My Prius Exit Interview

As much as subjective is fun, there are some cars that are full of it. I've only been a passenger in a Miata, but it's actually the first one that comes to mind. And it better be fun, because it sure isn't practical

Last few fillups we're getting around 48 MPG city, but that's about 46 true. That's in NY summer. We have to kind of try to hit 50+, or at least my wife does as she drives with a little less care to gas than I do.

 

Given the current economic conditions, I'm very surprised people are still looking for "performance muscle cars". All these "performance muscle cars" mentioned here get embarrassed by a stock Maserati.

I always thought people actually saved up and bought a Ferrari (pretty cheap) when they retired which would smoke every car mentioned here. If people allocated their savings properly and actually had financial responsibility, a ferrari can be cheap.

 

I went backwards, in comparison to your decision.

For years I have driven a E36 M3 as my daily driver. I have had 3 in my driving career. To me the E36 M3 is the funnest, most well balanced car that you can realistically enjoy every day. It has just the right amount of power, it has remarkable handling and it is fairly fuel efficient.

I sold it because I was avoiding driving it. BMWs are expensive to fix, and they love constant attention. My M3 was nearing 120K miles and it seemed every other month I was pouring money into it to fix something.

If you see my signature you can tell that I am not a stranger to gas pumps, as a matter of fact my E55 has an average fuel consumption of 14.0 in its short life (~19,000 miles)

Of course the Prius cannot hold a candle to the power of my German beasts. The bio-engineered interior plastics would never be acceptable in the AMG or M5, but it also didn't cost $90K. The Prius doesn't hunker down and hug the road like a German, even in a straight line apparently. I think the Prius has some nice oomph to 30mph or so, but remember my supercharged AMG can rip off quarter miles in 12 seconds flat.

I love the Prius in a different way: the Prius gives me the freedom to not think about my next service or inspection or why I just used a 1/4 tank of gas in a 30 minute drive. The freedom to drive and drive and drive and think about something else. That is priceless. Plus, the Prius has some fun gadgets that keep the engineer side of me engaged.

I have had my Prius III with NAV now for two weeks and 400 miles and I have yet to exhaust the first tank of gas. The bluetooth audio feature is amazing, Pandora streams on my iPhone play flawlessly through the JBL audio wireless, and it does it with no input from me.

Brilliant!

 

I'm so sorry to do this and I don't mean to pick on you, but I'm totally OCD about this one thing. There is no such word as "funner" or "funnest."

Fun
More Fun
Most Fun

Thank you for letting me indulge in this grammatical moment. My prior English teacher thanks you.

Now back to driving fun.

For me 'driving fun' = not driving (more than a few hrs at most)! Now, flying! Like in a private jet, someone else pays the expense, while I am served gourmet cuisine. Now that would be FUN, more fun, most fun!

 

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Stick around because your views are important to this community.

 

Your way of writing it is much betterer.

Tom

 

Ain't it though!?!

 

I apologize for the grammatical mistake.

(To me) The E36 M3 is the most fun and balanced car to drive.

 

As a relatively new Prius owner, I enjoyed reading your forthright assessment of positives & negatives. Enjoy your new ride!

 

Last 4 or 5 tanks have all been over 60 MPG.

Average speed (as recorded on the computer) is in the low 30's mph. That represents a combo of stop and go on the highway, more stop and go on back streets, and lengthy waits at stop lights. Welcome to my commute. When I can, I'll go over the posted...but back to my earlier point of not driving my Jag to work - what's the point. Rarely can I go above the posted, except in short spurts.

Key is anticipation of the traffic in front of me (conservation of momentum), and the careful/gentle modulation of the gas peddle.

 

I've had my Prius for one week. if I wanted a vehicle that went from zero to warp speed in 5 seconds then I would have bought one or would have kept the LaCrosse (3.6L) 240HP which could haul nice person in its own right

I wanted a car that was great on gas and the environment, so hence the Prius. I test drove it and knew it wouldn't haul nice person like the buick. I like the styling and the tech behind it.

 

exactly.:rockon:

 

LOL. Ever wondered how languages change ? Let me suggest ...

- The language instinct : how the mind creates language by Steven Pinker

- The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John Mcwhorter

 

This isn't exactly an exit-interview...but it's more of a "first few weeks performance report."

I've had my Prius for two weeks now and have driven about 530 miles. Mostly I'm very happy with my choice to get one. The few things that bothered me from the very start are still a problem for me:

1) The split rear window still isn't a favorite thing for me, as I'm more accustomed to better visibility through the back window.

