Toyota Prius - A VVS Review

[stockrex]

my very very short review of my rental:

All I can say is wow, blown away, this is the shizzle, I mean Toyota did it.

MPG = 44 mpg, I made no attempt to save on gas, I redlined it at every opportunity.

very impressed with the powertrain,

way impressed with how quiet it is on the hwy even at redline

interior is spacious and the vehicle drives like a much bigger vehicle.

hated the rear split window, looking at the rear view mirror was confusing!

 

[OneEyeJack]

I've been driving our company Prius as have many others. It gets used all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because it's good on gas. It's a 3rd gen and and at just over 2 years old it's got 241K miles on it.

The biggest complaint? The low beams go out so often we carry 3 or 4 spare bulbs and have learned the trick to replacing them. On, and some of the younger guys say they have to wear dark glasses in case one of their friends sees them driving this car.


Given the choice between a new Ford Taurus and the Prius the Prius wins every time. Schedules get changed to insure getting the Prius. The Taurus is so disliked it'g going to get replaced with you guessed it, another Prius.

Many people that have never driven one and know nothing about how they really work already know that the Prius is a terrible car and that they would never own one.

 

[Wolf359]

Oh yeah obligatory Prius suck comment. I'd rather drive the Taurus over a Prius any day. I guess you have to pay for gas on a company car? There are more important things in life than just saving a few dollars on gas. And I have driven one, it was awful, everyone kept cutting me off even when I tried to floor it all the time. Just too slow for regular city driving or highway driving, no pickup. Oh and when I see them, I cut them off all the time because I know it's easy... Although to be fair, I don't really cut them off that badly because they're so slow. They seem more concerned about saving gas than following the basic rules of the road which is to keep up with traffic. A Prius IS traffic.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Just too slow for regular city driving or highway driving, no pickup. Oh and when I see them, I cut them off all the time because I know it's easy...


yeah, right, 0-60 in 10s and 114 mph max speed. what are the numbers for your POS car?
now i know who is the SOB who cuts me off all the time.
BTW, i always drive mine at speed limit + 10mph.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Have you tried the "Power Mode" button? Our Prius leaves the Taurus for dead at the stop light in power mode but not in Econo mode or no mode. Maybe you just didn't know how the car works.

The most frequent comment on the Taurus is how did they make the car so big on the outside and so small on the inside. Also there have been 3 warranty problems and 2 recalls in the first few months of use. The problem with the warranty works was that it was never taken care if in just one visit. I guess it's unfair to compare the Taurus with the Prius because the Prius is a Toyota.

And if you're cutting cars off on purpose maybe you'd better calm down a bit in traffic. This could help to explain why you don't like the Prius and never took the time to figure out what it was about and how it works.

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
And if you're cutting cars off on purpose maybe you'd better calm down a bit in traffic.


I'd be [censored] too if I had to drive a Taurus!

 

[PandaBear]

241k miles in 2 years is a lot, if I were the boss I'd look at the fuel like hawk if my reports drive so much.

The oomph you get when you just press on the gas is not there, but once you start rolling at around 20mph it is about the same as other cars. On highway it isn't slower than anything else. Think of it as a car with a poor 1st and 2nd speed gear ratio.

The main attraction other than fuel economy is the quietness. Unless you like roaring engine hybrid with atkinson cycle engine is about as quiet as you will get, and it is nice to have a quiet cabin when you are waiting for the light.

Like many who drive prius (although mine is a prius V), people buy it for LONG DISTANCE commute. We plan to drive ours 20kM per year and I know people who drive theirs 50kM a year before plug in hybrid or EV came out.

 

[itguy08]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Oh yeah obligatory Prius suck comment. I'd rather drive the Taurus over a Prius any day.


This. Granted my Taurus is not the standard one but I can't imagine the regular one being really bad. Yes, it's a big car. But, yes, I've driven a Prius and that car is God Awful. And that's being nice. Yes its good on gas but it truly is a penalty box.

Reliability, after the initial warranty issues (nothing like buying a brand new model with a new drivetrain) has been stellar over the past 94k. Gas, oil, brakes and tires.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I've been driving our company Prius as have many others. It gets used all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because it's good on gas. It's a 3rd gen and and at just over 2 years old it's got 241K miles on it.

The biggest complaint? The low beams go out so often we carry 3 or 4 spare bulbs and have learned the trick to replacing them. On, and some of the younger guys say they have to wear dark glasses in case one of their friends sees them driving this car.


Given the choice between a new Ford Taurus and the Prius the Prius wins every time. Schedules get changed to insure getting the Prius. The Taurus is so disliked it'g going to get replaced with you guessed it, another Prius.

Many people that have never driven one and know nothing about how they really work already know that the Prius is a terrible car and that they would never own one.


There's actually a fix for this. There is an updated wiring harness to solve the problem, TSB #0204-12.

But It's probably cheaper to keep replacing the bulbs...

 

[supton]

I don't think I've driven a Prius, not even sat in one yet. I like the idea, it makes a lot of sense.

I did drive a Prius C, and I didn't like it. That car does feel underpowered. And ultimately... this is going to sound weird coming from a guy who'd drive a toaster to work, it just didn't feel like a car. All sorts of LCD's and gadgets and buttons.

