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Does anyone own a Prius and have feedback? I want a car with really good mileage, reliable, with a hatch back. Any thoughts about the battery replacement costs?
I hope you don't mind me piggybacking on your question, but I am also thinking about one... does anyone know if they have any trouble with the steep hills in some neighborhoods around here? Does it cause any unusual stress on the electric motor? I figure down the hills should help with the electric regeneration...
Just bought a Prius V wagon. Love it! It is bigger inside and out than the car, but the mileage isn't as good as the car. It's brand new (600 miles) but it got 45.5 with 100 city miles and 200 highway miles. I drove it in Houston on the free ways and toll roads with no acceleration problems at all. The Prius has a power mode that gives you extra acceleration when you need it. The hybrid components (battery) warranty is 8 years 100,000 miles.
Although I'm brand new to Prius, I know several people who have them and love them.
I bought a used Prius from the Hertz Rent to Buy Program. In brief, you browse the available vehicles and select the one that interests you. They deliver it to the nearest Hertz location to your home and you then can rent it for up to three days. During that time you give it a thorough tryout and can take it to a mechanic specializing in hybrids for inspection. If you like it, you purchase it at the predetermined price and are credited for the rental charge incurred. If you don't want to buy it after all, just return it as a normal rental. The Prius I bought was still under manufacturer's warranty, had all of the service bulletin recommendations performed and has given me no problems in the two years I have owned it. It is definitely powerful enough for most driving conditions. Because of its areodynamic design, however, handling can be a bit squirrely in high wind conditions. It took awhile to get used to but now I just reduce speed and there is no problem. I bought my Prius at the downtown Austin location.
Does anyone own a Prius and have feedback? I want a car with really good mileage, reliable, with a hatch back. Any thoughts about the battery replacement costs?
My shop works on Prius. Economical car while under warranty. That's 8yrs/80k miles on the big stuff like the battery and all the computers. If you want to keep a car to 150-200k miles a Prius can be extremely expensive to own -- fuel mileage notwithstanding.
I am not sure if the situation has changed, but recently the high-voltage, (high dollar) batteries for a 2005 model were on regional backorder with about a 6 week wait. The batteries have been dropping left and right -- some in warranty, some not. We replace a HV battery for a generation 2 Prius for $3k, parts labor and tax, you can pay closer to $4k at the dealer. We did one a couple of months back that needed a battery computer also -- $800, but we managed to find a used one. Apply jumper cables to the 12v battery on a Prius backwards by accident and you are looking at $3k for an inverter. Geico paid us to do one, and the adjuster was already quite familiar with the claim scenario. Lots of other possible failures that are extremely expensive, catalytic converters, electronic steering gear for example.
So, its OK if you are going to trade it in every few years, but long-term not so good.
Don't believe what proud Prius owners tell you about fuel mileage. They often tell me they get 48 miles/gallon, but when I bring up the display that shows average MPG since last reset, I typically find anywhere from 28-34. I don't confront the owners about this, its just amazing the extent to which people will believe what they want to believe.
I own a repair shop specializing in Toyota and Honda and I would not have a Prius.
Look at a Honda Fit if you want a truly economical and reliable car. The mileage is not far behind that of a hybrid and the car is bullet-proof.
I own a Gen III (2010) prius with 50,000 miles on it.
We love it, and have had ZERO problems with it. You should check out www.priuschat.com for more information about the car
Don in Austin is mistaken. I check my mileage (not by the computer, but by calculating it using miles driven since last fillup and amount of gas consumed) and I consistantly get 50 miles/gallon without even trying (I am not one of those crazy ones who "hypermiles". I am well versed in Prius' (thanks to the above mentioned website) and I feel that Don is way off base, or is referring to the older Gen I Prius'.
We could not be happier with our Gen III Prius, and I work with four other people who feel the same way. I don't have 100,000+ miles on it yet, but there are plenty who do on www.priuschat.com and don't report problems like Don says.
USA Today did an excellent write-up on the Prius V recently.
My 45.5 mpg on my new Prius V was hand calculated by miles drives and gallons used for fill up. All brands/models have problems, some more than others. The Prius has consistently been a reliable car that owners like. Oh and the hybrid component warranty is 8 years/100,000 miles. That's long enough for me.
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