What percentage of Prius drivers actually think about the driving experience?

Those wedge seat cushions suck. Same with the cheap auto parts store cushions and covers.

Try high-quality, custom seat cover (over the seat). Some covers come with 15mm (1/2") foam backing in the seat cushion, namely Clazzio and Wet Okole. I went with GT Covers genuine leather and they improved the dr. seat comfort, and they have a 30 day return policy even after installed (restock fee, but still good deal).

I find quality leather to be the most luxurious material to sit on (even in 80F with auto AC on. Can't speak for 95+F heat. Don't get that). Around here, pretty much all luxury cars have leather or similar material.

Tried a cheapo wetsuit material cover, don't need waterproof, didn't like the feel
All cloth seats and Velour are ok but not as luxurious as leather
Softex is alright.
I had a Jetta rental with 'leatherette' (PVC) and it was pretty comfortable.

Seat covers will not fix the fact that the manually adjustable dr. seat bottom tilt flattens out when raised fully and the bottom tilt becomes too much ** when fully lowered, about 19 degrees.

** measured with Angle Meter in Prius

Covers won't make the steering wheel adjust more. If you use the armrests when you drive, pad those up. I can show you how. They are brick hard and too low for me.

All that said, the Camry Hybrid is a good bet for more comfort than Prius.

You 'd probably find this more comfortable than the base cloth seat

 

I believe the key to owning and enjoying a Prius is understanding what role it's designed to play.

I bought mine, a fully optioned 5 with the exact combination of colors and gadgets I wanted. It serves as the "get me where I need to go" in efficient fashion. For <1 hour jaunts it's comfortable, but 2+ hour trips will reveal it's limitations.

If some of your weekly driving destinations are less than 50 miles away, then a Prius will do the job as nicely as most, and with the added benefit of minimal fuel expense.

 

Just bought my second one. Not a "sexy" car choice but hard to pass up with the MPG and where I live the ability to use HOV with the car to save time getting to/from work. The 2010 I had was decent. One guy recently (older man) stared at it and said "I don't know if it's attractive or ugly" which typifies how people feel about it.

I will say the one I just got is a lot better looking with the black accents and the moonroof.

For driving -- it's plenty adequate for what it does but we will use the Pilot for family trips. And around town it is perfect -- parks just about anywhere and I use it in power mode for all but highway and that helps quite a bit.

 

Enjoy your driving experience in your VW, I do hope you like those extra visits to the gas station and the dealership, repairs really add to the driving experience. In a couple of years you will understand....

 

It was a rental for 2 days. Ride quality was about as good as the new Avalon XLE Touring we got for a day. But, the Jetta 2.5L conventional seemed to be sucking gas like the Avalon V6. I've heard VW ownership horror stories also.

 

I suspect that this is at least partially a *sound* issue. Prius engines do not sound the same as ICE cars. Unless, you have the pedal to the metal, don't complain about the acceleration, would be my advise.

 

I own a sleep number bed. I have off and on back problems and my old mattress wasn't cutting it. It helps because it's adjustable but at the end of the day it's a glorified, remote controlled air mattress that cost 2600.00. Could probably done the same with a 70.00 air mattress from Target. The Prius is much the same. It's selling point is fuel economy but it's interior, comfort and driving experience is as sub par as my 84 Chevette I drove in college. I expect the thin, cloth arm rest coverings over the plastic will be worn through before it's paid for and I will never make up the cost vs fuel economy. I bought mine back in March almost on impulse. For 4k more I could be driving a BMW that gets 30+ mpg or 6k less, gotten 40+ mpg, and bought a top of the line Corolla. The Prius is a status/statement vehicle and nothing more. It's carbon footprint is "front end loaded" and we're fooling ourselves by thinking there is anything environmental about it. It was a fun experiment but in 2 years, when my wife's vehicle is paid off, the Prius will get traded in on a new vehicle for her, and I'll be commuting in hers. Any drop in mileage will be offset by my total vehicle costs (fuel, insurance, comfort, build quality and monthly payment) by probably 150.00 to the positive. That's assuming I'll get much for it in a trade. No one in my area wants to touch a used hybrid with a 10ft pole so I may be stuck with it for another trade cycle

 

Few weeks ago I bought the Prius.

For long time, my wife and I had 3 cars. 2 with near 25-30 mpg average and the SUV (15 years old Land Cruiser) with an average of 15 mpg. Always used my SUV for family trips or bringing in extra passengers. So I never really thought about the $$ except for when I travel on vacation but the extra cost are always justified. A very comfortable and safe ride.

Anyway, a couple months ago, I got rid of the reliable Toyota Matrix that runs an average of 30 - 33 mpg. A no frill car but very reliable and get us point A to B. Was very reliable with all of it's 220k miles but toward the end of ownership, it started to demand some work here and there. Then the A/C stopped working, so I basically decided to get rid of it.

Drove my SUV as my main vehicle for about 2 months. I drive an average of 900 miles month. We noticed increased spending on our gas when I started using SUV. Decided to do some math with fueleconomy.gov. My SUV resulted with $10,500 more in fuel cost compared to average mpg over 5 years. The Prius would be $8,5000 savings. $10,500 spend and $8500 savings = $18,500. That's based on 12k miles a year.

Now my wife drives her 100 miles round trip to work - 3 times a week. Basically averages 1,750 miles a month on the car… chaffering two of my kids to their activities, as well. Her car gets around 26 - 28 mpg to a tank.

