Prius pros and cons?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:terrible idea, the batteries will go on you in a couple of years and it's very costly. It make more sense to just buy a regular civic.

Do you know this for a fact? I have one friend who still has her Gen I Prius with 140K on it and the battery is fine. I have another friend with a Gen II Prius with 120K miles and has not have a problem with the battery.

When those estimates were made, none of the Prii had close to 100K miles on them and the "experts" were predicting what would likely happen. In reality, I have yet to hear of someone who has had to replace the battery and I know many, many Prius owners.

+1. Several Prius owners in my extended family, not one battery replacement.

+1 2004 Prius with 160k miles and we've had zero problems.

[Anonymous]

We've had ours 7 years now. I'm pretty happy with it overall, and it hasn't needed any major maintenance (no hybrid battery problems; the regular battery has run down a couple times when we've left lights accidentally, but that's going to happen in any car). I hardly ever have to get gas, which is really nice. I think it's super easy to park and has a tight turning radius. And I think it's surprisingly roomy inside, both in the front and backseat. I got used to the small rear-view window (a feature of any hatchback). It's our first hatchback and I would like a larger trunk or, better yet, a third row of seats. If I were buying a new one for a family of 4+ I would definitely look closely at the larger version they're making now. The one thing I hate is that I find the hatchback door hard to open, especially when I'm carrying a bunch of stuff. I would be so happy if I could open it with the push of a button or even better, waving my foot under the tailgate like I've seen some cars in ads do!

I would get it again. It's been a good little car.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you, everyone, for your responses. I think we're going to take the plunge and get the Prius! I am very excited now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:in addition to the long long time it takes to recoup the extra purchase price via gas savings, there's also the "hidden" issue of the huge cost to dispose of all the Prius batteries.

thus, while my profession is environmental protection, I am skeptical of the actual real-world conservation that results from hybrids.

since you're an expert, can you expand on this? Thanks

yes .... making those batteries produces a LOT of hazardous waste, which must be properly handled and disposed ... much more than on a "mere" internal combustion engine...

then when the batteries have exhausted their life cycle, they are full of toxics, hazardous waste, heavy metals, etc., and it is very expensive to recycle or dispose of them properly.

So you have to look at the entire life cycle.... the fact that you save a lot of gas while using them is not the whole picture, you also have to factor in how much more hazardous waste is generated in the manufacture and disposal/recycling stages of the life cycle.

[Anonymous]

Http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155193/thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The safety ratings were poor, which is why we decided against it.

Which year? Ours is a 2012 Prius 2, which earned top safety ratings: http://www.cars.com/toyota/prius/2012/safety-ratings/

The Prius V, however, was recently found to have failed a crash test (I believe it was for hitting the driver side at an angle.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The safety ratings were poor, which is why we decided against it.

These are similar to what I saw when we purchased our 2009 Prius. Looks pretty good to me:
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Toyota_Prius/Safety/
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=566

These are the stats that I found when we looked at the 2009. 4/5 in 4 areas and 5/5 for one. Hardly what I'd call poor:
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Toyota_Prius/Safety/
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2009/toyota/prius/crash_test_ratings/

So, where did you get the poor safety ratings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:in addition to the long long time it takes to recoup the extra purchase price via gas savings, there's also the "hidden" issue of the huge cost to dispose of all the Prius batteries.

thus, while my profession is environmental protection, I am skeptical of the actual real-world conservation that results from hybrids.

since you're an expert, can you expand on this? Thanks

yes .... making those batteries produces a LOT of hazardous waste, which must be properly handled and disposed ... much more than on a "mere" internal combustion engine...

then when the batteries have exhausted their life cycle, they are full of toxics, hazardous waste, heavy metals, etc., and it is very expensive to recycle or dispose of them properly.

So you have to look at the entire life cycle.... the fact that you save a lot of gas while using them is not the whole picture, you also have to factor in how much more hazardous waste is generated in the manufacture and disposal/recycling stages of the life cycle.

Is this that much more of an issue than regular car batteries?

[Anonymous]

A big con to the Prius is that they are really really ugly. Probably one of the ugliest cars on the road. I would get one if they were more attractive.

[Anonymous]

Cons - " it's like driving around in a vagina" and it looks like "a tampon on wheels".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The safety ratings were poor, which is why we decided against it.

These are similar to what I saw when we purchased our 2009 Prius. Looks pretty good to me:
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Toyota_Prius/Safety/
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=566

These are the stats that I found when we looked at the 2009. 4/5 in 4 areas and 5/5 for one. Hardly what I'd call poor:
http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Toyota_Prius/Safety/
http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2009/toyota/prius/crash_test_ratings/

So, where did you get the poor safety ratings?

Referring to the new tests, namely of the Prius V. You can can see the P rating on the "small overlap" test result on the IIHS site: http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=740

More details here: http://consumerist.com/2012/12/20/camry-prius-v-several-luxury-cars-fail-new-crash-tests/

Here: http://www.edmunds.com/car-news/2013-toyota-camry-prius-v-get-poor-crash-rating-in-new-test.html

Here: http://www.autoweek.com/article/20121220/CARNEWS/121229990

And so on.

We also decided against it (really before the test results, that just confirmed our decision) because we didn't care for how it felt/handled or looked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:in addition to the long long time it takes to recoup the extra purchase price via gas savings, there's also the "hidden" issue of the huge cost to dispose of all the Prius batteries.

thus, while my profession is environmental protection, I am skeptical of the actual real-world conservation that results from hybrids.



since you're an expert, can you expand on this? Thanks



yes .... making those batteries produces a LOT of hazardous waste, which must be properly handled and disposed ... much more than on a "mere" internal combustion engine...

then when the batteries have exhausted their life cycle, they are full of toxics, hazardous waste, heavy metals, etc., and it is very expensive to recycle or dispose of them properly.

So you have to look at the entire life cycle.... the fact that you save a lot of gas while using them is not the whole picture, you also have to factor in how much more hazardous waste is generated in the manufacture and disposal/recycling stages of the life cycle.

These are real concerns. But it seems to me that greenhouse emissions are the biggest overall threat, and that disposal problems, while undoubtedly serious, represent the lesser of evils. Also seems like the solution is to put more resources into developing better (and more easily recyclable) batteries, not shrugging, throwing up the hands, and continuing to burn fossil fuels.

(Not that that's your approach, environmental professional, but it's certainly the preferred approach of a large part of our society including the reflexive naysayers.)

[Anonymous]

If you are tall 6'3" plus the drivers seat does not go back enough.

[Anonymous]

My husband is 6'5 and drives mine without a problem.

[Anonymous]

I love my Prius.

Another benefit in DC is not paying excise tax. You save $1500+.