Is anyone sorry they bought a Prius?

I'm only sorry I didn't get mine sooner.

But my real question is--why is this guy still hanging around the Priuschat group moaning about his issues with the car? Clearly, he needs to move on.

 

Yep, not sure why he's complaining about 35,000 miles and uniform wear. That is pretty normal. I've got a set on my truck with 40,000 miles on them and uniform wear and it is time for a new set--these lasted twice as long as the OEM's. With performance tires on other vehicles typically get 20-25,000 before treadwear is an issue and wet weather traction forces a change. People have unrealistic expectations of tires.

 

Oh brother... You’re obviously not a math major. The numbers are what they are, not fudged or diluted. I did an analysis of many vehicles using the same method for each of them.

$4000 is the price I have seen in many posts for battery replacement. I have never got 8 years out of any battery, especially ni-cad’s.

As for mileage, I have 225,000 miles on my 2003 Camry for with absolutely no maintenance other then oil/filter changes and got an average of 32 MPG. And that was with no special driving habits. Pedal to the metal and no P&G or gliding. When I drive my Prius the same way, I get around 40-42 MPG. I am going to try the same driving habits on my Camry during the next month, I bet my mileage increases at least 10-15%.

Nothing is going to be attractive 10-15 years from no with 300,000-450,000 miles on it.

 

Batteries will not need replacing as regular maintenance, but they will need to be replaced. ANY ONE that tells you otherwise, doesn’t know anything about batteries. When have you ever had a battery of any kind last for 8 years?

$4000 is the amount I am seeing on numerous posts.

The fact is, buy the car you like. If you don’t like the other cars that are available, buy the Prius. Just letting you know that unless gas prices go through the roof, you will not be saving a huge amount of money.


This is just my option, other may chose to shot me down, but that is just their option.

 

Last I checked, Priuschat was for everyone, people that are having problems and people that are not. How will anyone be informed if they only here the upside?

I am really getting tired of hearing people say move on.... I am going to be the first to tell you and them to move on the first time you have an issue.....

 

you don't have to modify the way you drive to get good mileage.
Drive on the highway with a buffer zone between you and the car in front of you, the idea is that you never use your brakes on the highway unless of emergency and slowing momentum in the buffer zone can slow you for changing traffic conditions. In city driving learn to coast to stop lights and stop signs. I like the idea that you should drive in the city like you are driving a motorcycle and you don't want to come to a stop because you would rather coast then put your feet down. This time of year its easy for me to average north of 60 MPG with no changes to my driving habits at all. My wife still manages 54 MPG on the highway to Cleveland twice a week and she is a lead foot.

 

So for fun, I tallied up the posts so far:

We have 62 unique posters who are not sorry that they bought the car (I counted Bob Wilson in this category even though he did not say so, but I know that he experiments daily with the car, so I would wonder what he would do with his free time if he had not bought it. )

We have 7 unique posters who have bought 2 Prius. (Patrick Wong is in this category even though he sold one of them because he did own two concurrently).

We have 6 posters who did have some complaints about the car, but still had not gotten rid of it.

We have 2 posters who had a problem that was severe enough for them to get rid of the car.

Total Satisfied = 69 , Total Unsatisfied = 8

Percentage Satisfied = 69/77 = 89.6% (Lower than the 94% that CR reported)
Percentage Unsatisfied = 8/77 = 10.4% (Higher than I expected)

 

Oh, this is such a scarry website! Don't be such a wimp. Its only money. Just buy the car, and show everyone how brave you are! The early adopters 10 or 12 years ago, may have had possible (though unfounded) worries. Today its a no-brainer. Just do it. Wimps unite! I bought my car because it was good for me and the environment. Now I love it. Z E R O problems in 66,000 + miles.

 

Have you ever driven a Prius with 17" rims and summer tires? I wish you did.... It would've been a small price compare to getting a new car.

 

Automotive grade HV battery last 8 to 10 years or more. We still have 2001 Classic Prius (7 years old) and even 1997 Japanese model years are still around the world. HV battery warranty is 8 to 10 years and why are you worry about replacing it? The gas engine only has 5 years / 60k miles warranty. You ought to worry about that first.

