3 days in - new Prius owner disappointed

Here's the Natural Resources Canada fuel economy ratings for the two vehicles. Prius is ahead, but not by that much, especially the city ratings. I think the Accord's hybrid system is now similar to Prius? Note the ratings are now based on a more realistic test regimen.



Translated to US mpg values:

 

At some $10k more for an Accord Hybrid over my base Prius Plug in, I'd rather have the money to afford a big screen TV. And then I'd be able to put it in my car and drive it home instead of having a battery take up space in the trunk. And if I paid $30K+ for a high trim level Prius, well, I'd have buyers remorse for buying a Fisher Price car regardless if the Accord Hybrid existed.

 

Toyota is gotta be looking at those city numbers though, trying to widen the gap for next gen.

 

The current Gen 3 is long in the tooth. Only took Honda 5 years to be slightly behind.

 

The accord really shouldn't be compared to the Prius, it's not even the same class. It should be compared to the Camry

 

Well, the Accord outweighs the Prius by 500 lbs, curb weight. If it can do that and still be close, it says something.

I'm not enamoured with Honda's hybrids, after our '06 Civic Hybrid experience, in the older IMA system. It's on it's second battery, and that one's just now starting into recalibrations. I wouldn't touch a Honda hybrid 'till at least one generation has come and gone, trouble free. And I'm hooked on the voluminous hatchback format.

But I see no point in chauvinism, a car's a car.

 

Yeah, good point. Oh oh:



Well, the Camry's got a 1/2 liter more displacement.

 

Y'all may be assuming higher prices for the Accord Hybrid. I was getting real-world quotes in March for the base Accord Hybrid under $26K including destination. Remember that this was the time that Accord Hybrid production finally was ramping up, and right before they announced that production was going to move to Japan.

Given that price, why did I choose a Prius Four?

1) Proven reliability of the Prius - battery, brakes, everything.
2) Better 65mph steady state highway mileage (per Fuelly, CleanMPG, and driveaccord.net) on the Prius
3) History (with Civic Hybrid) of more aggressive battery use (and potentially shorter life) on Honda hybrids. I think the new Honda system is brilliantly designed (serial hybrid under 47 MPH, with a single gear direct hookup to the gas engine at highway speeds) for great in-town mileage and driving experience, at the cost of more deep and sustained use of the LiOn battery.
4) No safely mounted OEM spare tire on the Accord Hybrid
5) Known quantity of large numbers of replacement parts for the Prius
6) Cheaper to insure the Prius based on the quotes from my insurance agent
7) Test drive of a friend's Gen III Prius showed it had better handling, acceleration, rear seatroom, and visibility than anticipated
8) Prius was still almost 2K cheaper than the Accord Hybrid, with 0% financing on top
9) Proven extreme cold weather performance of the Prius system
10) Versatility of the hatchback
11) Hugely superior online community for questions. Accord forums don't even have a separate section for the hybrid.

 

Absolutely.

Shouldn't we be comparing the INSIGHT against the Prius? And look what happened there

 

Thorough research is so vital when making a decision on buying an item that will be owned for a few years and cost as much as many people's annual income.

By the time I purchased my Prius, I was fairly certain what I was getting. If anything I saw more pleasant surprises than disappointments.

 

I probably would have considered the Accord Hybrid if I was in the market for a sedan.

Thing is I wanted a hatchback and the Prius is unrivaled when it comes to versatility and mpg.

The things I have hauled in my Prius blow my mind. Try loading a 60" TV or a monster sized entertainment center in the back of your accord...


I've owned many cars (and trucks) from large gas guzzling muscle cars, to hot hatch turbos to jacked up pickup trucks, to a few of "the fake 40mpg ICE cars" out there. The Prius is my number one, do it all reliable ride...



My Persona is my second Prius and a I bought my wife a Prius v a couple months ago. So we are up to our 3rd Prius and both our current cars are Prii!

 

if honda can put their new hybrid system in a prius like package...

 

Did anyone notice that the pics of the OP's car that is only 3 days on the road already has plates on it? Ohio issues temp. tags until you receive plates from DMV......

 

Really? I wonder why.

In PA, you get the metal plate right off the lot. The only thing you don't have is the registration sticker, which arrives a few weeks later.

 

Even so ... we must still welcome all newcomers. So with that welcoming spirit in mind . . . and maybe just a hint of discernment . . . .



Welcome to all ! ! !

.

 

trollbate?

 

TRUE. The Prius has been around A LOT longer than the Accord hybrid. So there's a long track record of reliability. I read that the Accords had issues with the battery pack lifespan and were getting quite a few complaints. So I don't think they'll be as reliable as the Prius. Plus I like the different, out-of-the ordinary look of the Prius. Doesn't look like every other car out on the road. And I'm getting right at 49 mpg in town w/o even trying; no attention to coasting, gliding, etc. Expect to get even better mileage once I start paying attention to the dash read outs.

 

LOL, Prius looks like every other car in L.A. !

 

well;
My Nissan Leaf - after 50K miles has a diminished capacity - so I only get 75 miles range safely ... the flooring looked like a used carpet pad w/in the 1st week ... the unclean-able junkie upholstery fabric holds body oil like a sponge ... it takes for EVER to get up to 80mph ... only seats 5 ... corners like a wet sponge .... only charges at 3.5kWh's ... has mediocre passive thermal management ... you have to PAY most places to charge it up ...
AND it looks like it was built by Fisher Price.

The Tesla Model S-85D can go from 0 to 60 in 3.1 seconds, seats 7, can get 300 miles range, looks & feels luxurious, has a self driving feature, gigantic sunroof, thermal battery management, on-the-fly map updates that calculate range based on altitude changes and temperature - has FREE life time 4G Lte enabled web, on a pinch-zoom-tabloid sized multi function display, FREE super charging, at a rate of 150 miles per 20 minutes, has a way-better warranty, can home charge at a whopping 20kW's - AND, was voted safest car in the world.

How can this be ??!?? (or put another way, I'll see your Fisher Price ... and raise you 3)

BTW - and not to take anything away from the more expensive Accord hybrid, but both Insight, civic, as WELL as the Accord hybrid owners victoriously sued Honda for premature traction pack failures. Seems the only reason Honda hybrids even got the EPA's that they did, was because their traction packs were over programmed to aggressively use electricity. Upon loss of mpg's Honda tried to blame it on driver's changed style of driving ... after too many complaints, Honda finally got "generous" - by ONLY changing out the weakest modules ... and when that still didn't cut the mustard, Honda then throttled back the electric traction pack use via programming, which (you guessed it) permanently reduced their EPA's. After the class action - has anyone heard whether Honda hybrids and/or their plugin has been able to successfully reach end of warranty w/out premature pack failures / issues ??

Meanwhile, many Prius plugin & hybrids go over a quarter million miles with original traction packs. So maybe one might consider THAT, as a nice offset, for that Fisher Price look and feel
.

 

Apparently the gen1 Leaf battery isn't holding up that well, but the gen2 Leaf is;

A UK gen2 Leaf taxi has hit the 100k miles mark with no loss of capacity bars;


Nissan LEAF EV hits 100,000 mile landmark

Whereas drivers of a London taxi company running Tesla S's are reporting that the cars interiors are almost literally falling apart after only 30k miles of hard taxi work. Obviously there is no official link or reporting of this, and you'll have to just take it as is, but I can confirm that taxi work is very hard on the interior - lots of opening of doors, heels and high heels digging into the carpet etc.

How well are the interiors of the US Teslas holding up? I undersand the UK RHD ones are assembled in Holland to avoid import taxes. I wonder if they're not being put together quite as well as they should?