Prius Ownership Survey

Anyone can rationalize anything, pro or con.

 

Interesting:

You have a company gas card too?
Do you fill out a trip log on each use or has this been automated?

My first corporate car was a small Chevy pickup that I used to haul 300 lb blocks of ice to various, coin operated, ice dispensers. With a regular route, I remember only making a summary at the end of the day and I don't remember how we handle gas . . . probably used the coins and put a receipt in the bag.

I understand the tow issue but with enough instrumentation, both our 1.5L 2003 and 1.8L 2010 Prius have receivers and seen frequent use. But I'm towing in the light-weight, 500-1,000 lb range usually at urban speeds and distances. The rear springs need to be beefed up and I'm thinking about air adjustable.

I'm not in the Prius-sales business but curious about the vehicle's capabilities. The 1.8L Prius has excellent brakes and brake controller but would prefer that any tow of more than 1,000 lbs to also have trailer brakes. Also, front wheel drive when hauling out a Jon boat on a damp ramp is not the happiest place to be.

Regardless, you've had a good exposure to the vehicle system. Being a great believer in 'the right tool for the right job,' today's Prius isn't for everyone. But if you get a chance, you might try a test drive in a Ford Escape hybrid. With the C-MAX coming out, Ford Escape hybrids should be coming on the used market. It is a nice ride with good off-road capability and handling. I think it has a 1,500 lb tow rating.

Bob Wilson

 

^I do have a company gas card, although I hand calculate my tank efficiencies just for sh*ts and giggles. It's allowed me to experiment with E0 versus E10 fuel blends without having to sweat the $ deltas, and I also have the advantage of getting gas anywhere I want to (for the G3) without having to drive 123 miles to get to a station that has gas for a nickel cheaper than the station across the street.

My towing needs are (currently) <2klbs and quite frankly I'm pretty sure that the G3 has enough grunt to pull my trailer as long as I don't load it with anything heavier than one of the bikes and since the G3 has 4 X disc brakes with fairly large swept areas (for an eco-box) I'm also fairly sure that it can bring that same trailer to a medium brisk stop however (comma!) I'm not as sure about the CVT....and I AM sure that Toyota doesn't seem to think that you can tow with a G3.
Besides the lack of a tow rating, the only other thing that could be a limiting factor is the very diminutive ground clearance. I found out during the last hurricane that I'm going to pretty much have to keep a pickemuptruck in the fleet for flight ops during bad weather. Standing water and Priuses don't mix well, and people in this forum already fuss and cuss about the slab-sided Prius getting tossed around by wind buffeting.
Try driving one around in Tropical Storm ++ winds sometimes. BTDT.
It's the time that comes AFTER the storm that the Prius really comes into its own.
If I got a hybrid if would be for the two things that the G3 is pretty much tweaked to do well which is to give me a 600+ mile tank range and allow me to use the same mount as a supplementary power source during post-hurricane outages.
I found out after Katrina that if you have a 20mpg vehicle that the cost of gas isn't really as much an issue as the ability to acquire and STORE gas, which is why even in your neck of the woods you probably still regularly see trucks with those silly piggyback tanks in the beds.
Having a 50+mpg vehicle with a 600+ mile tank range and the ability to effortlessly supply at least 1kw of hotel power is just something of a game changer in a post storm scenario and the fact that you could use one as a very efficient, fairly reliable and moderately comfortable daily driver doesn't hurt either.

Sorry.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but this is somewhat owner experience related.
If you're reading this and you're thinking about getting a Prius???
MANY people live within 50 miles of a coast and as the folks in the Northeast found out...going for a few days without regular fuel deliveries can be inconvenient.
Try three weeks...(Hugo) or longer (Katrina.)
BTDT too.

...juuuuust sayin!

 

Thread drift it normal and actually a good thing:

That was the least of my towing concerns having towed 1,750 lbs of airplane and trailer 600 miles through high-wind, gusty conditions:
Bob Builds and Aircraft Carrier

Here are the towing issues I see:

• rear springs - need to be stiffened and even raised. The headlights often looked like high-beams to approaching drivers.
• front wheel drive - marginal on slippery boat ramps
• stronger wheel bearings - no problems but you want heavy duty ones for towing
• stronger mounts - the shipping tie-down points are OK but I would prefer knowing it was stressed for more than just delivery from factory-to-dealer.

I recently learned the CVT uses the same core as the Highlander and Camry hybrids. Although the down-stream gears, differential, case and CVT half-shafts might be running closer to their design limits these have not been reported to be weak in ordinary service.

IF you decide to buy a personal Prius, I would recommend looking for a 1.8L hatchback about a year or so beyond the 3/36000 warranty. As they get closer to the 6/60000 mile warranty, the prices soften a lot but given what we know of the 2001-03 models, no one really knows the true vehicle life as accidents remain the major risk. The 2004-09 are awesome too but I'm not as enthused about that 1.5L engine compared to the 1.8L.

Now the Prius c, 1.5L engine and drive train are very interesting. Put some smaller diameter tires and raise the suspension and it could be a really nice ride. The smaller diameter tires increases effective torque and raising the suspension provides ground clearance for rough terrain. But I would probably wait a few years for them to show up on the used market . . . perhaps a dealer car?

One last thing, we live in the SouthEast Toyota region. Use Ebay and look for deals outside of the SouthEast. SouthEastern Toyota loads their cars with all sorts of 'port' crap at inflated prices.

Bob Wilson

 

None as the self sign up online survey things are useless.

 

According to these specifications, a 1 kW inverter would work perfectly. You'll have to make your own mount:

Keurig® B130 In-Room Brewing System - Keurig.com


Bob Wilson