liked it and the 50 mpg. Guy lives down the road from me who was a used car dealer and he loves them too. He has had a couple of them.
 
Daughter and SIL had a Prius. SIL is a tall man who drives a lot of miles for work.

SIL traded in his prius for a Honda accord.

Asked if he was going to let my daughter drive the accord and he could get better milage with the prius. Reply, NO, comfort is more important than mileage.
George
 
> Daughter and SIL had a Prius. SIL is a tall man who drives a lot of miles for work.

Uh, George...Oh, SON-in-law! "Sister-in-law is a tall man" wasn't parsing for me. Never mind...
 
Prius is a good car, and they are obviously not new to the hybrid tech game. There are many comparably sized cars that are non hybrid and get upper 30's and 40's MPG, for less money. Here's a little simple math. Just to make the calculations easy, these are done with gasoline at $2.50 per gallon.

50 mpg, 100k miles = $5000 in fuel
40 mpg, 100k miles = $6250 in fuel
30 mpg, 100k miles = $8332 in fuel
20 mpg, 100k miles = $12,500 in fuel

The prius can definitely save money in fuel costs, there is a premium spent for the hybrid tech, but most other maintenance is going to be the same. The gamble is going to be with having anything go wrong with the hybrid components, transmission or battery on your dime, especially if you want to make it to 300k miles.
 
Daughter has one. Loves it. Not one problem yet at 100,000 miles. I can't stand the looks of the thing. Wife has a Toyota Highlander. Worst milage of anything I've ever seen.
 
My girlfriend had a 2012 Prius V when I first met her. She had no problems with it mechanically other than it ate headlight bulbs at a ridiculous rate. This was a known issue but Toyota never recalled it. The bulbs were a royal PITA to change also. I changed a bunch of them while she had it.

If you live in an area that gets a lot of snow I would NOT recommend a Prius. I drove her Prius on multiple occasions in the snow. She had studded snow tires on it and it was still a complete POS in the snow. I can't put into words just how bad that car was in the snow, she got stuck multiple times in snow that the average car would have had no issue with. It was ultimately why my girlfriend got rid of it. It was the worst car I've ever driven in my life when it came to snow.
 
We run studded snow tires and go as we please all winter long. Northern Indiana we don't go out in a blizzard but don't see a lot of difference in a Prius compared to other FWD cars. You must live in a pretty snowy environment.
 
Mark,
My point was getting 50mpg isn't as important as finding a car that's more comfortable.

That's why I bought an XT5. Comfort is more important than MPG. Not to mention taller people soon find out getting out of a car closer to the ground is no fun.

My son's next car will be a luxury car. He is about 6ft 5 and a Camry is no fun getting out of.
George
 
(quoted from post at 08:27:19 02/16/20) We run studded snow tires and go as we please all winter long. Northern Indiana we don't go out in a blizzard but don't see a lot of difference in a Prius compared to other FWD cars. You must live in a pretty snowy environment.

I live in central New Hampshire, about 2 1/2 hours from the Canadian border so yeah we get a lot of snow some years. That's why I put the caveat about snowy areas. I think areas like yours would be fine for a Prius because it's mostly flat and you don't get that much snow but snowy, hilly terrain forget it for a Prius even with studded snow tires.
 
I bought a pair of Prius C in 2013. We got them for the kids as graduation from college. Both have > 130k miles, and zero problems. +50MPG and they do not baby them. This is a 'mild' hybrid, without much battery power. The engine is a Atkinson cycle type, with a CVT. I also looked for one used but I bought a Hyundai and pretty happy with that.

No trouble is good for kids or retired. Not much power though
 
Thanks everyone for your replies.

Test drove a Prius this Saturday and was impressed. Still looking at other cars too, in addition to keeping my current Civic going.

Bill
 

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