Dunno about pricing these days. I have a package #2 and I love it.
My opinion is no - this is just more money that the dealer can make off of you. This is a reliable car.
You can just get in it and drive it like a normal car and get very good mileage, no problem there. However, there is a trick with your foot that you can learn that will give you about 8 or 5 more MPG depending on a lot of stuff. The thing is to train the foot so that it rests on the pedal just a bit so it uses the electrics and not the gas motor at the right times. If you push too hard it will use the gas. It takes a while to get good at this. Depending upon terrain, you can use the electrics moreso than if you 'just drove it', and thus increase your MPG. This works on flat or decending road portions and you can at least maintain your speed, and increase it on downhills even. Just make sure that you do not hold up traffic when doing this. We can discuss this further if you wish.
You can get this now? (Perhaps you are not in the USA?) Absolutely get it. There are many times that I want it to run EV when it just decides to use gas. It will have the overrides to ensure that the car is not hurt.
When the car starts up it will use the gas engine for a while anyway to heat up the emissions stuff as Toyota views the Prius' status as a non-polluter as more important than a high MPG vehicle. So for the first few minutes the battery is charging up anyway. I try to use up as much of the electrons as possible before I turn it off because of this. I also find that I wish that it would use the electrics more than it does as I have almost never had the batery run down into the 'purple' zone where the engine comes on by itself to recharge. (Thus my wish to have that EV switch.) My normal driving in the hilly western NJ is such that the engine comes on plenty to get up hills and start from stops that the battery is well tended. The only times I run out the battery is when I sit in traffic and use the AC (which runs off the electrice, not the engine directly). YMMV.
So, in the USA anyway, I do not believe it is possible on a stock Prius to charge the batteries from house current, and I do not see the advantage it would provide.
Furthermore, if someone wants to buy an extended warranty, you can get the max warranty (7 years, 100,000) miles for $995. I forget which dealer offers it, but I'm sure that someone else here can supply that information.
It doesn't matter. Amortizing the difference between the price you paid and what you might have paid shows that the struggle for best price is meaningless. You will be much happier bragging about your choosing skills rather than your haggling skills.
No. NO. !!! NO !!! That is a terrible offer, and your dealer should be told that it makes you suspicious of everything else he will ever tell you. On priuschat or one of the other forums you can get 100k/7y for under $1k. And check the warranty on the hybrid system in your state - be amazed.
Read the forums - greenhybrid is a good source.
Not if you install it yourself (voids the warranty). Those who do so usually find it entertaining only for a short while. The traction battery stores energy equivalent to 3-4 ounces of gasoline. THIS IS NOT AN ELECTRIC CAR.
THIS IS NOT AN ELECTRIC CAR. The electric drive enables the Miller-cycle ICE to provide acceleration that is acceptable to us (electric motor has max torque at zero RPM). A Miller-cycle or Atkinson-cycle engine has terrible low-end acceleration but great economy once it gets going. The Prius hybrid drive gives you the benefit of both. We must wait for at least one more generation of Prius before we can begin thinking of this as an "electric car charged by an on-board ICE".
Here in the UK we have the option to extend the warranty at any time up to 3 years old. I intend to extend mine for 2 years before July, when the car will be three years old. UK owners also have an 8 year/100k miles (I think!) warranty on all the Hybrid components in addition to the 3 year warranty on the rest. Given Toyota's reputation for reliability it may be that the extension of the 3 year warranty for the regular bits might be a waste of money, but I'm prepared to do this for a couple of years and see what transpires.
Leave it at home ;-). Seriously, though, there is a huge set of received wisdom about tyre pressures, Prius "foot" and general driving style that can be found here and on other sites (try Priuschat.com) if you really want to be bothered. Personally, I find all of this a little tiresome after a while and it detracts from my enjoyment of the car. Most of the suggestions are no different than would apply to any car in terms of fuel economy, so by all means practice such habits, but I remain doubtful about inflating tyres beyond the manufacturer's recommended pressures and the so-called Prius Foot" or pulse-glide technique is simply a pain in the butt for the driver and those that have to follow. If I were you I'd just drive it and enjoy it. The difference between your gas mileage doing this and doing all the other stuff as well won't amount to more than a few mpg and I don't reckon it's worth the bother, considering how much gas you'll likely save in any case. The Prius was designed clever to take the grief away from you, the driver. Why become an add-on engine management system?
The EV switch does little more than "encourage" the car to use battery traction when there is a power source choice that doesn't compromise the Prius battery management systems. In practice (as has already been said) this amounts to maybe a mile or so under 30mph on the flat with a trailing wind and a warm engine. About the only practical purpose I've found for mine is to creep away from the house quietly in the early morning and to arrive quietly late at night. I still reckon it's only fitted in countries that have tax laws that are advantageous for alternative fuel vehicles, in that the EV switch theoretically throws the car into electric traction mode. Beyond that it has very little practical value in everyday driving.
