Please reassure me that I'm going to love my new Prius...

I would advise you to start stock, then mod the suspension to get the trade off between comfort and handling you want. here are many vendors and retailers of Prius suspension parts, but here is an example:

2012 & 2013 Prius Suspension Upgrades, Coil Springs, Chassis Stiffener & Strut Tower Brace Improves Prius Handling: JuicedHybrid.com

I have not owned a Gen 3 Prius, but on my Gen 2, upgrading the mid brace was the mod that yielded the most bang for the buck. Toyota has upgraded the stock part, but Mike makes an aftermarket brace.
Latest and lightest Gen III "box beam" mid-chassis stiffener brace | PriusChat

 

No guarantee the Prius is right, but, you selected it for all the right reasons. I've had a long list of cars in my life, and I chose a Prius Plug In as my current car. It is, what it is. Toyota reputation and reliability, refined as it's in it's third generation, one of the best fuel mileage vehicles available. Loved by those who own it, hated by those that don't understand it.

My 2012 Prius Plug In Advance is ten months old. It's the best optioned car I've owned (more than my previous 2011 Lexus IS), and options are important to me. Incredible fuel mileage in EV (electric vehicle) and hybrid mode. Easy and comfortable to drive. Not as sporty to drive as other cars I've had, but that a small trade off. For day to day driving, it's fine as is. After ten months of ownership, I have zero complaints and would highly recommend.

 

Best of Luck.

Who can guarantee you are going to like the car?
You may or may not.
This is a Prius site, so of course the majority here support Prius.

For that matter what vehicle IS perfect on all fronts?

The description of your new driving demands given your new position, that is a "fair bit of driving in rural areas", I think would lend itself to being a positive with a Prius. You should get excellent gas mileage, great reliability.

I came from a Honda Fit, which believe it or not was a great handling vehicle. Had a very agile and tossable feel.

The Prius IMO is different. The analogy I like to use is the difference between flying a small plane and flying a large passenger plane.

The Prius is GREAT on long road trips IMO. Comfortable, quite and smooth. Is it as much "fun" in taking corners as my previous Honda Fit..No. But IMO that just makes it different, not worse. The Prius is much more 747 than Barn Stormer.

You'll just have to own it and see. But I think if you are going to commit to a hybrid and a Prius you have to be excited about having a hybrid and a Prius, which I think means valuing the benefits of the Hybrid Synergy Drive system. Which creates lower emissions, great gas mileage, and IMO a quiet and smooth driving experience.

If you are going to value "Fun" to drive as in ability to take tight corners? You may indeed be ultimately disappointed in your Prius purchase.

I've owned both type of vehicles. I came recently from a Honda Fit. I think the trick is simply re-defining or expanding ones definitions of "fun to drive". I think quiet, efficient operation, and excellent gas mileage is fun. The older I get the less I want to take corners at break neck speed. The more traffic and congestion increase the less opportunity I think one has to safely drive in a manner that takes advantage of ability to corner or super fast 0-60 times. Those are not the forte of HSD or Prius, even if they are not as bad as rumored by some.

So anyway good luck with your Prius purchase. I think there are many reasons to enjoy owning a Prius. Being a hybrid those reasons are somewhat divergent from the typical reasons some people apply to the purchase of standard ICE sports cars or Trucks and utility vehicles.

The best I can tell you is I hope you enjoy your Prius. If you find you do not? Then nothing is written in stone.

 

The Prius is definitely NOT a sports car built to handle fast turns and quick maneuvers while getting high mpg simultaneously without any modifications to your current stock vehicle. That's one thing I truly missed especially driving on winding roads in my '04. On a straight away, going 85mph is no issue but beyond that speed, I can sense the car can't handle it. Good luck and per the first responders suggestions, hope those modifications will help for a fun drive.

 

I came from a Porsche. Do I love the Prius the same way? No. But do I appreciate that the Prius does so many things well in the categories that influenced my choices. YES.

If you are that small and driving alone and in rural environs, practice changing a tire and consider buying/carrying a longer breaker bar with a socket sized to your wheel lug nuts. Consider carrying a full sized spare, something almost no modern car has. Yes it is weight and lower MPG but if you have a tire incident out where your cell loses reception....

 

I spend a fair bit of time driving on the track, every car I've had in recent years has been extensively modified for handling, and I still keep a fun car. That said, I have NO desire to modify the Prius as it was bought as an appliance, and aftermarket suspension upgrades nearly always have a disproportionately negative effect of the ride quality.

The good news is that the Prius excels at teaching you to drive differently and find different sorts of enjoyment in driving. I suspect you'll find some of that same enjoyment. Live with the car a bit and see what you think. There are always options if it isn't suiting you perfectly.

 

Greetings and welcome!

Are you going to love the car?
That's up to you.

