Bye BMW 745i welcome Prius

Welcome! Congrats on your purchase.. I test drove a 2005 545i and was debating between that and my 07 Prius. I decided on the Prius and have no regrets. I am getting 55mpg going to work and 70 mpg going back (about low to mid 60's in MPG average) and am saving a ton on gas.

That is pretty good deal. I got my 07 with 50k miles for 17k (including fees, taxes and licensing). It was also a CPO and got all the bells and whistles (warranty, free maintenance, car washes, and the 2.9% APR for 60 mo).

IMHO, this is probably one of my best purchases.

Let's see some pictures!

Lurk the past threads in this forum and you will see a lot of great info to improve your mileage and driving habits.

Congrats and welcome!

 

Yeah it's not going to have quite the same power as your BMW. The prius is also peculiar in that it uses the electric motors to boost the acceleration, but only if the traction battery state of charge (SOC) is reasonably healthy. This makes the Prius unusual in that the amount of "get up and go" you feel can vary somewhat, depending on recent driving history.

Keep your eye on the 8-bar battery icon on the energy monitor display. It should normally be around 6 bars (and blue). But sometimes if you've done a lot of slow electric driving, or sometimes when the engine is still warming up, or if you've done a lot of hill climbing, then the SOC can drop down to 2 bars (or even lower). With this low SOC then the acceleration is somewhat compromised and the engine has to work much harder.

Two tips to stop the SOC falling too low are

1. While it's good to drive full electric (very gentle on accelerator with the engine off) on terrain where the required power is very low, don't prolong this EV mode too much (meaning to overly try to coax it into EV mode) to the point where the SOC drops.

2. It doesn't hurt to let the prius have a short warm up (about 25 to 40 seconds) in park. It's not 100% necessary but I find it helps maintain good SOC at the start of a trip, without any overall detriment to MPG. BTW. You have to be in "park" so it can pre-charge the traction battery, that way you're not completely wasting the gas during warm-up.

 

Yep, that's an understatement. I'd also imagine the sensations if it feeling (or being) underpowered is related to the noise, vibration and harshness (aka NVH) of 4 banger in a non-luxury car vs. a V8 in a luxury car.

I do sometimes miss the smoothness (in comparison) and abundant power of the 255 hp 3.5L V6 in my former 02 Maxima...

 

ramapra, you have come to the right place for advice. When my wife and I started of with our Prii we knew very little about the Prius but the information on this forum is worth gold! Delve in and read as many relevant posts especially the stickys.

I think you got a very good deal with your Prius. I paid about $22k for my 2007 with 33000 miles but then there are very few Prii in South Africa.

I concur with uart in letting the Prius warm up for a few seconds especially in colder weather. Also if you can hear the engine rev up you are usually accelerating too fast and it can hurt your fuel efficiency. As you drive this wonderful vehicle you will get to know the feelings and sounds that enables you to drive most efficient. I plan on getting myself an UltraGauge to take the fuel consumption to the next level but my wife "just drives it" and we both enjoy the cars tremendously.

Very different to other vehicles but if you adjust your attitude and mindset you can get more satisfaction from the Prius than you thought possible. Also driving with a different mindset enables you to drive safer and see and appreciate more of our surroundings. Enjoy!

 

lol You've seen the light ramapra

What you going to do with the $200 saved each month? Save it and go for a great holiday? What about rent a Ferrari for a weekend? Or take the Mrs on a shopping weekend to New York?

 

Welcome!
Yes there's a load of us PC'rs that came from money burners. For some of us, it just took a bit longer to 'get it'.

:thumb:
.

 

You'll get over the underpowered feel. I came from an 800HP 4x4 truck which was faster than my Corvette yet the Prius suits me just fine. There is plenty of power for freeway merging. Just don't expect to be able to pass 8 cars in a row on a 2 lane road. lol

 

Yep, it has a lot less power ... get used to it

One thing you got to remember is if you are driving along at 65 mph and getting ready to pass someone, or you encounter an uphill section, in a normal vehicle the engine in the same gear would rev at about the same speed but burn more fuel to produce more power. It feels like power on tap.

In the Prius the RPMs do ramp up somewhat independent of speed. It takes a bit longer to ramp up and it feels less responsive. Also it sounds like a cross between a go-cart and a goat getting slaughtered.

 

In addition to $200/month on gas, you'll save thousands on repair and maintenance. My favorite memory from brake class was the instructor rolling in with his mom's BMW 5 sedan, claiming that it was in perfect condition because he did all the maintenance, and finding a bad front wheel bearing, on a 5 year old car with 75000 miles.

 

Did I read that right? The resale value of the 2003 BMW 7 series is the same as 2006 Prius?

 

What's the reliability and maintenance costs of a BMW 745i anyways?

 

A month ago we moved from a BMW 335 twin turbo coupe to a new Prius. It is a fun car without all the drama of the BMW. Takes you from point A to point B economically are surprisingly quietly. I find it kind of like driving a video game.

We rarely used the 335 power anyway. Good luck with your new vehicle.

 

We traded a 2002 BMW 740il in on a 2008 Prius. That was one of the best moves we ever made. The BMW was eating us alive on maintenance: oil leaks, power steering fluid leaks, sticking valves flooding the intake manifold with oil and destroying the catalytic converter, random misfiring of the engine, etc. We were afraid to take it on the road because we might have to get it towed in. My wife always took her cell phone with her in case she had to call for help. It was the most expensive car we ever bought and the most unreliable car we ever bought. We bought the Prius as a used car with a Toyota extended warranty. In 40k miles, the Prius has not given us one lick of trouble. We have driven it from northern Indiana to Key West Florida and it as been a joy. We are looking forward to many, many pleasant miles from this car. I was afraid that going from a plush large car to a Prius might be a shock on my wife. But she just jumps in her Prius and goes anywhere. Great car!!

 

A TON besides the very different interior and somewhat different exterior. Some additional features are optional though.

See my posts at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii-2010-prius-main-forum/88583-prius-versions.html#post1242903 and a few that follow it, esp. those from evpv and Tideland Prius. Then for the mid-cycle refresh for MY2012, see http://priuschat.com/news/exclusive-2012-my-prius-changes-and-additions and http://priuschat.com/news/2012-prius-mid-cycle-refresh-official-details.