Did the math further. What if we switch Prius with her go-to car. We managed to scrape another $100 a month savings if she drove Prius while I drive her car. That's $1200 savings a year. Add that to $18,500. That's $19,700.

No brainer. Decided to buy new Prius model 2. The way I figure this… my oldest daughter will start driving in 2 1/2 years. I figured that why pay for gas when I can get a head start on the car note.

The interior quality felt like it was lacking but I realized it was built with very few gizmos. So I thought it was well built, except for cloth seats which is questionable. But I felt it was no different from the matrix we had and it served us very well for 12 years.

If I need a dose of testosterone. I just drive my Land Cruiser. But if I need to see savings, I drive the Prius.

 

You certainly will not go wrong with a Prius. A fantastic car.

 

I don't like to 'floor' the gas pedal in my cars (ask for the max powr it can provide). Fortunately, I've never had to with the prius.

But, on another note, this Prius tends to pick too much speed on steep freeway down grades. I put it in B gear this afternoon, but that did nothing. It was still hitting over 70 MPH going down which was a little fast for the conditions.

Our 05 Accord sedan 4 cyl auto will automatically control its speed by holding a lower gear to keep speed down. Toyota needs to implement something like this in Prius. Like said, B gear did nothing on the freeway.

I agree with you about the comfort issue. I just scooted dr. seat an extra notch forward (4 total) because that stupid steering wheel does not telescope close enough ** plus the stupid non-power seat takes on too much tilt at low height (I'm tall) leaning me a little too far back and thus making it harder to reach the wheel. Simple answer was to get the Camry Hybrid in 2011, but at that time, it had a combined MPG of 34 or 35 EPA rating, not 50 like Prius.

** Known and mentioned issue in Consumer Reports and Edmunds

Scooting forward makes it time break out the console board once again because scooting forward that one extra notch leaves too little right leg support. Great fun to tense and support right leg while working gas pedal ... not.

Also, Prius picks too much speed on steep freeway down grades. I put it in B gear this afternoon and that did nothing. My 05 Accord automatic would hold a lower gear to automatically control speed.

Prius + PiP outsold by Kia Soul and Jetta family through first half of this year

June 2014 U.S. Passenger Car Sales Rankings - Top 151 Best-Selling Cars In America - Every Car Ranked - GOOD CAR BAD CAR

 

Agreed. I went on a road trip with my son to get fireworks at the border. I tried to glide as much as possible down long decents but eventually found myself re engaging CC to keep my speed more constant. I was running the AC full bore so CC is probably more efficient, getting some regen and all. Going into glide on a downgrade feels like the first freefall on a roller coaster but in a go cart. I also get the right leg fatigue all the time due to the whole geometry of the seat vs steering wheel and accelerator pedal and I'm only 5'10". I seem to get the most consistant ride (and mpg's) using CC as much as possible. I have some right leg issues due to a soccer injury (had one of my quad muscles snap so I have a triad there now, the muscle is now a knot at my upper thigh) and a completely torn groin muscle when in my late 30's (martial arts injury). My leg gets more of a workout on my commute to and from work than it did with the 6 hour drive to visit my father in my Corolla which didn't have CC.

 

It was actually seeing the RPMs turned to get up an interstate grade I go over every day. Just myself in the car and she hit 3,880 RPMs holding 68 MPH up the hill. Of course that's not going to hurt anything, but it's clear that the ICE is making most of its rated power just getting me up that hill.

Just tonight on the way home from New Hampshire I was thinking how well the car responds when you really want it to. A couple times I mashed the pedal to zip around a slow-mover in front of me and my Prius didn't disappoint. Certainly not as fast as most other cars I've driven, but perfectly adequate for most any driving situation I can imagine.

 

Your Accord had a much larger engine to provide more compression braking power.

B in my Prius functions most definitely works, but the engine simply isn't big enough to hold down to constant speed on the steepest hills.

 

I had a Toyota tacoma for 2 years and that alone was gas guzzler, average 15-19 mpg for both city and highway. When I had it for 25k service, the service adviser had a Prius II available for the evening. I told them is there any other vehicle, they said that's the only one. That was a mistake, I drove it to and around town in DC/VA/MD. I was amazed with the fuel economy and practical purposes. I said maybe I will look into getting one some time in the future, didn't realize after 2 months I traded my Tacoma for a Prius 5. I was getting tired paying $70.00-80.00 a week for gas, separate from the weekend outings with the family, as we all know gas is not going down. I'm taking chances on the my first Prius and we take it to other places where distance and money where a factor in the Tacoma.

 

I'd hope that anyone buying the "top tier" Prius models (Four and Five) would have no real complaints.

 

I'll let you know how I feel when we get our 4 later this week. I'm sure there are going to be things I would have done differently, like maybe a 3 with cloth seats vs SoftTex here in Phoenix, but I'll try to be critical of only things I didn't expect or know about in advance.

 

ALMAL, my son-in-law finally learned that lesson when he went to Afghanistan for a year and saw how much gas was still costing. Now she drives an Optima and he a V6 Mustang instead of a jacked-up Silverado and a Yukon. I have to admit I was skeptical until I rented one from Toyota for a weekend in 2010. After that I was sold, but still waited until now to buy one (for a variety of reasons).

 

I have always thought about that as well. Getting up very close to the price of the Avalon Touring.

 

Or the BMW 335. I looked at a 5 with leather and it was over 40k.

 

i've owned more than 25 cars in my 43 years of driving. first was an mgb, last was a taurus, traded in for an '04 prius. i have found the driving experience to be about the same in all the cars i've owned. it's not nascar out there, but i do see some drivers who think it is.