Low Annual Miles

One Prius advantage is that, during startup, the engine is spun to a higher speed than a conventional starter. This allows the engine to build oil pressure before fuel and spark are added, which should improve its life.

As you probably already know, higher MPG is most advantageous the more you drive. If, for example, you drove 10000 miles a year, you'd see double the cost savings in fuel. But still, you'll like the results you get.

 

change your oil twice a year
check your tire pressure once a month
disable smartkey if you're going long stretches between drives
-or- consider a trickle charger for the 12v battery
make sure you start it at least once every 3 weeks to maintain the HV battery

should be about it

 

I am retired and I only drive 5000 - 6000 miles each year. Most of my trips are 5 – 15 minutes long over hilly terrain and with a few stoplights.


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My annual mileage is similar and the Prius suits me perfectly. You'll appreciate the silence down hills and at stop lights. The 200V battery will look after itself and your fuel cost will be around half of what you've probably been paying, despite your low mileage.
In short, no need to hesitate.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BillPortland @ May 13 2006, 03:28 PM) [snapback]254889[/snapback]</div>

You'll get lower gas mileage with short trips. We're at about 42.5 right now in the Seattle region. Similar driving habits, temps and terrain. However, our Honda gets only about 22 mpg under the same conditions. Both cars' mpg go up when on the highway. I doubt we'll put over 7,000 on the Prius per year based on current driving habits, but there is an advanatage too. Less miles = less fuel consumption/year.

 

Most of my trips are only 1-3 miles, usually with hilly terrain. A couple times a month, I'll make 70-mile roundtrips on mostly flat highway (60-70mph). I drive about 10000 miles/year.

My Prius' lifetime average over 1600mi/35.9gals is 44.34mpg. My Volvo XC90 SUV would average 17mpg.

 

If you only drive that small number of miles and such short trips you are making a bad financial decision (forget environmental for a moment). The car will not get very good mileage for you and you are paying a lot for a hybrid system. The car makes sense for high usage, but for low usage you really should consider other vehicles.

 

I am just starting to hang around here a little, as a prospective buyer. I'm not a hi-mi driver, either, so the extra cost of hybrid tech seems to hurt a little more. I do feel it's worth paying more for a car that pollutes less, if we must *have* a car. But this is strange territory. Does the hybrid tech relieve the guilt of the environmentally-concerned person, so they end up driving more than they need to? (...which of course isn't much more responsible than needlessly driving a non-hybrid....)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cnsxhth @ May 15 2006, 07:28 PM) [snapback]256055[/snapback]</div>

Welcome to PriusChat cnsxhth,

In some environments the Prius actually cleans the air, so, I would say, logging extra miles in your Prius is the environmentally correct thing to do. :lol:

I also feel the need to drive many extra miles so I can earn back that “hybrid premium†I paid. :wacko: :lol:

A more truthful way to answer to your question would be to say that the high price of gas is no longer a concern when driving a Prius. Most Prius drivers are willing to drive extra miles not because of lack of concern for the environment, but for lack of concern about the monetary costs.

 

I have been lurking for a few weeks while I have been considering buying a 2006 Prius.

I am retired and I only drive 5000 - 6000 miles each year. Most of my trips are 5 – 15 minutes long over hilly terrain and with a few stoplights.

I have heard that a low number of annual miles is hard on “normal†cars. Is this less of a problem for Prius? Or perhaps more of a problem? Are there any other factors related to my low number of annual miles that I should be thinking about if I buy a Prius?


If you only drive that small number of miles and such short trips you are making a bad financial decision (forget environmental for a moment). The car will not get very good mileage for you and you are paying a lot for a hybrid system. The car makes sense for high usage, but for low usage you really should consider other vehicles.

I really don't understand the comment that the car makes sense only for high milage drivers.

I drive about 7K miles/year, mostly 30 minutes commutes with lots of 5-10 minute trips on the weekends. This is hardly high milage or lenghty, yet I feel I made a very sensible decision, even forgetting environmental considerations. Why? Because I like the car.

My next door neighbor likes his Suburban, and 2 doors down likes his Maxima. I am confident that none of us did a cost/benefit analysis before making our purchases. Although their sensibilities are different than mine, we are all happy with our decisions, and I can live with that.

