Overall, HOW MUCH DO YOU LIKE YOUR GEN 3 PRIUS? (Owners only please). For those that may rate it less than "Like it" - it would be good to hear why you rate it lower.... -------------------------------------------- I was out of town for over a week, leaving my baby at a remote airport lot. While gone, drove around in 4 different relative's cars - Volvo XC90, Camry XLE, Altima SE, and Lexus ES. All very nice vehicles. But after retrieving my Prius last night and into the 40 minute trip home, I thought - Geez this is really a nice car. Driving 75, nicely illuminated instrument panel, comfy seating, quiet compliant ride, plenty of power, nice contemporary styling. And the bonus - looking at the MPG. Absence DOES make the heart grow fonder I guess. Nice being home - vehicle-wise too.
Much agreed - though I found myself gravitating to the Altima S rental cars just for the CVT when the rental Prius wasn't available.
I like mine for what it is, but love it means a real commitment towards it over others. Other than appreciating the fuel economy in a better than "base" sedan (it is after all an economy car) I have to think about this car in relation to other cars I have driven. To really Love this it would need to handle like a BMW, ride like a Lincoln or go over terrain like an SUV. All have their advantages, probably nothing gives me all I want so the Prius is my economy car. Nothing more. If it were not for the FE I would much rather ride in my Expedition or Highlander hybrid. If Canada supplied all the oil we needed rather than the Mid-East I probably wouldn't worry about it and drive my SUV (I don't mind making canada rich_or at least until they start supporting terrorist). The car is adequately comfortable. It handles adequately but the only thing it excells in is FE (and emisions_though not my concern)
i had 5 Subaru's before the Prius. the only reason i switched to a prius is the mpg. i like the Prius overall except that the ABS system/tires suck. when it rained here a couple of days ago somebody pulled out in front of me and i had to do a panic stop with horn. the abs turned on but the car felt like it was never going to stop, and don't blame it on my "perception". i was only doing 35mph, level, and wet. luckily the donkey stopped in time and my car came to a stop right where he stopped. near miss avoided. the second "incident" was the day after going down hill, 35mph, wet leaves on the right wheels, wet road, stop light and intending to turn right. well after the day before i hit the breaks early just in case. the slid and slid and slid. it slowed at a snails pace and finally grabbed when i was partially in the intersect with the wheels turning to the right. i lucked out went around the corner even though the light turned red before i hit the intersection. i have always done panic stops in a empty lot to test the cars. the Subaru would have grabbed and stopped me much earlier. i do not have full trust in this car as i did the Subaru's. i fear winter. i hope it skips past NJ this/next year.
I've outgrown the hot rods, trucks, SUV's, etc. When Toyota built the 2010 Prius they seem to have built it around "Steve". Do I love the car? Yep, could they improve on it? SURE! Give me some blue side stripes with a futuristic logo. But I love the car.
I have a somewhat similar feeling... the Prius is an OK car for me because of the FE, that's it! I totally justified it financially. There were some drastic changes to my commute, from 10K/day to over 100K/day, so switching from my SUV for the most FE car to date, which also happened to be from a top-reliable brand, made perfect sense! In my new commute, I drive by myself, so why an SUV anyway? Would I buy a Prius if not justified financially though? Absolutely not. The Prius is a very expensive car for its overall quality in my opinion. We pay a high price for its amazing technology (I say amazing because it really is). It takes, for instance over 160K miles of driving for gas savings in the Prius to break even with the difference in price for the small, yet surprisingly roomy and fun to drive Honda Fit. That's just one example. Pick any FE non-hybrid out there, it doesn’t have to be a compact car, including anything from Toyota for that matter, and do the math.
Really really like it. I acknowledge that it's not perfect... it could move a little faster and it would be nice to find a way around that split rear window, but it's certainly the best car I've ever owned.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder and I, like you, became only fully aware of my feelings for the Prius when leaving it at home for a European trip. I've liked a Mercedes, a Volvo, a Lexus, a BMW and a Subaru. But I've never been so glad to get back to one car as the Prius -- though I admit that love means accepting something with all the faults.
Well you have to admit it is LESS priced than the BMW, LINCOLN and SUV.... I would be driving a YUKON if it was able to achieve 40MPG...But it doesn't..and my sticker on a YUKON would be close to $45-50K So, I guess Love is a hard word, but I darn well enjoy it for the cost, efficiency and features.... I would love a LEXUS Hybrid but then the added cost sort of blows the theory behind the cost savings upfront.... All angles, many ways to look at it, but compared to the GEN I, this one's a dream!
I have the V package. If not for that I probably wouldn't have been anywhere at all satisfied with it. I actually like the looks. It's a cool looking car to me. However, this is basically an $18K car with a $5K hybrid system and $7K in nice options.
I didn't justify this financially or for any cost savings. I would have bought the Lexus had it the 4cyl setup of the Prius. I wouldn't have minded the ES with a TCH setup if they had offered it, but it probably would not have had any firmer suspension than the Camry, which I found totally inadequate. However if not for the Prius V, I probably would have gotten another TCH simply because of the size and the fact that I can average 37+ mpg in one for the bulk of our driving miles. We drive about 40K miles per year, now split between three vehicles and I just couldn't see doing the bulk of that with an SUV. I didn't buy this because I love it. I bought it because I felt it was the right thing to do. However as an economy car I love it. As a car in general, it is just adequate.
I can't stand having to fly somewhere and rent another car from the airport. I can't wait to get back to my Prius! Well, I have to admit that I haven't really had a chance to drive something really high end (I drove my daughters former Mercedes C Class and thought it handled like a truck) so maybe I don't know what a great car is supposed to feel like. I did have an Infiniti I30, and loved that, too. But I didn't feel that I missed too much when I got my Prius 2006. Oh, I forgot, I drove my ex-hubby's Lexus once and did not fall in love with it. In fact, I had to help him rock that sucker (rear-wheel drive) out of the snow!
I rent monthly now on trips to the house in Florida. It has given me a chance to look at some of the Prius "competition". I was always impressed with the looks of the new Malibu, but after a couple hundred miles in one, I wasn't sure I would survive. I don't know how anyone could complain about the seats in the Prius and then drive off in one of these. The Mazda 6 I rented was not any better In the class of under $30K cars, there is not really a lot I like (other than a discounted Pontiac G8 GT) so it's really not all that hard to appreciate the Prius.