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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Prius New Prius Owners - Give Us Your Report
541 messages, Last post on Oct 14, 2009 at 6:10 AM
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Replying to: trofrnk (Apr 14, 2008 1:59 pm) I backed my 2004 Prius out of my garage the other morning, right into the side of a workman's pickup truck. Not a scratch or dent on the Prius but a lot of damage to the truck. |
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Replying to: trofrnk (Apr 14, 2008 1:59 pm) Drag it up on a flatbed? Where does one attach the cables to drag it? |
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A reporter hopes to speak with anyone who purchased or considered a hybrid vehicle in 2007. If this describes you and you care to share your story with a reporter, please respond to ctalati edmunds.com with your daytime contact information and a few words about your experience no later than Friday, April 18, 2008.
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Replying to: ultrahawg (Mar 24, 2008 4:39 pm) I keep thinking to myself that this was the wrong decision, but I'm so sick of spending $70 to get 270 miles out of my truck (less than 200 towing the trailer) and $65 for 350 miles from the van. The way I see it we'll save at least $200 a month on fuel alone. " I salute you for being willing to increase your monthly spending to reduce the amount of gas you use per month. Obviously this was not a financial situation but an environmental one, so congrats, you are more green than you claimed in your post.  I wish we were in the position to do the same, but I can't justify the extra expense of a third vehicle or even replacing my current since it's paid off and the car payment will outway the amount of money I'd save on gas. Financially, owning a third car makes no sence. If the expected gas savings is $200 a month, that won't come close to making up for an extra car payment, insurance and maintenance of a third vehicle. You could always consider selling truck and keep the van so you have one vehicle that the while family can still fit in and it sound like it's still pretty new. You could still haul things with your trailer behind the van. I don't know the towing rate, but the owners manual should say. It might even be able to tow the boat you say you might buy in the future.
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Replying to: trofrnk (Apr 14, 2008 1:59 pm) |
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Replying to: chadx (Apr 16, 2008 9:14 am) benefits of operating a Prius. Everyone at work is considering a Prius as either a first or second family vehicle for commuting. Personally, I am estimating $2,000 to $3,000 per year in fuel savings, with the range resulting from uncertainties over fuel prices. From my previous vehicle, I am estimating $3,000 per year in maintenance cost savings.  After 5 years, this means that I will save $25,000 which matches the cost of a new Prius. Of course, resale value after 5 years for a Prius is about $16,000. Essentially, my Prius is a free vehicle, my operational savings will meet or exceed my monthy car payments which I have already noticed in my healthy checking account balance. Today, I received an estimate on a new battery bank for the Prius of $4,000. Spreading the cost of a full battery bank over 6 years of 15,000 miles per year, gives me one extra year of car payments to pay for battery replacement at 90,000 miles. However, my calculation is apparently erroneous, since my research estimates battery life to extend over at least 180,000 miles. If only all of my calculations were so imbalanced in my favor.
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I bought my Prius for the sole purpose of saving money on gas mileage. I drive up to 2000 miles per month or more. The re-imbursement percentage is significantly higher with the 50 MPG with the Prius. In the past two days I drove 350 miles to and from a job. I am always dead tired when I come home from such a long trip when driving my Prius. I am much more comfortable in my SUV and I drive it on occasions especially when I am taking secondary roads. As of late, I am thinking of driving it more, maybe 50% of the time, in order to take advantage of the comfort. There is a significant difference in the comfort. We could all be more comfortable in larger vehicles thus causing much less stress on our lives if the price of oil were reduced so that it does not cause a significant amount of stress on our budgets. There are significant amounts of oil that have been located in Alaska and elsewhere. Oil deposits are the natural process of residue seeping into pockets in the earth's crust. Converting corn into gas is an un-natural process and the cost of making gas in this fashion is significantly higher. I suggest that everyone call their representatives to allow immediate drilling in areas where oil has been discovered thus driving down the price of gas. Just think of the reduction of stress in our lives. We would live longer and be much more comfortable. If you really want the facts, don't listen to politicians and their distortions of the facts.
