Prius--my view

[CaptainApollo]

Oh, did you get a chance to read it? its in the february edition

[mauleskyrocket]

I found it online. Not a comparison with TDI but a long term survey of owners.

[CaptainApollo]

Do you have a link to the article?

[CaptainApollo]

Oh, i looked on the site and I see what you mean. I'll keep looking for the Feb edition of popular mechanics

[mauleskyrocket]

Why have these cars become so available lately----new and used?

[mauleskyrocket]

Why 3 Prius flatbedded to dealer???? Can batteries handle low temps???

[CaptainApollo]

more available because more are being produced, pretty simple to diagnose

3 at the dealer could be for a plethora of reasons which are most likely not attributed to low temperatures causing batteries to go caddywhompus

did you read the article in popular mechanics yet? i did

[mauleskyrocket]

No. What did it say?

[CaptainApollo]

i actually just looked at the results. It basically said that the TDI's 0-30 was faster than the Prius but its 0-60 was slower. And then it went on to say that the TDI was more of a driver's car (which is understandable being its VW), however, the Prius edged out in fuel economy by 1.6 mpg. (they used their own testing methods)

[mauleskyrocket]

Thx Apollo, that is one of my gripes re the Prius. I owned a Passat TDI years ago and then a Golf TDI and later a Jetta TDI. I watched the mileage carefully. But like the Prius, and my personality, I began "driving for mileage" and it just ruined the enjoyment of the car. The fact however remains that the Prius is not really what is advertized and is on par with a TDI mileage wise. There is no doubt the VW handles better.

[Okhobieman]

Ya'll, As I surfed the threads for the Prius, there is no end of opinions. This is good .... like the inside of a good barrel of pacific blue water.
Now, please extend my education by giving me your experience in the below areas?

1) Maintenance issues for 2004->2005 Prius models. What are the problems and countermeasures?
2) Are there hidden ownership costs in battery replacement life expectancy?) Other's experiences in the midwest & southwestern states for air conditioning satisfaction. [/color] I.E. 98(f)degree days, is the car hot? or can be cooled ok (disregard any mileage issues).
4) Auto collision or crash experiences? Safety issues ?

FYI, from OKC, OK (Oklahoma City), driver feedback from leasing a 2004 Prius in September (hot, humid month), on a drive from OKC-> Austin, Texas and back, at mph of 70 to 90, air conditioning was good, mileage was excellent, (3/4 tank consumption each way [50mpg]). Female driver traveling in the Fast Lane passing VW's .... no offense just fact.

FYI#2 the price of a used Japanse imported Prius in New Zealand is quoted :"We have priced 3y old Japanese imported Prius at about $23K [$US16K]. New is hard to obtain, >$NZ40K I think."

[mauleskyrocket]

For your region and tax structure car may be fine. On the trip you (she) took the diesel would have given you better mpg. I also know you cannot run a Prius in 90 defrees F with the air on and 3 adults and go 80-90 mph and get better than 38 mpg. You can get 48 with the diesel. So to each his own---but the Prius is not what the adds STILL say. Sales are not at the same pace they once were. Long term maintenance and reliability must be a question since no long term data exists.

[Okhobieman]

Originally Posted by mauleskyrocket

For your region and tax structure car may be fine. On the trip you (she) took the diesel would have given you better mpg. I also know you cannot run a Prius in 90 defrees F with the air on and 3 adults and go 80-90 mph and get better than 38 mpg. You can get 48 with the diesel. So to each his own---but the Prius is not what the adds STILL say. Sales are not at the same pace they once were. Long term maintenance and reliability must be a question since no long term data exists.

[color=blue]
OK Mauleskyrocket, thank you once again for providing your opinion. it is respected and valued.

But can you help all of us by answering or providing facts for the 4 questions/items I listed before your reply? I truly value facts and stats... and I simply am not concerned with comparisons to any other vehicle, as I am focused on learning of others' knowledge of the 4 items.

Thank you once again for your opinion and I will inform the woman who drove (both ways) from OKC<->Austin, TX that she simply did not do what she reported because you say it can not be done. (but she may not agree with you as reality is fact, right?) [As Dale Carnegie once stated somewhere, no one wins an arguement], so focusing on experience with fact/stats, does tend to weight the scales on her statement. Thank you truly for your knowledge and if you do have stat's and no comparisons, please share them as we want to learn the cause for discrepancy of your experience to her reality.

Best regards.......

