Let's list our hybrid experiences

I have 59+K on the 2008 Prius I bought new (with only 10 miles on the odo after my test drive in Fairfield)

I currently get 46 average mpg per tank, and I drive it hard.

The car has never failed to start up... but did have to have the switch for the lights on the steering column replaced (free)

I just replaced the lower taillight bulb that had burned out ($1.82) and I do not have anything but good thoughts when I tell folks about my little car.

I will add, I have been hit from behind twice hard enough to require them replacing the back end of the car, they didn't total it either time... my body isn't healed, but the car keeps on plugging along.

I will be replacing the seats because the headrest placement isn't in a good enough place to prevent injury, and in fact caused the harm to my upper spine... it'll be a Recaro seat I'll be looking at I'm sure.

 

Honda Insight I still see a few now and than. The car was before it's time

Would you purchase another Prius if you ever in the market for a new car?

 

• 2003 Prius bought used, 49,000 miles - now has over 155,000 and still gives 52 MPG year round. It is also 1kW emergency power supply used at least once each year, over four days in April 2011 burning 2 gal/day. Also towed light-weight trailer around town for various supplies.
• 2010 Prius bought new - now has over 44,000 miles and still gives 52 MPG year round but 5 mph faster than 03 Prius. It also has a 1kW inverter and has towed 1,800 lbs of trailer and airplane 600 miles.

Was looking at Lincoln MKZ hybrid but decided to wait until after the shutdown and next model year, September, to see if I can snatch one coming off lease.

Bob Wilson

 

2012 Prius 4 with Solar. 15,000 Miles. Over a year old. No problems. Luv the car. Comfortable and economical. Gets about 44 MPG.

2013 Acura ILX Hybrid. Wife drives it mostly, I do occasionally. Gets about 35 MPG. Nice looking car a little underpowered but nice interior and stereo. Wife is a Acura loyal customer.

 

Well, my first hybrid experience was one of my adventure buddy's Ford Escape Hybrid AWD. I didn't ride around in it much, but we did manage to do some mild off-roading with it in the outskirts of Zion to access some technical canyons. We were both all too amused by the fact that we were, in fact, off-roading in a hybrid. That said, it was always at full-drone, do not know whether that was due to how my friend liked to drive it, or just the way it was.

I've driven around some institutional hybrids (another Ford Escape Hybrid of a newer vintage, and a 2nd-gen Prius), and although usable, they left me cold. We even got into some weird issue with the 2nd-gen Prius in which nobody could fire it up, despite knowing how to. It took quite a few people to get that probable software bug to relent.

The 3rd-gen Prius that I have recently purchased has been quite the revelation for not needing to be at full-drone most of the time. In fact, it is able to get around mostly whisper-quiet. The handling is acceptable, and progressing to be more than that as I get my parts in to address my specific peeves, while keeping what I specifically like, intact.

 

In my opinion, I'm not sure it was worth the money you paid actually.
My guess is that you actually may have come close to breaking even compared to a gas car, but not necessarily.

Let's say you would have purchased a $15,000 car instead of a $23,000 Insight.
And that the other car got 35 mpg instead of 65.5 mpg.
And we'll use $3.25 as the price of gas over those 220,000 miles (This is actually a bit high, but that's o.k. Having it high should actually favor the hybrid.)

35 mpg non-hybrid
Additional gas cost for 13 years: $9512.54 ($20,428.57 for non-hybrid - $10,916.03 for Insight)

Upcharge to own a hybrid: $10,500
Initial price: $8,000 ($23,000 - $15,000)
Cost of hybrid battery: $2,100

This simple example makes the hybird actually cost $500 more over the same time period.

Plus there are plenty more hidden costs.
- tires. rather than being able to buy cheap $40 tires, to get the high mpg in the Insight you must buy the $80+ RE-92's
- O2 sensors are $200 or more instead of the usual sub-$100 parts.
Etc, etc

This by no means makes me against hybrids, it's just that the idea that hybrids always save money, may not be true all the time.

