I want to test a hypothesis that Prius owners tend to drive more miles than the ordinary population. Depending upon source, this is reported to be somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 miles per year. So please help me gather some source data. Bob Wilson
Thank you for thinking of this!! I will be curious to see the results as well. I selected the 25k miles a year. Although I haven't had my car a full year yet, I do drive 42 miles a day 6 days a week for work round trip. However, on my only day off I tell the family "Jump in Betsy Blue its road trip time!" Usually put about 100miles on it on "Family" day. And I have gotten my wife into loving the MPG so she takes it once every other month for a week to see her family that lives 480 miles away. Im sure if work ever slows down and once vacation time starts building up, the mileage will be higher.. as a side note, I'm sure "Betsy Blue" 2002 prius my 7 and 5yr old named, will be around for a very long time. Probably past its useful life. My wife loves the car, but yet doesn't like the hatch back. So next year I guess I finally get to upgrade. Now to talk her into increasing the budget by $20k so I can get a plug in... LOL
Thanks! BTW, I'm interested in any suggestions to improve the poll. I figure we'd start here and use the comments to improve the versions I'll post in the other forums. One thing that I forgot to mention is we need 'per Prius' and some folks have multiple Prius. What I'll suggest is either post the busiest Prius or make additional accounts as needed for the extra Prius. I was torn between 'per day' and 'per year' but decided to go with 'per year.' The reason is folks can use some calendar, elapsed time with known mileage to estimate their annual mileage. Per day is too subject to 'on this job' or 'since I retired?' Yes, I see the typo in the last question but I am open to any improvements. With any luck, we'll get a good survey of Prius owner driving and that can be useful for looking at Volt vs Plug-in Prius vs ordinary Prius analysis. Bob Wilson
Well since they are all about the same age it might be more useful to ask the current mileage of the NHW11. (There is only three year spread) That would give a better yearly average than people estimating.
I had not considered this but it is a great idea. But what I'll do is use Ebay Prius listings. I'll have the years and odometer reading, the perfect, independent source. Bob Wilson
Also, you can check the salvage listing sites (like automotix.net) and if you search Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market for Prius Engines, it lists the mileage. (of course I don't know how long some of those have been sitting around junkyards, but it is quick data).
I selected 20k miles per year. I drive about 50 miles one way to college 3-4 days a week, and I do alot driving to work (10 miles to 15 miles 2 days a week). Plus, I go on long trips once in a while, such as to the regional mountains. I am amazed to see such good examples around my region (San Fransisco Bay Area) considering that only 54k were imported. I've seen some nice white, teal, and occasionally an Electric Green around. Black is rare, I saw one on craigslist once. Sadly, I've even seen one involved in a wreck in a lane next to me on 101 a few weeks ago...got rear ended by someone not paying attention in rush hour traffic, traffic had ground to a halt suddenly. It ended up rear ending the vehicle in front of it as a result, so I figured it was probably totaled considering the low bluebook values for our cars. EDIT: My current mileage is just shy of 95k miles, and I bought it in March with 81k miles. 2001 MY.
It worked: I got over 90 samples but the 2001-03 model years did not have enough nor did the 2011 entries, probably due to the Tsunami sales hit. I could have added more from the "Completed sales" but didn't think of it until later. Regardless, these are enough samples to characterize Prius mileage. Now my hypothesis is Prius are driven more miles than equivalent, gas vehicles. So I'll find something similar on Ebay, a similar sized hatchback, and plot that set of data. Thanks for the hint, it worked. Bob Wilson
Not sure if you still need this info or not Bob, but my 2002 was a one owner, (im the 2nd) When I purchased the car, it had 140,125 miles on it. It belonged to an Indiana University professor who lived in the same city. For some useless 2cents, on a really bright sunny day, it looks as if she parked it in between 2 uncaring student vehicles. There are dings from the back quarter panel to just in front of the front doors. If I would have noticed this, I would have definitely not paid nearly as much as I did for it... It was after 9pm when I looked at it and test drove it. When I woke up the next morning, I thought the car had been vandalized. Oh well, live and learn. at least I'm not throwing a fit everytime I come out of walmart to find a new "Ding" LOL
Thanks, This helps: The obvious problem is subsequent owners may have a different mileage experience so the survey becomes confused. For example, I'm the second owner of our 2003 Prius: 49,000 - mileage when I took ownership 149,000 - mileage today The Ebay survey fixes 'many sins' and has come up with a result: I expected the Prius to have more miles over its lifetime but I didn't realize the difference would be so great: 14,796 miles/yr average - Prius 9,004 miles/yr average - Camry Both cars are EPA rated full-size cars and both have 5-seats. Of course some would prefer to see the Corolla instead of the top selling Camry. Bob Wilson