 

Why should anyone be sorry?
This is the only car I have ever bought NEW that I can sell for more than I paid for it!
It's simple,if you are not happy,sell it.
Put the profit in the bank,just in case gas goes waaay up.
That way you can drive your 35mpg car on profit from the car you didn't like.
Someone that wants a Pri can buy yours,win-win.

 

No, but I had plenty of it in engineering school and use it daily.

You have no idea what you are talking about. First of all, there is that thing called a warranty on the batteries: 8 years or 100,000 miles, minimum (more in California.) I've seen the battery listed in the $2-3 grand range (cheaper if you go salvage and with the time and miles you are talking about this would make more sense.) This of course assumes the whole battery is bad--while I've read in a service manual and been told that bad cells can be replaced. These batteries are being held at a state of charge and temperatures that extend their life--that's the "secret" of their longevity. That's why Toyota is willing to produce the car with these batteries. Computer control reached a stage where they could do complex things to keep the batteries happy. If the battery life was short, they would lose their shirts.

No tires, no brakes? Must be a "terrific" ride with the original shocks and running on rims without brakes.

Anyway, the Camry is the same price range and same basic interior size.

Hate to break this to you but driving around 40,000 miles a year is "special." You've already got a serious credibility issue when it comes to numbers so I'm not buying your mpg claims for either vehicle.

And this matters in what way? It might apply to the way you put on the mileage but not for 90% of drivers.

What's really funny is that with as many miles as you are putting on the Prius will save you money even more easily at today's gas prices. Gas is still cheap...y' ain't seen nothin' yet.

 

I said batteries will have to be replaced and you agreed, but you want to quote old batteries for replacement, why?

You lost me with your "driving around 40,000 miles a year is special" comment. Not sure what you are trying to say. Do you know? If you don't think I have 225,000 miles on my Camry, oh well. Not sure why you find this so hard to believe, do you question the quality of Toyota’s?

You got me on the tires & battery for my Camry. I would have thought everyone would know you can't get 225K on a set of tires. I have been replacing the tires every 50-60K and I am on my second battery. Car still runs and looks new. Unless you can think of something else, that is all I have done to the car. And yes, still on the original brakes “All freeway drivingâ€.

As for my numbers, they are real. Would you like to see them? I don't see you posting any calculations.

As for your same interior size comment, you have got to be kidding. The Camry truck holds twice what the Prius cargo area holds. Do you own a Camry? If not, how can you make the comparison? "Hate to break this to you", but I think your “credibility is seriously†at issue here.

I never said that I wasn't going to save money. I drive 40-50K per year. Does everyone else?

Sorry, I may have missed some of your rants and misquoted statements. Oh well, they didn’t warrant much of my time anyway.

 

Untrue. First of all I don't know that the traction batteries will have to be replaced in the lifetime of the vehicle. In fact, high mileage alone has not been a problem for them.

Driven long enough (time and or mileage) nearly every major component will fail on any vehicle, but few of them fail during the normal life of a vehicle. Of course once you get outside of 150,000 - 200,000 miles and 8-10 years there are few that are concerned about it when buying the vehicle new. My experience is that if somebody hits a vehicle at 150,000+ miles it is often totalled--so minor accidents start pulling vehicles off the street with 8-10 years on them. (High mileage but newer vehicles will not depreciate as rapidly of course...but the battery is not prone to failing in that time either.)

I didn't quote old battery replacement cost, I mentioned the range of new battery cost. I mentioned that cheaper solutions could be had. If I had a high mileage vehicle and suffered a battery failure I would probably go the salvage battery route if available because of diminishing returns.

I'm not doubting it, I'm pointing out that it is highly unusual ("special") and therefore of limited value to the average buyer. The average mileage is typically in the 12,000 to 15,000 mile per year range. You are so far above that I can only classify your driving as atypical as the following illustrates:

Very few cars have their brakes used so little that they don't require any brake work in 225,000 miles. It implies that you have done almost no stop and go driving as the wear rate is 1/4th normal (on the fronts). That should be about as efficient as the vehicle can be operated at highway speeds. You should never have to replace brakes on the Prius.