2) I'm constantly living in fear of scraping the side of the car or the bumper, as it's so hidden from view from the driver's seat. Parking has never been so difficult for me before. I thought after a few days I would get used to it and would quickly know where the front/side of my car were relative to curbs and other things that I pull up next to. I also take wider right-hand turns so as not to get too close to curbs.

And more recently I discovered that part of the interior of my car is light gray AND bisque (the areas near the windshield are gray). It's only a minor cosmetic thing, but those two "colors" don't exactly match.

Otherwise I'm very happy with the car and love the mileage I'm getting. The interior is more comfortable and roomy than I thought it would be. I'm a little anxious about driving the car in winter conditions, but I guess I can always get snow tires.

 

i hate the split window, wish they could change it, but, that's life.
no problem seeing and parking the gen II, i wonder if the III is more difficult? winter driving is a breeze with the right all season's or get snows if you encounter a lot of ice and snow on your commute.

 

Best of luck with your Z. It sounds like a good fun choice.

For me, I don't really care about the motion of the wheel, I'm fine with that. But in a car like the Z you get steering feel, in the prius its completely missing.

Where are my gauges? Many get ugly scan gauges for functions that should be on the dash. How about a tach, no mother toyota doesn't want us to have this because revs might be confusing. How about a temperature gauge (with a real needle and colored arcs) so that we know which phase we are in. Just a little color would be nice and cheap, I don't like the digital speedo, but for $5 more in parts you could have it glow different colors for engine on/off, motors, on/regen/neutral. I replaced the head unit and speakers so now the moving map and sound quality make the car look higher tech.

come on, some cars are just better than others. The porsche 918, although stunningly expensive should whip the prius on every measure of driving even getting higher milelage in charge sustain mode. It does have less cargo space, and no passenger space, but the prius doesn't measure up here to many other cars either. some things are just better, but there are those pesky money issues, and prius is the best mileage car at a reasonable price hands down.

Life's too short, have fun with your new toy. I am likely to go michaelvickdog's route and and add a used fun to drive roadster to my practical prius. If the prius was sapping your joy, the cost was greater than monetary.

That is part of the rub, I'll probably buy something within the last 15 years to get some of the tech, and haven't decided what yet. I don't really care about how others see the car, but there is something great about a classic. With the prius as primary, it really doesn't matter if the car doesn't have the greatest reliability.

 

Part of the fun for me is the interaction/looks/comments I get from other drivers when i pull up for gas, getting coffee, or stop for lunch, etc....most guys that know cars, that love cars, go "WOW, that's a beautiful car...you keep it in great condition". Comments like those are a source of pride for me.

Being able to spank most other cars, is, well, juvenile. Don't get me wrong, i love the adreneline rush I get when I floor it...but I rarely ever go there anymore. Just knowing that I can, however, is more than enough for me... :rockon:

 

nylion
Your exit interview sums up my feelings to a T. Have a 2010 Prius IV with Nav and it is just boring to drive but gets great mileage. You just expressed yourself in a more articulate manner.I have looked at trading it but at a best of $20k that is a big $8K hit for 7500 miles traveled.
Still might do it though!

You were right on with your comments re the interior and the nav.

 

I used to have two Toyota's: the 2004 Prius and the 2007 FJ. The first 3 years, I put on 120,000km due to the nature of my consulting, and having a vacation property a long drive away

Things changed for me in late 2008. I changed jobs to a government career and received the first of many promotions, to the point my travel is essentially zero. I moved to a location much closer to work in a nice community. I sold the vacation property before the market caved

I now drive an average of 3,500 km a year, call it 2,100 miles. If anything, I will probably drive about 30% less next year. With those few miles, it really doesn't matter whether I drive an FJ or a Prius

My '04 Prius had the hyper sensitive traction control that drove me insane. Studded winter tires mostly cured that problem, but it was still a nagging reminder.

The FJ, I no longer have to worry about roads. Yes, I also run factory studded winter tires on the FJ. My FJ has "real" traction control - it applies a brake to the wheel with no traction, and it borrows Prius technology in using electric assist power brakes

In the end, I was as satisfied with my Prius as any other car. I have no intention to get another car, or another vehicle period. At the rate I'm driving, I actually do need a Battery Tender just to make sure the battery stays charged

Another amazing thing is that they are building a new office suite in a strip mall very close to where I live. As in a 10 minute walk from my house. The FJ may sit in the garage for a week at a time