waiting for the 2010 Prius - a non-hybrid owner's perspective

technoratic,
I am new soon-to-be 2010 owner as well. Driving my 95 Civic as I patiently wait for prius.
I wanted to let you know a lot of your questions are answered in the "newbie" section of the forum. I scroll through there a lot and find so many interesting things!! Great knowledge for new owners from those who have gone before us.
Newbie Forum - PriusChat Forums

The only thing I can tell you is you probably won't be able to get any sort of "deals" with the new 2010. You can go in and barter for the 2009, esp. once they get the 10s going, but no way will they lower price on new ones. That said, I've heard some dealers charge the $750 "shipping" fee or whatever they call it and others don't. So you might be able to get them to waive that.

Also, I called my insurance company and my insurance actually DROPS $8/month by getting this car and taking off (and selling) our 99 Ford Taurus. Wohoo!

Hope that helps. And I can't wait till we are both on here posting pics of our brand new prius cars!

 

When I called State Farm, where we have been insured for years, and get GREAT rates, they told me I would bay $53 more per 6 months, compared to '05 Taurus. That seemed odd, but then they have not yet gotten the 2010s into their rating systems, and he quoted me on a 2009 Prius.

 

Why would that be odd? A new car is always going to cost more to insure than an older car (assuming they had the same starting price). Cost to replace a new car that is totalled is higher than an older car, thus the higher premium.

Farmers gives me a Hybrid credit. Not much, but it actually makes insuring my 06 Prius less expensive than my 06 Outback.

 

No better car ever made maintenance wise. 5k oil changes. At 30k, I put a new cabin and engine air filter in myself (total cost $34). That was it. I hate getting my Subaru serviced in comparison (30k service is going to cost me $450+).

Based on the ease and cheapness of service alone, my next car will be a Prius of some sort (I'm holding out a couple more years me thinks for a plug in.....).

 

I thought it was odd, because three friends of mine got lower quotes for a prius over taurus.

 

As I did. I thought it was weird that mine was lowering going to a new car, expected the opposite (like you got). I did get the "hybrid" discount (tiny bit of every tiny bit helps) and maybe since we are older? Maybe they updated our info and it ended up being less? I don't know. We have allstate.

 

1. It is a question of supply and demand. I find that Canadian dealers still don't have much of a stock. If I were you I would shop on the Internet to get the best price. Deal with the Internet Specialist that most dealers now have.
2. 45 km segment is long enough to have your first 5 minutes not be such a drag on the overall MPG. It takes about 5 minutes in warmer weather for the car the warm up to the efficient zone. Another factor is your route: city MPG has better potential than HWY; fewer stops are better and of course your speed.

Good luck,

 

For less expensive insurance, depending where you are in Canada, you might try Canadian Direct.

 

What is hybrid battery warranty and parts/labor cost to replace? If you opt for LED headlamps, cost to replace. So far easy maintenance and nice car, easy to park.

Depends on supply and demand, negotiating ability. Best to buy in low demand, higher supply. A local dealer bragged on getting $40k for 08 pack2, heated leather seats during the national (global?) Prius shortage last Summer. That's $15k over MSRP, but I take that with grain of salt.