I'm probably buying a prius. What are the best and worst parts of ownership?

The best part about owning a Prius is PriusChat. For sure! It's an awesome community and you can learn everything about these cars here.

The pluses:
* Amazing reliability and longevity
* Very low maintenance cost
* Easy DIY maintenance
* Very pleasant to drive
* Surprisingly spacious
* Awesome gas mileage, which will matter when gas prices rise (they always do)

The minuses:
* Very safe in collision, because they crumple. Unfortunately, the result is they tend to total fairly easily in a collision. Insure it well.
* Sports car handling and acceleration? Not
* Can be noisy. If noise bothers you, replace the tires with care, because the ultra fuel-efficient tires are noisy

These cars often last a very long time, so take good care of it, and buy a better model that's been well cared-for because it'll last a long time. Keep it washed and waxed and stay on top of maintenance and you'll have a great car for a very long time.

 

agree with rebound^^^ if handling is a big concern, your mods will help some. check out the mod threads for more info. some people find the seats extremely uncomfortable. all the best!

 

Minus:
1.) Many people complain about the blind spots.
I'm used to it but that rear bar across the back window hatch just bugs me using my rear view mirror.

2.) There is this strange feeling when you brake on a slick spot on the road and the car feels funny for 1 sec. (search for more detail)

3.) There is this cold start shutter that happens unexpectedly to some.

Aside from that it's great IMHO.

 

This car basically never breaks down. That's right. It's stone cold reliable. A friend likens his to that of an appliance. Set it and forget it type utilization. I convinced three of my friends to get them. You can plan on at least 300k miles with just scheduled maintenance, and likely no breakdowns whatsoever!

Downer: it doesn't act like a normal car. If you enjoy the revving through gears you're gonna hate this car. I personally think it's great because I understand and appreciate it. The more you read the more you'll appreciate what annoys others

 

Alright so my review can be taken with a grain of salt, I've only owned mine for 6 days but have driven them as rentals or borrowing a family members.

My step dad's has over 150,000 mi, he has only done maintenance (oil, filters and tire), he has yet to do a set of brakes and has just passed state inspection last month. The car has been driven up and down the east coast and hasn't given him a lick of trouble. Pretty amazing for a car that see 25,000 miles a year.

My background, I've always owned Japanese sport compacts (RSX Type-S, SW20 MR2, Mazdaspeed 3, Civic Si (multiple gens) etc.) And have yet to own an automatic car in my 33 years of living. I can say this, and I am kind of surprised to say, but I love my Prius and don't regret my decision in the least. For me the seats are comfortable, drives real smooth, gets killer gas mileage and is super reliable. (Most will disagree on the seat comfort) If I had to complain about something it would be subjective, I'm not to fond of the looks and as someone who suffers with fibromyalgia the leg room on the drivers side is a little tight.

As a testament to the fuel economy, I drive about 92-95 miles 5 days a week. I did my first fill up today (9.45 gallons) and it cost me $22.49. I got 425 miles out of this tank and averaged 44.97 mpg, not to bad for the winter months in PA.

 

The best and worst part is after many years and hundreds of thousands of miles of reliable service then finding you have to replace the hv battery at 300k miles

 

Well I'd say a 30000 mile 2013 or 2014 is a good deal. You'd have 8-yr 100k mile warranty on any battery/hybrid issues. Toyota designs the batteries to last life of car, and although Gen2's have had a certain % of batt fails around the 8-10yr mark, we don't really know the future ...it seems to me batt fails are a lot more rare with Gen3, and Gen4 mostly has Li batts.

 

Best part: gas mileage (why else are people buying this?)
Worst part: driving in snow

 

Look forward to:
Slow acceleration: might want to cultivate a Zen mindset for driving.
Re-learning how to drive efficiently, but if you do you get
50+ mpg and 500-mile tanks (very useful.)
Smooth and relatively quiet.
Brakes last a long , long time IF you maximize regen braking.
Great for camping! (Sleep in back with rear seats down ).

