Opinions please, Hybrid vs Efficient ICE Car. Is it worth the investment?

Many, maybe even most places now. But NOT everywhere.

Where I travel, there are still lots of places where that may get you nailed. Especially during holiday emphasis periods on roads with recent clusters of traffic fatalities. I witnessed several such stops this past weekend.

 

On a side note to the 10 over scenario, I heard on the radio this morning that the Florida Highway Patrol is writing fewer tickets these days. The reason given was that it's because there are fewer troopers. They said FHP is hiring them but not keeping them. Hmmmm...

 

There is no doubt that the maintenance costs of a Prius are lower, not higher. They're rated as the least expensive car to maintain of any car sold today. At 110,000 miles, I still have 2/3 of my brake material left... Prius brakes usually last over 200,000 miles, unless they get attacked by Northeast rust and salt. And that's not all... the engine gets a battery assist. It lasts longer, overall. They are remarkably reliable and durable.

 

I'd agree with Rebound about Prius's lower maintenance costs. The astonishingly low total cost of ownership for the Prius as rated on Intellichoice, plus the incredibly bulletproof long-term reliability results shown on Consumer Reports' reliability surveys, helped persuade me to go with a Prius. My wife wanted one partly because of ecological reasons, but they weren't any factor for me at all – it simply penciled out as cheaper to own than other cars she'd like.

I think the comments on this thread that you should drive slower are presumptuous and ridiculous, and you'd never see them on another car's message board – not even a Corolla's. Methinks some of these people bizarrely feel their own self-worth is on the line that their chosen car must never get less than 50 mpg now matter how it's driven, or something equally irrational. That's their problem, not yours.

As for you, there are so many factors in whether the Prius's combination of higher mpg, great reliability and low upkeep costs offset its somewhat lower performance, multiple idiosyncracies, and slightly higher upfront cost. I personally found that while I bought the car for my wife's wants and needs without even expecting to like it myself (I have my own car for that), I found to my surprise that I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The fact it was a Five like yours, with its quicker steering, better handling and more comfortable driver's seat, didn't hurt. But your decision is just that, yours – purely personal and yours alone to make. In the end, I agree with the earlier poster who said you shouldn't keep it unless you like to drive it.

 

I do not say you SHOULD drive slower.
I say you should not bitch about your MPG at 80, when you could do twice as well at 60.
And for those who claim they would be run off the road at the speed limit, I point out there is a right lane.

But so long as you know you are in control of your MPG, the choice is yours alone.

 

The point of the Prius Plug-In, the Prime, is that you have freedom with this car. You have the freedom to drive like a crippled snail, or you can drive like a bat out of hell! This does not mean you should violate the law by driving too slowly or driving too quickly. In all cases, you will get the best mileage of any car out there. You will also get the cheapest car to own of any car out there when you figure in reliability, resale value, cost of insurance etc. The Prime is a luxury car, and comparing it to a Corolla is a chump's exercise. If someone is going to play that game, why don't they compare their truck or whatever they drive that they love so much, against a Vespa or something like it. Now that's a cheap vehicle to own!! Some of us have the money and enjoy driving a fun, technically advanced, extremely reliable, fuel miserly, comfortable luxury automobile, like the Prius Prime. Some of us drive slowly to save gas money; the Prius Prime gives them that freedom of choice. Others just drive like everybody else, the Prius still saves them money. Others can drive like bats out of hell, as long as they don't get caught by the cops, they're having their fun and still getting better mileage than any lousy old truck, SUV, or whatever other lumber wagon you've got in mind. Freedom, that's what my Prime Advanced is all about!. And believe me, it may not be next week, but OPEC and the government will see to it that gas prices will go up substantially.

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"Worth" is extremely subjective.
To answer this question, I need to know what it is you place value in.

Do you value the lives and well being of our soldiers?
Do you value a lower fuel bill?
Do you value fewer trips to the gas station?
Do you value health of people you may not know?
Do you value the economic health of your state or country?
Do you value future economic, and physical health of you, your family, and other people?
Do you value not contributing as much to AGW?