 

Yes... Yes Bra, I would.
I'm looking at getting the V...

 

2000 Insight almost a classic like a 57 Chevy.

2006 Prius here 125k miles no probs...I was reflecting that at that time, the salesman told us the HV battery replacement was not an issue because the dealers could just replace the bad cell. Turns out the dealers don't do that, but funny how we rationalize new technology in the inital period before there is any real experience. What really convinced me probably was CR saying no apparent issue with battery life. Somehow I was confident the battery was not a prob (could be the 8-yr warranty helped too!).

 

I've got a 2008 Prius, which I bought in 2010 when it had 40,000km on it. It's now got 85,00kms on it.

I bought it because I wanted something reasonably cheap, safe and comfortable. I bought it at auction, and at Australian ex-government auctions, a two-year-old Prius costs only marginally more than a two-year-old Hyundai i30, and about the same as a two-year-old non-hybrid Camry or Corolla.

Like amm0bob, I've been rear-ended, and the car has been absolutely fine since the repair. Other than a couple of crash repairs, I haven't had anything done to the car. I do need to replace the wiper blades, though.

For me, the joy of the Prius is that I live in a very congested city, and spend a lot of time in stationary or very slow-moving traffic. Before the Prius, I had a Golf, and in traffic like that, you'd have a constant vibration from the engine. After an hour like that, I'd have a sore head, and I'd e tired. In the Prius, there's no engine noise and no vibration, and that makes a huge difference.

The other thing is that it's in heavy traffic that the Prius really comes into its own on fuel economy. Even though I spend lots of time in not-moving traffic, I average 5.2 litres per 100km, which is about 45mpg (US gallons). In the Golf in that sort of traffic, I was averaging around 12 litres per 100km (about 19mpg), and in a Mercedes CL600 in the same traffic, I was getting around 20 litres per 100km (about 11mpg). So the fuel economy in the Prius in the conditions I drive in is a huge advantage, but I drive so little (less than 10,000 miles per year) that it doesn't have an enormous impact.

When I'm not driving in the city, I'm driving between Sydney and Canberra, along an empty four-lane freeway with no interruptions for a little over 300km (just over 200 miles). And the car is comfortable and quiet, apart from one long steep section where it gets pretty noisy going uphill at 120km/h.

Oh, and one other thing. In the city, a Prius is the fastest way to get around. This isn't something you get with other hybrids, because they're not so obvious. But in the Prius, people think I'm some sort of lovely Earth-loving hippie, so I get let in at junctions a lot more than I otherwise would. I once stopped at a fast-food place on a busy road for a sandwich. Someone in a BMW X6M with personalised plates was trying to turn right across the busy road. In the time it took me to eat my sandwich and drink a Diet Coke, no-one had let him in.

 

My first experience is with my 2011. Got about 35k on it, average about 48 mpg.

I don't have the issues with the seats that others do. I make regular trips from VA to MA and at 6'1 230lbs I don't have any issues.

Only gripe I have is road noise, but I suspect that is because of the garbage Goodyear tires they put on it.

I keep my old ford crown vic station wagon around for utility use, and because it's almsost at classic car status. Funny thing is back in 1990 it's 5 liter v8 was only rated at 160hp.

Efficiency has gone up indeed.

 

For MY2000, that means a Chevrolet Metro 1.0L. I'm not sure he could have coaxed 220,000 miles out of it.

 

My '11 Prius is my first hybrid but it probably won't be my last. However, I don't feel very confident about the reliability of non-Toyota hybrids, so any new car would likely be a Toyota or Lexus hybrid. The hybrid Avalon sounds very interesting.

My new bride and I are still sorting out whether we want to keep 3 daily drivers or 2 after her old Malibu dies. She likes the Prius and tolerates the Ridgeline, but as a driving smoker when alone, she doesn't want to submit one of "My" 2 cars to that.

 

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