I'm all for saving gas, I refuse to make fun of Prius, and I could care less what others thought of me, so I'd have no problems owning one. I'm all for them being sold. But man I just did not like the car that I tried.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Just too slow for regular city driving or highway driving, no pickup. Oh and when I see them, I cut them off all the time because I know it's easy...


yeah, right, 0-60 in 10s and 114 mph max speed. what are the numbers for your POS car?
now i know who is the SOB who cuts me off all the time.
BTW, i always drive mine at speed limit + 10mph.


Mercedes E-350. I think 0-60 is 6.5 but I don't really drive it like that. It's a real POS alright. Pretty much any car with a 3 liter engine or bigger is faster. They're easy to cut off because they're not keeping up with traffic so there's always a nice gap you can fit in. This really only comes into play when you're in traffic and have to switch lanes getting on and off the highway. Plus who wants to be behind a Prius?

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Plus who wants to be behind a Prius?


Couple years ago I drove my truck and my small popup camper down to DC. I decided to do 60mph the whole way, save a pinch on gas. I did (right or wrong) draft a few trucks on the way, and I think it helped. Tried drafting a Prius for a bit, but found it didn't do much for me.

*

On a more serious note---nah, not going to ask why this matters to you.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Plus who wants to be behind a Prius?


Couple years ago I drove my truck and my small popup camper down to DC. I decided to do 60mph the whole way, save a pinch on gas. I did (right or wrong) draft a few trucks on the way, and I think it helped. Tried drafting a Prius for a bit, but found it didn't do much for me.

*

On a more serious note---nah, not going to ask why this matters to you.


Isn't it obvious? Because they drive slow. I on the other hand drive at the 85% rule, I'm going as fast as 85% of the traffic on the road.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: Wolf359
Plus who wants to be behind a Prius?


Couple years ago I drove my truck and my small popup camper down to DC. I decided to do 60mph the whole way, save a pinch on gas. I did (right or wrong) draft a few trucks on the way, and I think it helped. Tried drafting a Prius for a bit, but found it didn't do much for me.

*

On a more serious note---nah, not going to ask why this matters to you.


Isn't it obvious? Because they drive slow. I on the other hand drive at the 85% rule, I'm going as fast as 85% of the traffic on the road.


Never noticed. When I had my Jetta and drove "fast", I passed all sorts. There were some that drove faster than me, but really did not discern any patterns.

These days I'm the slow poke. I'll do the limit, unless if I'm on the highway. There I stick to 60mph. Even Prii pass me.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: stockrex
my very very short review of my rental:


i'm glad you posted it here. we all know this site is very prius friendly.

 

[HTSS_TR]

The problem with sme Prius drivers in So Cal are they drive slower than traffic but almost always on the left most lane. Other vehicles have to change to right lane to pass them, this can easily cause accidents.

Once in a while I got passed by a Prius at more than 10 MPH even when I was cruising at 80 MPH on 65 MPH speed limit of I5 near San Diego.

 

[spackard]

I'm not fond of being behind the rear of the current (2015-) generation Prius, at night, in traffic.
The paint is dark, both side brake lights and the 3rd brake light paint my eyes in red. There's nowhere to look to get an accurate "distance until contact".
It's sort of like this leaf, only worse - the paint's darker and the 3rd brakelight is as nasty as the sides.

 

[Brybo86]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
The problem with Prius drivers in So Cal is that they drive slower than traffic but almost always on the left most lane. Other vehicles have to change to right lane to pass them.

This is true for 99.9% of Prius drivers across the entire country (bitogers excluded)

 

[dareo]

Crunching the numbers on the '15 prius, we have 48 mpg highway, 39.6 CuFt max cargo and about 10 second 0-60, and only automatic trans. Base Model MSRP w/destination $25035 (not sure how negotiable Toyota is on these)

The Golf Sportwagen MT i just got: 36 mpg highway, 66.5 CuFt cargo, 0-60 in the 6.8 to 7.0 range, MSRP w/Dest $22880 (i paid 4k under msrp)

Today, regular gas is $1.96, and assuming we pay sticker for each car, that is about 1100 gallons of extra gas i can buy for my Golf.

Using all highway economy numbers that is roughly 150,000 miles before the prius has saves me any money. It has however hauled less stuff, accelerated much slower, and this is all subjective but not looked as good.

Prius numbers add up for city drivers who for some reason can't drive a full EV like a Nissan Leaf.

 

[dino33]

Nah, there's just a lot of haters out there. I deliver pizza with a Prius and so many people want to put me in my place when I jack rabbit start and try to race me it's crazy. Funny thing is the Prius actually does 0 to 60 in a little over ten seconds which is better than a lot of small econo cars, yet when I drive another slow car no one seems to bother me. For some reason, and I can't understand for the life of me, the Prius has a lot of haters. It's been hands down the most reliable vehicle I've ever owned. It's built like a tank. I'm getting 39 mpg delivering pizza on a friday night with temperatures just above freezing. It's safe, and it drives beautifully. For those who like race cars I wouldn't recommend it but then I wouldn't recommend buying a Festiva or Mazda 2 either...