Waiting Game - have questions!

I live in Wis. and have a 2008 Touring Package 6. I love my car. Good tires will make the differnce in the winter. The car does not come with good tires. So that means either all season or winter tires should be on your list. I would advise you to get at least a Package 4 with your car. You won't regret it. People have strange ideas about the Prius. Some think you have to plug it in to get it to work. Others think your battery will die and it will be costly. They don't know what they are talking about and that is just as well or you would be standing in long lines to get your car. Longer than they are now. The battery should last as long as the car. You should be able to put as many miles on your car as on any car. And save a lot of money on gas. Enjoy!

 

Check here:
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/29373-100-000-mile-club.html

Including labor, replacing the high voltage hybrid battery is less than $4500 (I've seen quotes between $2500 and $3500) if you need to pay for it. That price may change in the future as more become available. However, keep in mind that the hybrid system (including the battery) are under warranty for at least 100,000 miles (more if your state participates in CARB standards). Using the link above you'll see that most owners who have significantly exceeded the 100,000 miles have not had a problem with the hybrid battery even after the warranty expired. All things must die eventually, but the Prius has several components that are significantly more robust than in other vehicles. The Prius uses its powerful motor/generators (MG) as starter motors and "alternators". Those MGs are part of the hybrid drive system, so essentially your "alternator" and "starter" are covered for 100,000 miles. Many have found that afer 100,000 miles they still haven't needed to replace their brake pads. The A/C and power steering are electric, and there is no belt driven alternator, therefore, there is only one belt, and only one device operates off that belt, the water pump. The "transmission" is a single planetary gear that ought to last well more than 300,000 miles. How much is a transmission replacement in other vehicles? How does that compare to the cost of the Prius hybrid battery?

You'll get a lot of differing opinions on this. To some extent it seems that the older Prius were worse. I live in Chicago, and put about 36,000 miles on my Prius last year. I've not had a problem in the snow at all, and you'll find many here at Prius chat who drive in significantly more snow who will say the same. Some people here at PriusChat will claim that the OEM tires are of poor quality and that if you get a good all weather tire (HydroEdge, ComforTred, and TripleTred are frequently mentioned) then the Prius is great in snow. Still others will claim that without snow tires or chains, they wouldn't even consider driving in the snow. There is a rather vocal minority here who complain that the vehicle is completely undrivable in the snow.

I certainly think so. Most of the members here at PriusChat are here because they like their car, so you won't find many who think you are making a bad choice.

 

Your DH's "friends" are very ignorant on this topic.

Without getting into the technical details, Toyota has designed the HV battery to last for the lifetime of the car (+180,000 miles). There are some cars which already have more than 180k on the original HV battery. The warranty in CARB states (those that follow Calif emission standards) is 10 years or 150,000 miles which ever comes first.

If you do have to replace the battery out of warranty, there are cheaper options; salvage batteries are available on Ebay for much less than dealer list price.

 

I've found that some people genuinely don't know much about the car. We purchased our Prius two months ago and have gotten the "How much does the battery cost to replace?" and "Do you plug it in?" questions more frequently than we were expecting.

Others who come up with these statements, however, seem to have a case of Prius Envy. I have an acquaintance who, on seeing our 1-day-old Prius parked outside, immediately informed me that her husband is an environmental scientist (supposedly), so she knows that the Prius is a bad choice for the environment and that the battery will cost a ridiculous amount to replace. I just chalked it up to her own envy and negativity.

 

Congrats on your "purchase"! Hopefully your wait won't be long.

+1 to that. I've heard all kinds of wild things about the Prius from people who absolutely nothing about them. Invariably all these things are extremely negative.

Our esteemed moderator summed it up pretty well.

 

I live in Michigan, and we get even more snow than you, mostly because you send all your bad weather across the lake to us. The Prius does as well or better than any front wheel drive car. It's not a truck, so you can't wade through deep drifts, but it does just fine. I second the suggestion to get good tires. The OEM tires are just not up to our northern winters. I use Micheline MXV4+ Energy all-season tires and they do the job. Snow tires are even better if you really need them.

Tell your DH's friends to go pound salt. The Prius is the most reliable, least problematic car on the road. The battery is warranted for 100,000 miles, and even if it does fail after that, the cost is no larger than an automatic transmission. You can point out that the Prius does not have a transmission in the conventional sense, so you never have to worry about replacing one of those.

Tom

 

If you have the time, peruse this thread: http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-main-forum/26050-prius-myths-their-rebuttals.html

There's good stuff in there.

 

If the trips are long the car will do very well. DH's "friends" are full of crap. Take advantage & bet money.

 

As soon as I discovered the 150,000 mile thing on the battery I immediately took it off my list of things to worry about.

Just enjoy the car and smile at all of the ignorance around you.

Bob