Then you'll love the idea that the AC in the Prius isn't connected to the engine, so it doesn't require the engine running just to keep the cabin cool.
The whole Prius *system* is well thought out. It maximizes efficiencies in amazing little ways that all add up to a serious savings, not only in gas but also in maintenance.
You really, really need to look into the Prius. You wrongly assume quite a bit about the car.
The owner's manual in the US specifies 5000 mile oil changes. Don't know why, though, because outside the US it's much longer.
suzuki burgman motorscooter. snowmobile, nissan Murano, some subarus. as to the flywheels, they're doing it with batteries and electric motors instead. they're called "hybrids".
My Corollas haven't even had a recommended 3K miles oil/filter change since... ages ago. More like every 5 - 7K miles, depending on where one drives.
Cathy
I don't know how much the Prius uses re: the electric motor vs. the gas engine for each of those; I'll let someone else answer, or you can look it up. However, I do know that attention has been paid to all sorts of details in the design of the Prius, so I doubt if the engineers missed those points. Ex. of attention to detail, re: aerodynamics: ever notice the roofline (looking at it straight on from the front or the rear) of a Prius?
Google "prius customer satisfaction" or something along those lines & see what you get...
Cathy
"Moon Goddess" ...
Moon, Moon, Moon... Where are you getting your information? Mine cost half that amount. The batteries will likely never need to be replaced. I leave the AC on when I get out of the car for short periods - it runs off electricity, not the gas engine, so all it does is run down the battery pack a bit, which gets recharged again when I take off.
Read that link that I posted to you in another part of this thread. =-) Tomes
"Cathy F." ...
I agree with Cathy here. It looks like they found some folks who would say bad things, but I believe that these are maverick cases, if they are even real. There is a trick to the footwork (I call is PriusFoot) where is you get used to lifting the foot off and then resetting it on the gas pedal lightly it will run much more often in electric mode, and this is how I consistently get my 52-55 MPG (I just looked and after this past 3/4 tank of use it is reading 54.8 for this tankful).
There are also inaccuracies to this article, which impugns its credibility, such as where it says "The computer tracks mileage every 15 to 30 minutes," - it tracks every 5 minutes. Also "They jacked up the price $8,000 from sticker stating it was a car that was hard to come by and that was their price" - lol, this identifies the speaker as a fool to begin with (paying that much over sticker is nuts); nowadays they are offering incentives.
I have never tried to drive badly enough to drop the MPG this much, but I suppose it can be possible is one just does not get it. I tend to try for the higher MPG. But remember that post where I drove at 90 for a while and still got in the high 40's? I would like to see someone (who will not be me) that we trust around here try to tromp around and see how bad mileage they can get just for grins. Tomes
Yes, and my apologies for that.
The main thing we need to look at is the cost effectiveness now.
For example, my 93 Corolla wagon is only getting about 22 MPG under these conditions and I have to fill the tank to the tune of about $50 a week. ( about $200 a mo? )
SO say we got a Prius and doubled the gas mileage from 22 to 44 MPG.
We'd save maybe $100 a month. BUT our old Corolla is *paid for* and the Prius purchase adds about $22k in new debt after we sell the Corolla.
I understand this Corolla wagon is a collectible or something, someone told me they're rare now? So maybe if we fix it up a little, we can sell it for $3000?
Anyway, say we wind up with $22k in new debt from the swap but only save $100 a month on the gas. It still doesn't seem to come out very cost effectively for us.
No, I didn't see that article that way at all. What I got from it, was that it totally depends on how you drive it. If you learn to drive it by the computer, it sounds like you can get great gas savings.
Yeah, I got it now, thanks! :)
Whoa. Do you live where there's no snow in the winters? (Cars tend to rust out before they wear out in the snowy NE climate.)
is only getting about 22 MPG under
I don't know about it being a collectible - although it's true there hasn't been a Corolla wagon (unless you count the Matrix) for ages. But personally, I doubt it, re: $3K. You can check Edmunds.com, for the used car prices, though.
Read more about them, test drive one; then decide whether or not you want to entertain the thought of buying one. People who would normally spend in the low->mid $20,000s for a new car would come out ahead of the game. People who typically spend a little less would probably break even, or come out slightly ahead. People who usually spend considerably less on a new car (me), will come out behind by a few thousand - unless gas prices *really* sky-rocket. So it then depends on how much you like the car. Personally, I loved it. And want to get one someday... if I do, it will be a bit of a splurge to myself. In the meantime, I'm driving my 4th Corolla. Which is a perfectly good car; just rather boring - esp. since it's my 4th one in a row...
BTW - the back seats of the Prius, IIRC, fold down virtually flat - not at a sort of ~15º angle like most fold-down rear seats. And the inside of a Prius is much more spacious than its exterior would lead you to believe - definitely roomier than a Corolla. Plus it has lots & lots of storage space - double glove box, extra pull-out drawer that would work well for CDs, I think, this is beyond the usual map pockets, console storage, etc. Designed really well, IMO.
Cathy
>
No, it doesn't "totally" depend on how your drive it.
The Prius will get huge gas savings for the average driver who just gets in and drives it using the same driving techniques he's used for years.
The Prius *will* respond to different driving techniques, though, and will get a little better mileage if you drive in ways that are unique to that car.
So just get in and drive it and realize huge savings over any other car right away with no change in your driving.
I can't disagree with you overall, but you're not factoring in the repair/maintenance costs of the Corolla over the next, say, 5 years, costs that you won't incur on a brand new car.
Not here in Denver. :)
New car? I've had 1 new car in my life, and that was many years ago, we usually can't afford them.
My uncle, who used to work at a dealership years ago, always said to buy a 2-3 year old car with low miles on it, and run it into the ground, that that was the best way to get the best deal for the money.
But I suspect with the Prius ( as well as Toyota in general ) that doesn't hold up so well, because of the higher resale values.
Sounds cool, if we can afford a new car.
Of course we were thinking of writing it off for the business and using it 100% for the business, so that could help some day.
If you put a sign on each side of the car, does that make it a 100% business expense? Does anyone know?
Minor compared to $23k?
"Elmo P. Shagnasty" ...
I agree with Elmo here Moon. It does depend to a degree on how it is driven, but I cannot (as a driver having one) imagine getting the numbers that they are claiming to get. Tomes
"Moon Goddess" ...
We bought ours because our son came of driving age and we needed another car. We kept the Sienna to do the big stuff (camp, lug and tow), I kept the Jeep because I like it and we bought the Prius because we needed a daily driver and we went for the best mileage. We did not buy one just to buy one. We were going to buy a car anyway and it did come down to the Prius versus the Yaris.
We worked out the numbers between the cost and usage costs of these 2 cars over the 10 years (minimum) that we always keep a car, and then factored in that the Prius is a better car in major ways (space, solidness, comfort, etc.), and it favored the Prius. And no, I don't have those calculations anymore, so you will need to do the math, sorry about that. We did use 44 MPG though for the comparison.
Today's Corolla wagon is the Matrix. I always thought that the Corolla wagon had its own coolness factor, but if you can get a premium for it later on, I would be surprised. Tomes
"Moon Goddess" ...
They can add up or maybe not. I might have missed this, but what is the year and mileage on your Corolla? My Sienna has 190K and not a lot of repair costs, just mostly consumable stuff. Tomes
A 2-3 year old AMERICAN car.
You can't squeeze two nickles together. Go away.
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