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Hybrid Vehicles Toyota Prius Prius Owners w/50K - What We Think Now
198 messages, Last post on Nov 14, 2009 at 10:01 PM
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Replying to: anotherguy (Jul 07, 2007 9:22 am) I own a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. The "Integrated Motor Assist" battery had to be replaced after only 60K miles. Of course this was covered under warranty by Honda. However, the next replacement will have to be covered by my at a cost of $2000.00!! In addition to this I have had the car in to the dealer for at least a dozen other warranty repairs. Also, the local dealer is quite inept at repairs and needs to do them multiple times to get them correct. Anyway, I really like the idea of a Hybrid car and I would like to replace my Civic Hybrid with one of Toyota's Hybrids, but I'm skeptical about Hybrid reliability, etc from the bad experience with the Civic Hybrid. I'm wondering why Toyota's Hybrid batteries seem to last longer than Honda's. They are the same Nickel Metal Hydride type of battery.
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Replying to: railroadjames (Mar 05, 2007 6:30 pm) It's a 2004 model with about 65K on it. When we bought it last year, it had about 40K. So you can see that we're big drivers. What I've seen is that get's much worse gas mileage in the winter than in the summer. Not that it's bad. I get between 40 and 45 mpg during the winter and between 55 and 60 mpg in the summer time between fill-ups. This is probably because the car has to take longer to warm up and Utah puts ethanol in the gasoline during the winter to cut down on greenhouse gases while we have the inversion layer in the Utah and Salt Lake valleys. I suspect that the ethanol is about half the reason for the dramatic drop in mpg. Then again, short trips really kill the mileage because the car never gets a chance to warm and it continually tries to warm up every time you turn it on, wasting gas (which drives me nuts). Everything else is great but I think that if the warm-up period were more efficient, it would greatly increase the efficiency of the system as a whole. The only maintenance I've had to do on the car is that I accidentally put the wrong kind of coolant in the system and had to have it flushed -- very expensive. I've also replaced in the cabin air filter, also more expensive that I like. Let's just say it cost more than the $5 I wanted to spend, but when it's full of leaves and dust, you kind of have to think it might be a must. No, the thing was $25 -- not expensive but way over priced for some fibers and plastic. As for the person who has only changed their air filter for the engine air intake, not changing that regularly can shorten your vehicles life due to increased stress on the system. Since the Prius only needs an oil change every 5,000 miles, you should check your air filter every time you change your oil. Still, I need to consult my manual about what routine maintenance I'm due for, particularly how often I should change the air filter. One piece of advice for saving just a little more on gas, keep your tank full. Then you'll only pay the higher prices to top off your tank. It's a difference of paying extra $.05 more for 2 to 4 gallons instead of 7 to 10 gallons. |
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Replying to: kjhansen (Jun 24, 2008 7:34 pm) It could be that you were just very unlucky to need a replacement battery. It's also possible that Toyota is able to do a better job of keeping the battery charge level within the range that promotes long battery life. I've never really considered this before but Toyota have the ability to charge the battery almost any time they want to whereas, as far as I'm aware, Honda only charges the battery with energy recaptured from braking/deceleration. It's also reasonable to assume though that if Honda has a battery at or near the lower limit of charge they won't call on it to deliver power. |
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Replying to: kjhansen (Jun 24, 2008 7:34 pm) I had a 2006 Pilot that was in the shop 11 times in the first 5 month. That vehicle was a major piece of crap. i have talked to others who also had multiple problems with Pilots. Somehow I think honda bribes consumer reports for reviews and statistics that are significantly better than reality. My Prius touring edition should arrive next week. Not sure what color it will be as long as it is black or silver I am okay with it. I know many Prius owners who like everything about their cars except tire wear (also voiced in these forums). The touring edition has different suspension and 16 inch wheels. I am hoping that will make a difference in tire wear. The touring model does come with performance tires which probably will not wear well but that will be temporary. The good year tires that are on the regular Prius are not particularly good tires. The same model tire was on my pilot.
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Replying to: silverhunter (Jun 25, 2008 5:37 pm)
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Replying to: dstarinieri (Jun 26, 2008 5:32 am)
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Replying to: rick294 (Jun 26, 2008 9:30 am)
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Replying to: dstarinieri (Jun 26, 2008 1:49 pm)
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Replying to: rick294 (Jun 27, 2008 11:44 am)
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Replying to: stevedebi (Oct 02, 2007 1:09 pm) |
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