Car Talk: Prius Perfect for Pizza

What makes him/her an irresponsible citizen? He/she still has liability insurance, it's just their own vehicle that won't be covered.

Did you know New Hampshire doesn't have a state requirement for a vehicle owner to even carry ANY vehicle insurance? They also have a 4% unemployment rate, no state income tax and no state sales tax. However, they have this white stuff that falls from the sky. I won't be moving there.

 

That's absurd allowing people on the road without insurance.

 

I don't think he/she meant no insurance, he/she just has liability only.

Back to topic: I did see a couple of "Pizza Guys" delivery Prii on the road on Hwy 50, a Sacramento area pizza chain, nice to see!

 

I should clarify that: I do continue to carry AT LEAST liability. Anyways, my employment requires it. If I do total it (and live), I get to go car shopping again. This time, I'd get the Plug-in Prius. ^_^

 

about how many miles do you drive on a shift? wondering if a group of Leafs could do it if plugged into L2 when not moving which i am guessing would be rare

 

I drive a 50-mile round trip to go to work. Then I can drive between 40 and 80 miles a shift for the pizza delivery. After I get home, I drive another 17 miles to start my newspaper route. From there, it's about 110 to 120 miles for the paper route, which ends a block from my place. So about 60,000 a year.

My goal is to hit the half-million mark. It's definitely possible, but still hard to achieve. Most people either wreck it, trade it, or just can't drive that far in 20 years.

Once I start traveling, I should be able to add many more miles. ^_^

 

A couple of decades ago, I delivered pizza in a 1977 Ford Pinto Van... Remember those?

 

Besides being an irresponsible citizen, if your vehicle is financed your lienholder usually requires appropriate car insurance. Your Employer also requires you to maintain a "proper" insurance policy for the duration of your employment as a delivery driver.

 

Most delivery employers only require an insurance policy, they don't care what it covers. The lienholder does require full coverage, but at 24 years old, it's quite expensive for a new prius. So I cancelled it. If I total it, I will continue paying for it. If my premium goes down significantly in a couple years, then I'll consider collision coverage.

As for not satisfying the lienholder with full coverage....the dealership lied on my credit app to get me the car anyway. ^_^ But I wouldn't ruin my credit by not paying for it.

 

If your lien holder figures out that you do not have the insurance that they require in your contract they'll add insurance for you at a really high premium. If you've recently taken off the comp/collision you'll probably be getting a letter soon.

As for required liability coverage and irresponsible citizen... State's like New Hampshire that do not require vehicle insurance for vehicle owners are "No Fault" states. If you don't have insurance in a state like this, the only person hurt is... well, you. After an accident each vehicle owner claims it on his/her own insurance and the repairs are taken care of by your own insurance company regardless of fault.

 

What type of oil to you use?

I have a '96 Protege (purchased new) with 378K on it. Except for first 30K used Mobil-1 and PureOne filter. Engine is still o'k but it will not go another 122K, the oil rings are worn enough to say it.

If I were planning to hit 500K mark in new car I'd have to use Amsoil and Amsoil bypass filter.

 

i lived in nh for 5 years. moved back to mass. it wasn't because of the white stuff, but the black flies.

 

Mobil-1 0w20 and cheapo Fram filter.

 

Nah. This isn't the first car loan without full coverage I've had. Five years ago, I had no insurance at all for a year. No letters, no tags returned, no call from the bank. ^_^ I also didn't drive it at the time.

 

Also M1 here and 10K change intervals with OEM filter, $4 at dealer, cheaper then any aftermarkets. BTW Walleymart sells now M1 0w20 in 5qt jars, check it out.

Last change put Castrol EDGE with Titanium, and see slight MPG ~2 increase.

Seriously consider Amsoil bypass and their oil. It is more expensive, but you can recover some of the costs with 25K drain intervals. Amsoil is the only oil I use in my motorcycles, after 10K it shifts better then M1 new. M1 needs to be replaced after 5-6K. I use M1 b/c it is cheaper, and it will last for intended range, 300K.

 

Speaking of oil, I just had an oil change on Saturday. Then, while driving down the road in the middle of the night on Sunday, ALL OF THE OIL DRAINED OUT. The first sign I noticed was the distinct scent of synthetic oil burning. Since I was on a dark road with no cell service, I drove two miles to the nearest gas station (with the engine off). Luckily I was on a downgrade most of the way. Not a drop of oil was left in the engine.

So I had it towed to Toyota in hopes that the engine wasn't ruined. They said the oil filter had a double gasket. So after $300 and a carwash, my toy runs like new again.

Moral of the story: If you smell oil, stop the engine and cruise on the battery to the nearest gas station. And maybe do your own oil change so you know its done right. -_-

 

I'm planning to buy a used Prius for pizza delivery too as soon as I can find one in good condition at a sane price. Dealers here are asking $24-25k for anything under 100k miles from 07-09 models. Not on their life would I pay that! I guess that's the cost of living in Prius-Central, Boulder, CO.

I'm driving a Subaru too currently and literally half my money is going into my gas tank today and tips are going down not up. With what I'm paying for gas vs what I'd be paying in a Prius, the car payments would be basically "free" for a purchase price of up to about $14k or so.

On the bright side, after reading here for the past couple of months and trying to practice some of the driving techniques adapted to a gas engine car, I've managed to get my mileage from about 22-23 MPG up to 26 - not bad considering that's in-town pizza delivery mileage and still running the A/C half the time.

 

I've seen at least 3 different Gen I Priuses delivering pizza in my city. 2 Dominos and 1 I saw outside Papa John's. It's a small city (15k) too, but I don't know how many miles the drivers do each night.

 

I have been delivering pizzas for Domino's for 4 years, and until recently I had a 1996 Nissan Maxima. Working between 30 and 40 hours a week I spent about $500/month on gas, so I decided to look into buying a Prius to save money.

I've had my 2011 Prius for a month and a half now, and I've brought my gas bill down to about $200/month, which works out perfectly for my $300/month car payment. The insurance for a new car is kind of expensive, but I can afford it.

While delivering I can get anywhere from 55 to 63 mpg, depending on the weather, how much I pay attention to my driving, etc. Each night I calculate how much of my tips go to gas, and it's usually only about 6-12%.

One thing that I was worried about was the fact that I put at least 30,000 miles on my car each year, but after seeing threads on here where people mention getting over 299,999 miles I'm not really worried about it. It is a Toyota, after all.

I think the Prius is the perfect car for me. It gets great gas milage in the city, and I love all the technology it comes with and figuring out all the statistics having to do with gas milage and efficiency. I don't think I'll ever be able to own a normal, non-hybrid car again.

 

I'm hoping beyond hope that within the next week I'll be among your ranks. I've finally located one that strikes my fancy within my budget. I can hardly think about sleeping right now I'm so anxious!

Granted I'm not going to see a higher income for the 3-5 years I'm making payments, but I will be at least driving an almost new car that won't need much maintenance while saving a little gas for the rest of the planet and keeping the air a bit cleaner in the process. And once it's paid for, I'll have that free raise to boot!

Hurry up, paperwork!