No. The Prius battery was never designed to be charged (ie managed) by anything other than the on-board systems and to attempt to do so would probably lead to an early death for the battery and give you no measurable benefit in terms of mpg. The ICE will run anyway when it's cold, to rapid heat the exhaust catalyser, thus reducing undesirable emissions more quickly. Remember the Prius is a balanced package of innovation that not only addresses gas consumption but also emissions control. It's all been designed to work as an integrated whole and IMHO interference with this very spohisticated group of systems is unwise. It is a fascinating piece of machinery designed to work silently and unobtrusively at minimising your impact on the environment and dwindling oil supplies. Be interested in it by all means, as I am, but after three years I have found that the best way to treat the car is to just get in it, drive it and enjoy it.
this is a gasoline car, people. The only form of energy that you, the owner, put into the car is gasoline. Period. It is not an electric car. Never was, never will be.
Your words Elmo, not mine. The car generates it's own energy on deceleration (actually claws back some of the energy used for acceleration) and converts this to electrical energy stored in a battery. So, whilst what you say is true, it is an economical truth in that it doesn't tell the whole story. Although it may be a "gasoline" car it is a very efficient one and gets more work done out of the gas than most other cars on the road, very comfortably and with some style. This is it's real attraction. That it does this using batteries is incidental.
How the system manages the energy that's put into it, is immaterial. It's a gasoline car that uses advanced systems to manage the energy better than other gasoline cars.
Regardless, the sole source of energy for the Prius is gasoline. It's a gasoline car.
No, it's a waste of money. See for example Consumer Report's reliability guide. If you absolutely have to have one you can get it anytime in the first 36,000 miles/36 months for $1000. See
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get more "peace of mind" keeping that money in the bank.
The most effective ways of improving MPGs are to drive right and keep the tires inflated:
- Don't speed. As with any car MPGs fall off fast above 65 MPH or so.
- Accelerate briskly (this makes most efficient use of the engine)
- Gliding (no arrows on the "Energy" display) is better than coasting
- Coasting is better than braking
- Braking is better than stopping
- Check tire pressures at least monthly. Also, many people inflate the original tires to 42/40 PSI front/rear because it noticeably improves MPGs.
Not really. In the US it will void the warranty and for most drivers will not noticeably improve MPGs.
We must be clear here. There are two battery systems:
- 12V used for booting up the computers and running certain fluid pumps when you first turn the car ON
- 201V traction battery which is used for load leveling and running the electric drive motors.
The 12V battery is easily accessible (jump point under the hood) for external charging, but it contains so little energy that doing this will not noticeably increase MPGs. The 201V traction battery is very much and very deliberately *not* easily accessible. You can pay an aftermarket company about $10,000 to convert a Prius into a plugin, but this also voids the warranty.
The 'platinum' extended warranty (7 years and 100,000 miles) is available for about ,000 from Troy Dietrich at Greenfield Toyota (Michigan). Remember that you must buy this warranty before you have
36,000 miles on the car. The warranty is from Toyota and is good at any Toyota dealer. Don't buy any third-party warranty!
Here is a letter I received from Troy Dietrich in October of '06:
*** Here is all the basic info: I am currently offering the Toyota Platinum 7 yr / 100,000 mile Extra Care plan w/ $0 deductible for $990.00 on the Prius, which is the longest plan available in both mileage and years.
Most of the details on the Extra Care plans can be found directly at their website at the following link, including all the various terms and options available, just let me know if you would like a quote on a different plan.
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Here are the purchase instructions if / when you decide to purchase.
I would need you to mail me an original signed letter indicating the exact current mileage on your vehicle, and a copy of your current registration.(If you are in a state where you don't get your state registration right away, I can also use a copy of the bill of sale, purchase contract, or some other official document which shows the owners name and address, along with the vehicles VIN)
Sorry, I know its a little inconvenient, but its the only way we could come up to cover ourselves on the mileage and VIN verification. After I receive your letter, I can call you for credit card info, if that's how you choose to pay, or you can include a check, money order, or the credit card info with it. Also, make sure that the registration copy is legible (I have gotten a couple of them recently that I couldn't read or had part of the VIN chopped off on the copy).
Mail to:
Toyota of Greenfield
12 Olive Street Greenfield, MA 01301
Attn: Troy Dietrich
Please call or email me if you think of any more questions. The phone number for Toyota of Greenfield is (413) 772-0231...or my new direct line is (413) 772-0989.
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