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Comments
My 150 mi commute is 90% HWy at 58-62 mph and the rest is typical suburbam driving ~30 mph. It's the 'City' driving( 50-70 mpg) for relatively short distance that boosts the 47 HWY average up to about 49 mpg combined.
On every fillup thus far the trip meter is between 490 and 500 mi and it takes just over 10 gal.
On a 50 mi RT Sunday drive earlier this month we averaged 65 mpg with several segments in the 70's and one in the 90's. It was all done cruising easily in the 25-40 mph range. I could see whre on my old commute into and out of NYC 20 yrs ago this would have been a blessing. But gas was just over $1.00/gal.
I have owned mine for a week 06 White Prius #7 and
have been quite thrilled with the mileage. When I am
on the highway and travel 65 or so, I average between 51-53 mpg. If I am driving in suburbia I then average in mid to upper 40s. My last car was lucky to get half that. So far I'm loving it!
Add in the fact that you have to drive like a mpg fanatic to obtain anything close to epa mpg while vehicles such as Corolla and TDI VW's obtain epa mpg with normal driving, No thanks to Prius.
Dealer customer service depends on the shop, not the make. There are good and bad for virtually every make.
You should have looked at a Chrysler PT Cruiser or Acura MDX a few years ago if you wanted to see markups over MSRP. None of the Toyota dealers (5) I checked when we bought our Prius were asking more than MSRP.
My Prius gives near EPA highway mpg at 75 mph, just like my two non-hybrid cars. Hard to compare local driving mpg. The Prius shines in near gridlock conditions compared to the other two, but takes a bigger percentage hit (40 vs. 30)when local traffic flows normally.
There are some of us that want Bluetooth, stability control, xenon headlights, automatic temperature control, nav, etc. in our small car. One can get a Prius without most of these too.
You may be correct that there is no after market stereo that fits the space where the factory stereo is located. I suspect that is a non-issue for most people interested in the car.
You didn't say, but diesel fuel costs significantly more than regular gasoline in many places, making a TDI a questionable economic choice (a TDI costs extra too, just like a hybrid).
Excellent write-up. Thanks!
MidCow
The diesel revolution is coming, finally, in the USA, but the cars that will benefit will be mostly priced $30k and up. VW gets snaps for hanging in there when everyone else folded [except MB and its $50k E-class], but the economics at the moment aren't very compelling. They will be, but only when comparing cars that would otherwise be getting mid-20 mpg consumption on premium gasoline.
The Prius remains unique - honest 40 mpg combined with $25-$27k price [less the tax credit for the next few months], and reasonable room inside with a real hatch to get at 16+ cubic feet of cargo area. It's this combination that no one has beaten so far, especially now that VW has at least temporarily dropped the Jetta wagon [a 5-door Golf diesel would compete, but not really in total interior volume].
The steering has a higher effort feel which we liked better than our 05. Ride and quiet was about the same. The information screen look for the various features has been changed. Neither plus or minus to us. The shift indicator is larger and now on the left, the gas and odometer are now on the right.
Apparently Toyota has changed the EV programming. The 06 always started in EV mode, with the gasoline engine coming on at about 15 mph. My 05 requires almost no pressure on the gas pedal to start off in EV mode while the 06 allows for a lot more pedal travel before starting the gasoline engine. This should improve local mpg.
The backup camera view is outstanding. Still can't program the nav system while the car is in motion or use the phone screen to 'dial' a number while the car is in motion. Still no height adjustment for the driver's seat. Tape player is gone.
I certainly don't want or need a "pocket rocket," but I'm worried I'll get to see Toyota's airbags up close and personal if acceleration really lags. When I test-drove, our salesperson went nuts every time I tried to punch the gas and wouldn't let me take it on the highway, leaving me with no sense of how the car really performs. I now wonder if he was hiding something?
Has acceleration been a real problem for anyone here? Should I maybe opt for a hybrid that sacrifices a little fuel economy for a little more speed? Thanks.
Cheers,
MidCow
Toyota dealers have recently rated poorly by JD Power for their sales and service satisfaction scores.
carsbikesDon't post about something you know nothing about.
Take your advice and apply it to yourself.
carsbikes has TDI envy.
It will not beat a V6 in a race nor will it beat most modern midsized 4c either, but it wont lag either. It drives 'quick', not blazing fast. The one area where I am not a good Prius fuel miser is at stop lights, old habits die hard I guess.