As the regulars here are already aware, I didn't buy a Prius. Mine is a company car....and I didn't get to chose one either.
Well....
That's not entirely true.
I did have the option of keeping my Katrina damaged, 96 Chevy Cavalier with lunar mileage, questionable A/C, and sagging seats....and to be honest?
I had to think about it for a minute or two.

The Prius is a good car.
I could (and have) filled out a long laundry list of deficiencies in this car but nobody ever says that they're prone to leaving you on the side of the road, and we already know that they're still the reigning MPG champs....and if you have to drive a lot?
Dependability and frugality will make up for a LOT of sub-par zero-to-sixty acceleration and lateral acceleration numbers!

You may love it...or you may hate it.
Just make sure that if you wind up hating the car that you're not just longing for the memory of a usta-car that left you on the side of the road.

Good Luck!

 

I agree.

I owned a 2004 GTO. It was an incredible car and could drink an incredible amount of fuel. I sold it after getting married and bought a 2006 Escape Hybrid. About a year later we sold it and got our Prius. I miss the raw power of the GTO, but the Escape and Prius can be just as fun playing the MPG game (ok, I lied, they're still not quite as fun). Mastering the MPG game is also much less illegal and dangerous than pushing the GTO to its limits. I still miss the GTO, but I realize that the Prius is a much better car for us.

 

I am guessing you won't 'love' it, but will come to appreciate in time.

 

I came from an Audi A4 Cabriolet to my 2013 Prius IV. I've had it about 3 months. I was a little intimidated at first with all of the dash info and how to interpret it. I read the book over a weeks time and kept it handy. Does it handle like a sports car, no. Is it fun to drive, yes. Your driving abilities will most likely limit how aggressive you can be driving it. My hubby does not care about gas mileage, he drives it like the Audi. I always get 2-3 miles less when he drives it. He went from a true skeptic to being in love with this car in about one months time. It is very comfortable for me. I hope you love yours too.
PS: I kept the Audi for summertime!!

 

I purchased a Prius Four with solar roof 15 month ago. I have about 15,000 miles. I sold a BMW 325i that was purchased new from the dealer 8 years ago. My observations. The Prius with all those options is an expensive car. The state of art is not handling or speed. The state of art is fuel economy and I'm told reliability and practicality. The Prius is roomy inside. You can drop the rear seat and get plenty of cargo space. I like the car but the kicker is the fuel bill. My monthly outlay with the BMW was $250- $350 per month according to Quicken, my Prius $75-$100.

So far my Prius is under service contract thus no cost for service. The service cost is low compared to a Lexus or BMW once the free is expired. The warranty is good on the Drive Train and Battery. I'm sure you will get 100,000 miles easy with just routine service. I think you will enjoy the car and it's attributes. I do every day. Driving the Prius is like playing a xBox game. Plenty of entertainment.

The only thing I can say is the car did depreciate the first year about $6,000 and I was out the sales tax. But all cars do that. Than again buying a used car major repairs come sooner. I hate having car problems so I always buy new.

 

I have a 2007 Prius I bought new and have 133,000 miles on it and would buy another Prius in a heartbeat if I needed one, but I fully intend to get over 200,000 miles out of this one with routine maintenance.
Almost any Gen II Prius owner will tell you there have been some issues, but for me, Toyota has fixed them even beyond the miles and years you could reasonably expect and in every instance for me before I had a problem.
I would recommend that you study the way your Hybrid works, because most people's dissatisfaction is based on a lack of understanding on how smart this car is and how hard it tries to get you the best mileage.
You will hear many noises that you won't understand and think there is a problem until you understand what it's doing. It's usually the sound of one of the Motor Generators recharging the HV battery while braking or the electric water pump pumping water to or from the engine and Coolant Heat Storage Tank to give you that best mileage and minimize emissions.
I really do enjoy the way it handles in turns and it has plenty of power to react when you need it and it has saved me over $8000 in fuel costs compared to the BMW X3 I traded for it which was getting about 25 MPG, not even figuring for the premium I had to put in the BMW.

 

You might miss the handling at first, but there are many other things to appreciate. It's a very smooth, comfortable car to drive, and it's got lots of neat techy things to amuse you.

As others have pointed out, the handling can be fixed - mostly by making the chassis stiffer, as I understand it. Better tires will also help.

 

Let us know how it goes with your new Prius! I'm a longtime Corolla driver, and debating whether to buy a Mazda3 or Prius (or *maybe* a Scion XB. I don't drive many miles, but still would like better than XB's 25mpg.) I like Prii a lot, but I too am wondering what the adjustment will be like in terms of handling. Anyway, I'm sure you'll like your new Prius as I've driven them a number of times and it's always fun!

 

Like the man who asked the salesman at the bait store . What are they
Biting on to day ?? Reply , come back tomorrow and I'll tell you what they
Were biting on today ..
You bought the car for all the right reasons ..... Enjoy