Dread:
Lack of lower back support in driver's seat.(get back cushion)
Blind spots.(get and install blind spot mirrors)
Low armrests on front doors.(install bolsters on armrests)
Sun glare at side.(install sun visor extensions)

Have fun!

 

Forgot about the blind spots....pretty gnarly.
Also, the windshield is HUGE....kinda weird.

However - I LOVE taking this car on summer road trips. Highway driving is smooth and comfortable! Our other family car is a Subaru Outback, which is built like a tank, so it rides a bit rough for long trips. Prius is super comfy!

 

My biggest complaint, the issue of comfort with the driver's seat (Prius 3 and lower trim versions). Almost worth the extra money to get a Prius 4 or higher for the more versatile seat.

Otherwise, it's been a great car.

 

P4 here and LOVE the seats! I have done 500+ miles in a day with zero issues

 

Best parts - mileage, low maintenance, relative comfort (Gen III a little better than Gen II), back seat leg room, versatility for hauling "normal" stuff.

Worst parts - Having to brag to others how great your gas mileage is and how little maintenance you have to do ==== wait, wait - that should be a good part . Having to explain to others time and time again that the battery doesn't die when the warranty expires, explaining that it does run on gas (what is a hybrid?), it is a bit noisy (more so than the FFH).

 

The worst part about ownership? Having to go to Toyota dealers for maintenance and service.

Some of those "technicians" have very little training or experience, or maybe they used to work at a Ford dealership.

 

Dude, Toyota dealers aren't that bad. Even the rip-offs I've seen here on PriusChat, they aren't that bad. I used to own a BMW, and they were terrible. Very expensive parts and more expensive labor. Example: Wife drove with parking brake engaged; wore it out. $600.

Front brake pads: $550.

Stuff like that. BMW dealers are thugs. Toyota's the Boy Scouts.

 

Today's trip to the Toyota dealer was to get the brackets installed for the side curtain air bag recall. Recall done in 45 minutes which was just enough time for a cup of coffee and a test drive of a red Prius Prime Advanced .

Sounds like @Rebound has some good tales from the BMW world. I have similar stories about the Jaguar side.

Stick with the Eagle Scouts of the Boy Scouts as there are good dealers out there. But at 3%, they can be tough to find.

 

Most of the horror stories I've seen are maintenance visits where they throw in some questionable procedures for high prices to pad the bill by a few hundred. My personal worst was when they quoted $400-ish for a transmission fluid replacement, even after I told them it was a straight drain and replace and it was impossible to flush the transmission. Or the $60 cabin air filter replacement "service."

Pathetic attempt at ripoff compared to a BMW dealer, or a place like Amoco, Sears Auto Center, or Firestone. Those places are notorious for scamming customers with completely unneeded services.

I changed a tire on my neighbor's car. It had a nail. They told me they went to Wal-Mart and they bought a new tire because they were told the tire had a sidewall cut. There wasn't a sidewall cut on the tire. Total BS.

 

Best one I have from my old Jag was a $140 oil change where they said I needed 9 quarts of oil (it was a v6).

They were also notorious for the upsell and most that are not car savy give into their tactics as you referenced from your neighbor. While at the dealer once they charged a "seat belt inspection" and recommended replacement as there was a frayed section of the belt.

 

Best thing about the Pruis............Priuschat! You will learn how to do everything to your car here! Even stuff you thought would be too hard to do. Should you have any issues, try putting it in the general search bar first. That's what I did. The best ones I found were changing the tranny fluid (so easy, it should be fun to do) and the oil change. All the instructions for help include what to do first, saving you time and money for bone-headed mistakes.

Worst thing about the Prius..........remembering to fill up!! In the 16 months I have owned mine, twice I have gotten the dreaded "warning beep" You will actually not remember if it was last week or the the week before since your last fill up.