As carsbikes stated, go to another dealer and test one out. It's different because you are waiting for low-gear-torque and all you will find is a smooth consistent acceleration.
Went to a good car show this weekend in Houston!
Cheers,
MidCow
In the fall of 2003 they were still having difficulty selling the Prius. Not the same as the last year and a half. I took two test drives in the Classic and the dealer called me several times over the next couple months. I would have bought if my now ex-wife had liked the car.
Since the Gen2's came out in Oct 2003 they have essentially been soldout. By Dec '03 they had orders in hand at dealers for 6 months of production into 2004 at the initial forecasted figure of 35000 units. By March '04 the waiting lists were running 4-18 mo's depending on the dealer and whether he was 'promoting' the vehicle sos they bumped the production up to 70000 units on an annual basis; i.e. ~6000 / mo. In 2005 the production and sales were again bumped up to ~100000 units.
The availability of 'test drives' at initial launch was that each TRAC dealer was given one TRAC Prius to use as both a rental and as a demo vehicle. When that TRAC vehicle was 'used-up' and sold then as a used vehicle by about March '04 there were no other vehicles available for test drives all of them were on order with leadtimes 12-40 weeks out.
The final Classics were available for drives because they suffer seriously in comparison.
I'll take a Yellow one, just like yours. :lemon:
Bye the way I did test drive, again, a Prius in mid-December. And more recently, in Janaury the delaers have been clamoring for sales and have offered test drives.
Cheers,
MidCow
P.S.- wait until May 2006 -the availability date of the 2007 Camry Hybrid :P
Accelration is a problem, but don't ask Prius owners unless you want an optimist rose-colored answer. The Prius is the slowest Toyota made, SUVs included, except for the auto-Echo which is going away ( and not it hasn't been renamed the Yaris; a differnet car).
The 2007 Camry Hybrid will be avialalbe in May and offers reasonable acceleration; slightly less than 9 seconds 0-60 mph.
Good Luck and be safe,
MidCow
Yellow Prius are reserved for CRD's?
You will have to explain what you are trying to imply, kylecisi.
I agree that there is little importance of 0-60 mph when comparing 8 to 9 to 10 or 11 seconds.
The VW TDI Jetta is 12 and change to 60 The least you can do is post accurate information. 0-60 mph 10.88 s Jetta TDI
When I was in SD I spoke to a dealer that was selling Prius for over MSRP to dealers in CA. Red hot demand in CA!
Once Summer is here and gas prices rise again, will there be waiting lists?
Civic Si has very good perfromance; get a Corvette if you want. It isn't a matter of who passes who, it is a matter that the Prius is slow and dangerous on expressways in large cities such as the fourth largest in the US.
YMMV,
MiodCow
I lived 500,000+ miles in them and they were never unsafe, nor is the Prius. If it's not fast enough for you personally that's OK .. but skip the blatantly false statements.
I believe it was more a case of not delivering cars to sell. I had lost interest in the Prius by the time the 2004 model was announced. So I was not looking for them on the lots. Once that bunch of Hollywood losers got involved it ruined the car for me.
Yes the speed and slowness is my opinion. You are right about the Camry the older ones 2000 and less were pretty slow. Even Toyota improve the performance to around 0-60 in 9 seconds on the recent 2.2L 4 cylinder Camry's The article and time I was quoting was accurate for the current model not the older. So actually both of our facts are correct. You were right the Prius was a slow as the seven year old 4cyl auto Camry. And I am right also that the Prius is significantly slower than the current 4 cylinder automatic Camry's (2004, 2005, 2006)
Now, maybe you would be comfortable driving the high speed freeway commute in Houston. But myself and many ,(if not most) others are not comfortable. It is not comfortable for me personally and what is blatantly false about the Prius with a 0-60 time of 10.5-11.0 seconds on a fully charged battery being the slowset Toyota including toyota SUVs and Trucks. Also, if you will look across the board , almost every car manufactured in the last couple of years, excluding perfromance and exotic, have acceleration in the range 0-60 in 8-9 seconds. Even most SUVs and trucks are in this performance range. Maybe 30 years ago 0-60 in 10.5-11 seconds mph was a good time; I had an 1974 Alfetta GT that had performance around 11.5 seconds. But there are more cars , no longer a 55 federal speed limit, and people drive much faster. Using performance technology metrics that are 30 years old is just not safe. Yes, that is my opinion, but no it is not a blatantly false statement.