[mauleskyrocket]

If you took the time to read the thread you will see the various citations----one from the NHTSA which references the Prius as one of the main reason to redo the mileage figures on new car stickers. I am not leaning on one persons opinion. I don't even know if they know how to fill a car for mileage estimates. FULL TO FULL is the only way and that means LEVEL ground and fill until you see the gasoline!!!! Any other method can be totally erroneous. Usually with any hope for high mpg---the individual will fill to the brim----drive on a highway---then refill to the click---and do the math and believe their car gets 50 on the highway.

[CaptainApollo]

Originally Posted by Okhobieman

Ya'll, As I surfed the threads for the Prius, there is no end of opinions. This is good .... like the inside of a good barrel of pacific blue water.
Now, please extend my education by giving me your experience in the below areas?

1) Maintenance issues for 2004->2005 Prius models. What are the problems and countermeasures?
2) Are there hidden ownership costs in battery replacement life expectancy?) Other's experiences in the midwest & southwestern states for air conditioning satisfaction. [/color] I.E. 98(f)degree days, is the car hot? or can be cooled ok (disregard any mileage issues).
4) Auto collision or crash experiences? Safety issues ?

FYI, from OKC, OK (Oklahoma City), driver feedback from leasing a 2004 Prius in September (hot, humid month), on a drive from OKC-> Austin, Texas and back, at mph of 70 to 90, air conditioning was good, mileage was excellent, (3/4 tank consumption each way [50mpg]). Female driver traveling in the Fast Lane passing VW's .... no offense just fact.

FYI#2 the price of a used Japanse imported Prius in New Zealand is quoted :"We have priced 3y old Japanese imported Prius at about $23K [$US16K]. New is hard to obtain, >$NZ40K I think."

No maintenence issues really. Unlike normal cars and diesel, the Prius does not need timing belt changes, transmission maintenence, etc. Even the A/C is electric so it can have varying air compression speeds to maximize efficiency. I live in the midwest and the A/C is amazing. if you change the temp by one degree, the automatic a/c knows where to flow the air and also i can feel the temperature change. The A/C feels really good on hot days. Also since its electric, it gets colder a lot quicker. It doesnt need to run off the gasoline or diesel engine for power (and it doesnt drain power that way).

there really are no hidden costs, the battery has been known to go beyond 200k miles and i have no knowledge of any Prius needing a battery replacement. However, for the NORMAL accesorry 12v battery, they sometimes need to be replaced when they are drained because a door is left ajar overnight.

Like I said before, the a/c is awesome because it doesn't draw power from the gasoline engine. therefore even in 98 degree weather, you get instant a/c.

Also you'll be getting better mpg in hotter weather just because the engine isn't required to warm up. around 50 mpg is the average for Prius drivers. you can check out www.greenhybrid.com that has a real database where people list their mpg. The lowest anyone has gotten was 38.

Pertaining to maleskyrocket's opinion regarding mpg, I beleive he only owned his Prius for a few short months in winter which is already a double whammy. One because of the winter formula of gas which decreases mpg, and also because cold weather causes the car to use more gas during warm up. Secondly, he did not allow his Prius to break in so the engine was not loose. Even with 3 months of driving at 3000 miles, the engine is not at optimum efficiency.

To mauleskyrocket: you say usually the individual fills to the brim and then refills to the click in order to achieve 50 on the highway.. How are you going to justify this statement? how do you know they didn't use the display instead? I find your last comment purely unjustifiable with no evidence to support your theory and it shows your bias. Even your arguement on Prius advertising showing erroneous and high fuel economy is bunk because the only Prius advertising that has been on TV was the one on the superbowl, in which there were NO mpg figures. If you are referring to how the sticker on the car is erroneous, think about how the government requires every car to list that. Its NOT advertising. Salesmen also have nothing to do with it, that's the dealer's problem if they claim the Prius WILL get it. Also, notice how Popular Mechanics compared a manual TDI to the Prius' CVT. Manual TDI gets better mpg than the automatic and it still falls short of the Prius' mpg by 1.6mpg. Needless to say, the Prius is also larger than the Jetta TDI as well as heavier so its not as if it was the best comparison in the world. I agree that the Jetta probably handles much better, however, I choose safety, convenience, and luxury over a pure driving experience that would last less than 20 minutes on boring 40 mph roads with stoplights.

Back to Okhobieman: if you have questions, the best place to ask them would be priuschat.com where real owners can tell you their own experiences.

Safety: The prius was tested by Europe's test center three times more than a normal car because it utilizes an industry's first: Ultra High Strength Steel on the B-pillars. They found the car to be number 1 in its class for safety as well as number 1 overall for chlid occupant safety. The NHTSA tested the Prius without curtain/side airbags and it still received a 5 star frontal, 4 star side impact rating. The article is right http://www.newstreet.it/home/article_Id_627.html here.