Once you answer those, place a dollar value on each, add them up and you can see for yourself

 

Just did the math on this very subject. I drove a 2012 Gen 3 Prius 5 for three years and six months and have been driving a 2016 Gen 4 Prius 4 Touring for the last year. Prior to the Prius purchase, I had a 2009 Chevy Malibu. The Malibu averaged 27 mpg in combine highway/city driving...37.3 mpg was the best highway mileage it ever got. The 2012 Prius averaged 50.2 mpg over the 92,000 miles I drove it and the 2016 is averaging 54 mpg in the 22,000 miles driven in one year of ownership. Compared to the Malibu and using 50 mpg (even though the 2016 is doing better, I just used 50 mpg) and using $2.00 per gallon gas, I have saved (not spent) $3,800 (+/-) in for and a half years of Prius ownership. Are the savings enough to pay for the car? No. Am I driving a car that is more useful than the Malibu (which I truly enjoyed driving)? Absolutely. I have a large suitcase which I was unable to get in the Malibu trunk...no problem with the Prius. I hauled one of those scooter things (for people who have difficulty walking) for my Dad...the Malibu would not have carried even part of the scooter...wouldn't have been able to get it in the car.

Here's the thing for me...by saving (not spending) $3,800 (+/-) on gas, I have avoided helping to pad the bonus check for some (or several) nameless oil company executives. I know my effort is token resistance at best, but I have enjoyed not spending as much money on gas.

One more thing...I drive about a 60% highway and 40% city mix of driving. On the highway, I usually keep my speeds at the posted limits...on the interstate, probably close to 63 mph (+/-). Have I driven the cars faster? Let's just say this...I know for a fact that the 2012 speedometer readout will show three digits and will maintain that speed for as long as necessary (it was an emergency for my dying father..horrible mpg!). Haven't done anything close to that in the 2016.

For whatever they are worth, those are my thoughts based loosely on real world experiences.

Dave

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I bought my 2011 Prius 3 because it was the most comfortable car for me. I did the math and even though my overall cost was a little higher than the other vehicles I was considering, I just plain liked the Prius better (which surprised me) and went for it.

Once I did, I couldn't imagine going back to an ICE vehicle.

Had the Prime not been introduced yet, I would be driving that P3 for several more years, probably with zero issues.

If you're not in love with the Prius, check out Prime. If that doesn't convince you, then Prius isn't for you, and that's perfectly ok. Thank goodness we have so many choices.

 

Some folks get very emotional (and defensive) about their choice of vehicle. Frankly, I never have. The car or truck just gets me from point A to point B; a fairly insignificant item in life. Looking forward to retirement so I can start riding a bike about 80% of the time. (an actual bicycle and a touring motorcycle).

I grew up working as a common laborer, in the American "oil country." I think my Prius is great, don't get me wrong. It's a nice fun little car. I'm not concerned with luxury, mostly just reliability, dependability, and some fairly good gas mileage. And I do enjoy the technology of it. But I can't convince any other family members, or extended relatives to even consider buying a Prius. Nothing wrong with that, we all have choices and likes/dislikes.

 

I'm curious to see the new redesigned 2018? 2019? Corolla. It will have the new Toyota platform, like our Prius and the new Camry coming out. I've seen some spy shots but I don't know how accurate those are. It's a nice looking small sedan. Trying to encourage the adult daughter and son to take a look at it, but they like their big SUVs too much. Just my humble opinion, but I think the Corolla is a great dependable affordable car, especially for a younger person.

 

Skimming through the thread the OP is near Nashville and already purchased the car so I'll add they should get an HOV sticker if it doesn't have one yet. HOV Smart Pass - TN.Gov

The only other thing I saw that wasn't mentioned is this car is used and may have tires or inflation on it that are contributing to the poorer mileage.

 

Tires or tire pressure. But 48.8 is excellent mileage.

 

That's displayed or calculated? FWIW, our lifetime average is currently at 48 mpg, calculated. That a 2010 Canadian Touring, also with the 17", with Michelin Pilot hx MXM4 (man what a mouthful).

Displayed (in my experience) averages 7.5% optimistic, and if that's the error in your case would translate to 45 mpg calculated. Running a lot of highway speeds, that's not shabby at all.

Ours is mostly running 30 mph, with occasional forays down a secondary highway around 50 mph. I'm driving maybe 50% of the time, and the wife is a little less obsessive about the mpg.

 

49 is pretty darn good, on someone else's used prius. i'd just keep doing what you're doing.

 

it's a long term perspective. you may be right, if we ever stop fighting over oil, something else will replace it.