LOL good oxymoron Prius speedster!
YPRMV (Your Performance Requirements May Vary),
MidCow
Yes the speed and slowness is my opinion. You are right about the Camry the older ones 2000 and less were pretty slow. Even Toyota improve the performance to around 0-60 in 9 seconds on the recent 2.2L 4 cylinder Camry's The article and time I was quoting was accurate for the current model not the older. So actually both of our facts are correct. You were right the Prius was a slow as the seven year old 4cyl auto Camry. And I am right also that the Prius is significantly slower than the current 4 cylinder automatic Camry's (2004, 2005, 2006)
Now, maybe you would be comfortable driving the high speed freeway commute in Houston. But myself and many ,(if not most) others are not comfortable. It is not comfortable for me personally and what is blatantly false about the Prius with a 0-60 time of 10.5-11.0 seconds on a fully charged battery being the slowset Toyota including toyota SUVs and Trucks. Also, if you will look across the board , almost every car manufactured in the last couple of years, excluding perfromance and exotic, have acceleration in the range 0-60 in 8-9 seconds. Even most SUVs and trucks are in this performance range. Maybe 30 years ago 0-60 in 10.5-11 seconds mph was a good time; I had an 1974 Alfetta GT that had performance around 11.5 seconds. But there are more cars , no longer a 55 federal speed limit, and people drive much faster. Using performance technology metrics that are 30 years old is just not safe. Yes, that is my opinion, but no it is not a blatantly false statement.
LOL good oxymoron Prius speedster!
YPRMV (Your Performance Requirements May Vary),
MidCow
The Prius is just the slowest car and it is unsafe in a lot of situations
Correctly stated ... It is MC's opinion that '...it is unsafe in a lot of situations' There is no fact on this issue to support your statement, but YPRMN.
Again after putting 500000+ miles over the last 15 yrs on vehicles with similar performance, IMO a driver only needs a well-built 4c to drive safely at 60-90 mph on any Interstate in the US. The earlier model 2.2L Camrys lacked for nothing, for that I can vouch based on doing exactly that type of driving. The Prius is in the same class.
Neither are 'unsafe' except in your opinion, which is OK.
BTW I've driven on almost every Interstate in the country in every major city. My prior job kept me on the road 3 days a week all over the country and in Europe. Name it and I've driven it except fully across country in one shot. Houston is one of the largest steel ( my previous sales job ) markets in the world and the number of times I've been there to Dallas to Tyler to Odessa to San Antone to Houston are lets say numerous.
Prius envy is contagious!!
Early Sunday mornings or from 2am -4am the traffic is pretty good.
Cheers,
MidCow
Any other dealers in Southern California who have a package 8 in stock?
Guess : You Actuallly May Imply Not Very Safe ???
Cheers,
MidCow
I was home by Sunday, normally. 90-100 was normal from Tyler to Dallas to Odessa. Driving wasnt an unusual experience. No more so than I95 from NY to Richmaond at 80 mph nearly bumper to bumper. But 90 mpg from Charlotte to Atlanta is a trip - NASCAR country.
Sounds like it was an interesting job and i can see how you put on the miles. And you job now as a car salesman sound goods. Thought about a car job when I retire.
Peace,
MidCow
I checked the Edmunds MSRP price for 06 Prius with just package 8, silver, Garden Grove zip code, and it was $29,195. However, the TMV "What others are paying" price is $31,417, over $2200 above MSRP!. Don't know if the alloy wheels or other additional options bumped it up there. Doesn't sound like the dealer showed you an itemized sticker of exactly what's on that car.
I'm not suggesting how anyone should spend their money, but is $30K+ worth it for a Prius? This is getting into luxury car territory. If one is willing to live with fewer options and not care about the color, there can be discounts on leftover 05's, if you can find one. I got a leftover 05 with package 4 for about $23500 OTD back around Jan 2 here in northern VA. And then there's always the used market / Carmax.
Just my $0.02
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Considered a Ford Focus for 1/2 the price? Sure it gets less mpg but perhaps you could use or save the other $16500?
Can you imagine that some people pay over $50000 for other vehicles too.. sheesh.. why they dont smarten up and get a Focus and save $30 grand is beyond me.