20,000 mile report (long winded)

Dropped off my 2011 Prius III for the 20k service today, so I figured it would be a good time to recap my experience and impression of the car. I'll break this into sections based on what seems to be some popular owner questions around here.

When I purchased: Feb 14, 2012. 2012's were just starting to come out. Picked up a remaining 2011. Wanted a III for the upgraded radio, smart key, and bluetooth. Did not want a factory nav system.

Price Paid: Fair. No matter what price I paid, someone is going to say I paid too much. It was a fair price.

What I drove before: 2006 Infiniti M35x. Great car, fun to drive, relatively issue free. Traded in with 97,000 miles. Used a ton of gas (avg 18 mpg). I miss the interior space, relatively quiet ride, upgraded materials, leather seats, moonroof. Traded b/c warranty expired at 100k miles, and it would be due for some suspension work, tires, and brakes, didn't want to put any substantial money into a car soon to break 100k miles. The cost of those repairs would have been measured in thousands, not hundreds, of dollars. No thanks.

Why I bought a Prius: Father-in-law has a 2005 with 147,000 miles and has had no major issues (still on the original brakes, on the second set of tires). Liked the prospect of owning a vehicle with an exceptionally low cost to operate and maintain. I also like that it blends in and draws very little attention. It does what it is supposed to do, and does it well. Inexpensive, reliable, great gas mileage, a lot of interior space for an economy car (I'm 6'3" and am comfortable in the car).

"Mods": Window tint (35% on everything except for the windshield), all season mats (Toyota), convex mirrors on side rearviews. Everything else is the way Toyota made it.

My driving habits: I use power mode 99.9% of the time. The amount of accelerator input required in standard mode is ridiculous. One major concern buying the Prius was power. The car will not set any land speed records, but the power is adequate, I've never felt in danger due to a lack of power, but I try to be realistic about what the car can do. After about a month of ownership I stopped obsessing over mileage and just drove the damn thing. I get about 52 mpg avg in the summer, 47 mpg in the winter. Best full tank mpg is 55, according to the display. Every time I start to internally complain about any drop off in mpg, I remind myself of the alternatives (e.g. 18 mpg avg).

I was also concerned about giving up AWD. The Prius handles snow much better than I thought it would. I was concerned with how easily the tires broke loose on wet pavement under acceleration. I thought it would be a pig in the snow. But, when power is applied smoothly, it performed admirably in the snow (even in power mode), and it seemed to track pretty well even with snow on the road. I thought about putting on winter tires, but after making it through a full winter season I don't think that will be necessary.

Longest trip: Chicago to Columbia, South Carolina. Avg mpg 48. I was really impressed with how the car handled the trip. Enough room for a family of 4 (kids are 2 and 5). No issues keeping up with traffic, even through the Smoky Mountains. Again, a little disappointed initially at the 48 mpg, but then I added up fuel cost for the trip, and the alternatives (flying or mpg on other vehicles, and I quit complaining).

Negatives: Nothing major, there may be a few things I don't like, but the car was engineered for the masses, not for me. I wish the smart key worked on the hatch and the passenger door. I actually have to put my hand on the remote and unlock my car sometimes. The humanity! It is annoying, but oh well. Like most issues, this could be solved by spending more money. So again, overall I'm happy with what my money got me.

Pluses: Zero cost to own (other than gas) for 20,000 miles is pretty hard to argue with. The cost of gas has dropped considerably on my list of things to watch. A fill up costs about the same as a half tank of gas in my old car. After today, I'm on the hook for maintenance. But, based on my father-in-law's experience I'm not too worried about it.

So, there is 13 months and 20,000 miles summarized for anyone who cares. Hope someone finds this informative. Drive safe.

 

47 is a rough average. When there are stretches of very cold weather, 20's and teens Fahrenheit, I have returned tankful mpgs between 42 and 44. Thankfully, those are few and far between. I was happy to see that power mode had little, if any, effect on average mpg! If the standard mode was the only option, it would take a lot of patience to get used to it.