Anyone live in the country and drive a prius?

We live right outside a town of less than 5000 in a county with 7 people per square mile or 21000 people total. We have about a mile of dirt road between us and town. My wife uses ours to work in town and haul child to school replaced a Subaru. We put snow tires on it and were happy on icey roads it's low and can't wade through snow though at all. Were 3 hours round trip to any small city and it changes the dynamics if we feel like going for lunch and a movie we'll go much easier as the commute is less than half the cost our diesel pickup. The idea of getting where we need to go and spending less to get there isn't getting old. Might be able to put off the day you have to replace your Tundra wow trucks are getting expensive. There's a lot of Prius's around our area but we are in California that's probably the difference.

 

I just posted about this subject today here:

195/80R15 tires + Front Strut / Rear Coil Spacers | PriusChat

TLDR Prius ticks all my boxes except standard ride height, so fitted 30mm larger radius tyres and about to fit a 40mm suspension lift for 70mm overall increase in body-ground clearance.

 

welcome!
an hour from the closest dealer if no other service available and you don't diy might be an issue.

i've read that gravel can be a problem, but no personal experience.

 

My wife used to have a rural mail route in the country. We also live in the "boonies" and about 1/2 hr from the nearest Toyota dealer. At the end of '07 we bought a new Prius just for her route. That job beat the crap out of every car we had for that job, and I have to say, the Prius was the most durable car for the job, gravel roads, winter snow and the 300+ stops a day, 6 days a week for 7 yrs. 140K later we retired and still have the '08, and just bought a new v ('16), We trust it the most of any car we ever had. True, it's no rocket, or AWD off roader, but it's seen it's share of gravel and snow, she always felt safe.

I think it would be a great choice, assuming the drive way gets plowed when there is 6" + of snow, but in reality, that happens only a few times a year.

 

I live in farm country with a mix of gravel and paved roads. No problems so far. It can be awhile before the roads are plowed. If it snows more than a couple of inches, I leave the Prius at home and drive my 4wd F250 instead.

 

Live in Oregon Coast Range of mountain. Car is worthless in snow/ice as once it begins to lose traction, it wants to shut down -- I think they took out that feature in later models.

Also, 1/4 mile drive that goes up almost 500-feet in elevation. If I have to stop on the way up (gravel road), I sometimes have trouble getting going again. Oh, the defrost function has always been less than adequate. In our Camry, foggy inside windows clear in seconds. With the Prius, it can be a real test of patience.

 

Greetings and welcome aboard!

The only real problem you're going to have with a later model Prius in a place like the Badger state is with ground clearance.
Snow and ice aren't much of a hurtle if you presently drive a front wheel car, and many, many people drive Priuses up there and buy a set of Corolla rims for their snow tires if they use them.

However (comma!) you're going to have to carefully consider how much snow accumulation you usualy get for your area because if you've ever seen the underneath side of a Prius, it looks amazingly like the underneath side of a skateboard......flat underneath with itty-bitty tires.
Get enough snow?
They tend to DRIVE like a snowboard!!
IF the snow gets deep enough then your car will start to behave like one of those air hockey pucks....either that or you'll hear the ZZZZzzzzzhhht!! sound of tires trying to get traction on air.
By the way.......The same goes for mud and gravel during the three or four weeks out of the year when it's NOT below freezing.

As far as the distance from the dealer being a problem, I think that it's a feature rather than a fault.
All of the filters and fluids that are needed for normal maintenance can be bought on line or at a brick and mortar place during your semi-occasional sojourns to civilization....if you insist on burning cash instead of seasoned oak.
Besides.....it would be a great incentive to watch some YouTube videos and buy $100 worth of tools and declare your independence from a lifetime of subjugation by dealer mechanics.
If not?
The Prius requires light maintenance and then usually every 5,000 miles.....with 10,000 mile oil change intervals.
That's 3-4 (or 5-6) months worth of driving for the average human, and I suspect that you get into town AT LEAST that often.

I'd rather get a colonoscopy without anesthesia than buy a Toyota from my nearest dealer.....and they're about 40 minutes away.


Best of luck!