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Replying to: snowboarder4 (Apr 16, 2008 12:36 pm) The first is the price of fuel is probably never going down again. It's almost always going to go up for a number of reasons. Certain analyses like some done here at Edmunds assume that fuel will remain at $2.85 a gallon forever ( wait that can't be right ). As you imply by 'uncertainties' you should factor in some inflation factor in the cost of fuel over the lifetime of the vehicle. If you're a keeper an you stay with the vehicle for 10 yrs and 150000 miles do you really think fuel will be $2.85 a gallon in the year 2018!!!! It's probably going to be closer to $6 or $8 a gallon by then. The second huge error all the analyses make is that they ignore resale values. Yes a Prius or a TCH cost more to start out, sometimes. But they also bring more at time of resale. There are now 7 yrs of records on resales on the Prius, a little less on the HCH and the TCH but in every case the hybrid vehicle brings more to the seller. IOW the 'hybrid premium' doesn't cost you nearly as much as you might think. A similarly equipped Matrix and Prius cost about $4000 difference when new. 4 yrs later the Prius brings about $3000 more at trade in or in resale. IOW the 'hybrid premium is really only about $1000. The third error made by the 'expert analysts' is that they try to simplify the problem for the uninformed, or lazy, or just not very smart public by reducing the problem to a simple 'recovery period'. There simply is no such concept. The whole idea is faulty. Vehicles are depreciating assets that simply cost us money from the day we buy them til the day we get rid of them. The only valid analysis is to add up all the expected costs over the expected life of the vehicle ( in miles ). Then choose the one that costs the least. This is what small businesses do every day. We afterall are millions of small businesses ( our budgets ). But since the 'analysts' have gotten the first two key concepts wrong all of their 'expert' results are also wrong. Tell me what you're driving now, how many miles driven annually and it's real world fuel economy. Then tell me how long you'd expect to keep a new Prius, how many miles you'd expect to drive it annually and which package you're thinking of buying and I'll plug these factors into the spreadsheet and show you the results. BTW there is no need ever to replace your battery unless you go out of your way to try to damage it. Yes that $4000 quote is correct on getting a new one ( plus labor ) but the warranties are very very long. Most Parts Dept will tell you that they've almost never replaced one, except a few under warranty. It might be the most reliable and durable part of the vehicle. If you live in a CARB state you're covered up to 10 yrs / 150,000 miles. |
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Replying to: oldsarg (Apr 19, 2008 5:01 pm) Not sure how new your Prius is, but you might try a Ford Escape Hybrid. The FWD model is rated at 34 city / 30 highway, and I suspect you could match or better the EPA figures. I just got mine and it is very comfortable on the road. |
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Replying to: trofrnk (Apr 14, 2008 1:59 pm) I expected someone else should have jumped in before me, but here goes : First you DO NOT want this car back under any condition. Here's what you should know. 1. The structural integrity of this vehicle has been compromised in many places.Some of which will be spotted by the bodyshop and corrected, some won't show up until 6months, one year, 18months later etc. At this point the insurance company will be long gone. Try claiming a front or rear suspension collapse a month later. Sudden shocks are known to untemper a spring or leave it in a weakened state. Well you must have hit a pothole sir will be the response. We don't cover that. 2. The electrical integrity may have been compromised with shorts and overvoltages during repair and refurb. Then again the computer modules may have been handled without proper static protection safeguards in place. I'm talking anti-static pads on counters, benches and floors. After all, it's a bodyshop not the final assembly at an electronics manufacturing facility so mishandling, despite the best intentions, is possible. The modules will appear to work fine then fail suddenly on you without warning. It will have been that static damage inflicted months before. Of course you can't prove that. Prius has lots of expensive modules, why carry that risk ? The best interest for the insurers is to continue to fund the body shop even if they can get full repair with $500 below replacement cost they saved $500 so it's cheaper for them to keep going. The best interest of the body shop is to say they can repair anything since Toyota can supply any part of the Prius. The whole car - in the worst case ! The body shop stands to make more money the longer they work, they do not need to consider the economics of the repair. With the insurer in the picture the body shop won't be asking questions, they have almost carte blanche in this scenario. The best interest for you is to bargain with the insurer, their first offer "to get customer release" will be low. The cheapest option for them is to have you get the vehicle repaired. They will try to scare you off by deliberately tendering a low price. They want you to adopt the natural reaction which is for you to say " if that's your offer then you can pay for my complete sactisfaction in getting it repaired !" But what you should be doing is bargain with the insurer since that initial offer won't be his final, but you have to get into the ring, as it were. Quite frankly you DON"T WANT this car and you may have to take a hit of $5K+ just to get into a car of equal value. Avoiding problems upstream with your old car is probably worth this despite the fact that you were fully insured. Respect that this is a complex machine that you got damaged. Take the hit is my 2cents. You'll thank me. Somewhere on Edmunds they must have some articles dealing with insurers no doubt. They say that Experience is something you get -- just after you needed it . T2 |
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