Although loath to get into a discussion on the economics of purchasing any car, whether the decision is bad financially is entirely dependent on the car that would be purchased instead of the Prius. I don't know the demographics of Prius owners, but I strongly suspect that in the absense of a Prius, most owners would be purchasing something more upscale (and less fuel efficient) than a Yaris/Corolla, or even HCH.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kirbinster @ May 15 2006, 03:58 PM) [snapback]255853[/snapback]</div>

I am a low mileage owner and match the miles and mpg stats given by others in this thread. But I certainly don't regret having traded my 96 Camry for an 05 Prius. When I compared price, room and features between the Prius and an '05 Camry, I found I'd have to buy a top-of-the-line Camry to get the features in the base Prius and that Camry was more expensive than the Prius. So the 50% gas savings and environmental bene's were gravy. I have said it before, there is no hybrid premium in the Prius, although there clearly is one on hybridized other cars. The Prius is comparable to a Camry in roominess, wheelbase, ride and quality and should not be compared to the compact Corolla.

Heck, I'd have bought it just for the hatchback!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(BillPortland @ May 13 2006, 03:28 PM) [snapback]254889[/snapback]</div>

I would get a block heater for fall, winter and spring. A few cents for kilowatts will save big time on the MPG! You may want a radiator blocker for the same period. The short trips in winter are a killer and doing these things will pay off. Get a timer for the block heater and heat for 2-3 hr before you intend to drive in the morning.

 

BillPortland Glad you have been lurking and reading.

I am not retired but have a short commute and own multiple vehicles, so I drive other stuff rather frequently. I put on 8k in the first year I owned the vehicle. I will probably do about the same this year.

The most important considerion is if you like the vehicle? If you have been hanging out here, you must. Take a look at my sig at the bottom of this message. That is my average over 17 months of ownership. I'm very pleased. Sure, it isn't as high as others here who drive much more than I do, but no other vehicle out there will give you high mileage under nearly any driving condition.

I hope you make a purchase.

 

Even if you do get low 40's because of your low annual driving mileage, the clean emissions is a big postive for this car. It gets one of the highest EPA green rating of all cars. The greenhouse score (10 is best) is a 10 and the air pollution score (10 is the best) is 8-9.5 depending upon the exact engine you get. It is an EPA certified 'SmartWay' vehicle. http://www.epa.gov/emissweb/E-TOYOTA-Prius-06.htm

And the technology is very cool.

 

I'm a low mileage driver. I had just hit 50,000 mile on my 8 year old car when it was totalled last month.

I'd been thinking about a Prius for a few years, but couldn't justify it when I had a perfectly good car that I liked already. When I lost my ol' convertible, I started shopping immediately for 'basic transportation', not even thinking a Prius was a possiblity because I'd heard there were long waits for one.

I test drove some small, inexpensive cars, but found them very 'underpowered' for my taste - on a few of them, I was sure the rubberband was going to break! The other thing I didn't like was that the 'A" pillar always seemed to be in the wrong place, blocking my view when I'd try to merge into traffic.

One of the dealers had a used Prius for sale and I test drove it - I fell in love with it immediately! It had PLENTY of power for my taste, GREAT visibility, and much plusher than any of the other cars, including the convertible I had loved so much.

I started calling around and found several new 2006 Prius's available within a 20 mile radius from my house, some willing to sell for under MSRP. I got a very good deal on a 2006 Super White with package #5. It wasn't my first choice color, but it was an acceptable color to me, and I drove it home 6 days after I'd first gone to a dealer to shop for a car.

Yes, it was more money than the econo cars I started looking at. But, especially with the tax credit, my net price difference was aroud $3000, and I felt that was a very reasonable price to pay to have a car I love rather than just 'basic transportation', especially since I intiend to keep the car for a LONG time. Even if I only have it 8 years like my most recent car, that's less than $500 per year to pay for the smile on my face when I drive my beautiful Prius.

So, go ahead, take your time, test drive different cars and find a car that you'll enjoy for those few thousand miles you drive every year. You desrve to have a car that pleases you! You've got the time to make a careful decision, and there are new cars/new models that I couldn't even test-drive last month because the dealers didn't have them (I'd wanted to test drive the Yaris, the Fit, and the Civic Hybrid, but couldn't find any). Maybe you'll decide on a Prius, like many of us on this forum!