Makes no difference to me. I've already proven your comparison bases invalid, so calculations based on them are worthless. Garbage in = garbage out. :fencing:

Hate to break this to you but you are full of . 2008 and 2009 Camry have 14.5 cu. ft. of cargo space, Prius 14.4 cu. ft. This isn't my first hatchback and I'm aware of how much more they can fit than what their apparent size is. I prefer a hatch to a trunk because there is more usable space in a hatchback and it can be configured to do more. The 2003 Camry trunk did hold more, 16.7 cu. ft. according to specs, but the present one does not (congrats. you just flamed the current Camry's trunk, .) So for a new car buyer as was being discussed your assumption is incorrect.

The Prius exterior conceals a surprising amount of interior space.

I'm sorry you wasted ours. :boxing:

 

I am laughing so hard, I think I pissed my pants , you're funny.

What did you prove, you have time to claim allot of garbage?

You’re missing the point of the post. Someone wanted to know if anyone was sorry they purchased a Prius, not how much time you had to try to disclaim my regrets.

As far as I am concerned, you are full of . The only thing you proved is the 08-09 Camry has less space then the 03 Camry. Post some real cost of ownership numbers for the Prius and other cars in the 30-35MPG range and you will get my attention. Otherwise I am done with this Post.

 

Gotta watch those "real cost of ownership numbers for Prius and other cars in the 30-35 mpg range" because they can have some flaws. For example, Edmunds says that a Prius over 5 years seriously depreciates in value. A five-year old Prius according to Edmunds has lost $14000 in value. I guess the base model was pretty expensive in 2003, because elsewhere Edmunds says a 2003 Prius will run a bit over $14000 in value. Of course, Edmunds also suggests that Americans drive twice as much on the highway as they do in city driving. US DOT says that's reversed. Oh, Edmunds says the battery won't last more than 150K miles, and probably more like 100K miles. I guess they haven't heard about the hard-driven taxis going 300K miles on the same battery.

Of course, I'm not sure there are very many cars in the 30-35 mpg range when you consider both hwy and city driving to which you can compare the Prius. Then there's the personal driving habit issue. I've been driving my Prius about like I drive my 01 Chevy Blazer. The latter does well to average 14 mpg in city and 19 in hwy driving. The Prius has been averaging about 54 mpg during its first 2400 miles, about 65% city, 35% hwy.

Love my Prius. I think I will love it when gas goes to $5 or $6, or even if it goes to $3 (yeah, we will see). I can accelerate just as fast as the Blazer. It corners better than the Blazer. It's just as comfortable as the Blazer. Okay, I'm keeping the Blazer for our 8 inch snows but the Prius is great.

 

Not one bit sorry. Picked mine up a week ago, and I wonder why I didn't think of getting one sooner.

 

Seems that I throroughly proved a supposed electrical engineer bought this car without knowing squat about the battery system. Your comments were some of the most idiotic I've read considering your claimed background. Where did you get your diploma, a crackerjack box?

You are done alright because you've failed to find a vehicle that meets the criteria. No, a 2003 Camry that is driven in the mildest possible conditions is no more valid than if I used hypermiler results in the 70's for the Prius.

Your assumptions about costs of ownership are FUBAR and the cars and prices you listed were just more BS. I've done enough economic and process analysis to determine when another engineer's basis is completely full of crap.

I figured that happened when you made your math major challenge and saw my response.

 

Yeah, Damn sorry I did not buy it last year!!!

Pat KK6PD

 

dont quote me... because this 2-3 years ago... but there was a survey by a major car rag on the possibility of replacing the battery in a Prius... using 2 ranges...140,000 (the miles when at least 55% look at replacing the vehicle) and 250,000 miles (the range at which a much higher percentage replace the vehicle...90-95% dont remember the exact figures)

at 140,000...the estimated replacement percentage was less than ½ of one percent
at 250,000 miles the estimated replacement percentage was less than one percent

now as we all know, this assumes that you have not run of gas and decided to see what your REAL EV range was, etc...

like i said, memory of the article is vague, but the one thing that stood out was that the likelihood of having to replace the traction battery AT ANY TIME was very UNLIKELY.