I wouldn't put it past any company to discredit their competition. I'm simply looking for concrete data to support my position to purchase a Prius. I'm a data analyst and, not surprisingly, data is the most important factor for me in making a decision (hence looking for studies that support my position). *Update* I wanted to update this thread and say I've used the information you've given me and broken past some of the preconceptions my friends/family have on hybrids in general. My gf's father in fact is taking me himself to a Toyota dealership this Saturday to check it out himself. I agreed to also go look at other car companies out of respect, and I will give them my attention, but I don't think I will purchased a different vehicle. *Side note* I live in Houston. There is a Toyota dealership that is near Bellaire, a large community of Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese people. The Toyota center rarely has white people in it, but it is one of the biggest in Houston. My gf's dad is Chinese (moved here 10 years ago) and is good friends with the manager. Hopefully I can get a good deal with their Azn pride + friendship xD
5+ years ago I would advise friends considering hybrids to wait and see, or lease if they really wanted one. But, reports of people having to spend thousands of dollars every 3-5 years on new batteries simply never materialized. At this point I consider it proven technology.
That means at least 12.5k miles per year. The general principle is that traction battery life is more related to the passing of time and the stress of use than it is to the number of miles. So more miles is a good thing on the battery. Another way to look at it is this: Even if your battery conks out at 100,000.01 miles AND even if Toyota doesn't honor the warranty AND even if you pay full whack to a dealer and pay $3.5k then it costs you 3.5 cents per mile for the battery and the car still has a good resale value. It's other components that people should be worried about. Actually though, once you have a replacement battery it's only a 1 year warranty, but Toyota hybrids sell in part because the batteries last (cf Honda Civic Hybrid) and they sell in numbers so batteries aren't sitting around long.
Texas is served by Gulf States Toyota Distributors. You'd be wise to compare prices in neighboring states to the west (yea, I know how far west that it from Houston) as GST may add options to the base imported car that you don't want or don't value as highly as GST does. There are two such distributorships and they go back to the early days when Toyota was trying to get established in the US and they (GST and SET) paid for the rights to exclusive distributorship to several states in return for risking the money to establish the early dealership network. I've saved $2k+ on a deal by going out of state but when I bought my second Toyota I made sure the dealer knew I could go one state away (and had before) and he had to come close to the price I'd pay there.
We have not yet bought a Prius (in fact, we haven't taken a test drive yet.....probably next week), but it is unreasonable to believe hearsay evidence (which is what it sounds like the OP's relatives are doing) about a car, or, well, pretty much anything. People who are likely to do this are probably not going to be convinced otherwise. "Where did you hear that?" "On the Internet and, y'know, if it's on the Internet, it must be true!" "Where did you hear that?" "On the Internet....."
Just out of curiosity, but is your gf's Father paying for the car? If you are paying the car note WHY does your girlfriends Father have any involvement on your purchase? Im sure hes a swell guy and all, but he and probably every other family member/friend that has tried to negate your potential hybrid vehicle purchase are going to likely continue to put your Prius down, even after you buy it. If you cannot "convert them" to Prius-neutral, then they are going to be waiting hand and foot for any little thing to go wrong, or gas prices to go down so they can rub it in your face. Best to do this on your own and prove you are independently fully capable of making your own decisions/buying your own vehicle. /End family counselor part of me
My gf's parents are basically my parents. I don't speak to my biological parents anymore. No, he is not paying. I am able to afford $6,000 down if I want (allocated money from my personal finances). They have more or less made me part of the family and we do everything together. Their opinions will not dissuade me from what I personally want to purchase, but I value their opinions. You said something that is true -- they will be waiting for something little to go wrong -- and I'm fine with that. I already have a spreadsheet ready to compare my current gas prices to what I would get from a prius over a 5-10 year trend. I'll be fine
Like others have said - most of those who have anything "bad" to say about a Prius are the ones who don't own one. Browse around this sight and you'll find plenty of reasons to buy a Prius over the others. I now own two and may be buying a third this summer. Can't get enough I guess. It sure beats the heck out of the maintainence costs I used to have with the VW.
Ya know, if you were to buy the annual Consumer Reports Car Buyers issue and accidentally left it open on the table for them to read open to the appropriate page ... Of course no car is perfect and something could go wrong. True of any car.
Consumer Reports did a test with a 1st generation Prius that had over 200,000 miles on it with the original hybrid battery. They tested the average MPG and found it was down by only something like 1 MPGs. Do a search for that video, it's on youtube. I've seen the video and CR was not worried about Prius battery reliability one bit.
Lifespan/Operating costs - Prius Wiki (which I posted earlier) has a link to the text. Feel free to add a link to the video on the Wikia...
As long as one is comfortable in it. I messed up buying the 2nd generation Prius as I pretty much knew the seating was jacked up for me. .... Things are going so much better in this 3rd generation Prius. Prius still on early generations, a work in progress and there's some little things that could be better, but overall, a really good and reliable car at 10k miles so far.
Different piece of advice: save until you can pay cash for whatever car you buy. If it's a new whatever you'll save thousands.
If you are in Houston you should really consider going with TXU, their "free nights" electric program, and a PHEV with a large enough battery to get you around all day. I know it's Houston but you are in one of the hotspots for plug ins with cheap electricity.
In case you need more ammo... Australia: Toyota Prius taxi tops 340,000mi, dispels battery myth Toyota Prius Taxi Cracks 550,000 km <-- This one talks about battery replacement. Canada: Hybrid taxi paid for itself in no time From one of our own member! 500,000 km 2008 Prius Taxi | PriusChat Taxi driver was a driving force in hybrid movement | Climate & Clean Energy | David Suzuki Foundation US: Hybrid Battery Life: Good for the Long Haul? by Michael Sullivan Taxis Show Hybrid Battery Durability - HybridCars.com Ten-Year Old Toyota Hybrid Priuses Defy Early Critics This last one is interesting because Consumer Reports took a 2002 Prius and ran it through their own tests and compared it to the 2001 Prius they tested new over 12 years ago through the same tests..
UPDATE Thanks all for the constant updates. I'll give you an update of my own ... I went to the Toyota dealership the other day. I tried out the Corolla, the Camry, and of course the Prius Two. I'm not a snobby person, but I won't lie, I simply scoffed in the Corolla's general direction. It reminded me of a can meant for sardines ... The Camry however was very nice in both price, mpg, interior design, and so forth for a standard vehicle. I ended up addressing the concerns my gf's father had for the Prius using both my own opinions and those from the responses in this thread. The end result was a recognition that his previous generalizations of Prius technology as false, and accepting of my choice. I want to thank you all for giving me a hand! I have yet to actually sign papers yet because I was just there to look and make a final decision. I'll most likely be doing that at the end of this month. Again, thanks!
