Anyone here own a Prius?

[Javaman]

If so, what has your experience been like?

The good, the bad and the ugly?

[Jackpine Radical]

1. My stepson does, and I've ridden in it.

He loves it. Just drove it from Chicago to Eau Claire, WI & back. The mileage seems to be as advertised. It's ver quiet and you seem to glide along. Lots of high-tech gadgets & instruments, including a rear-vision camera. My personal impression of the ride is that it's not quite as good as my old Subaru Outback on rougher roads. But then Ruby Sue the Subaru (I tend to name my things) is quite a bit heavier.

[whistler162]

2. Coworker owns 2.....Likes the car....Stands up to deer hits

well, two or three have collided with her first Prius with some damage but not a lot to the car. She put a lot of mileage on her first one ad was willing to buy another one after the Toyota problems.

[happyslug]

17. Does not stand up to Suburbans that well

My Brother owns one, his first one was totaled when a Suburban hit him. The Insurance determined the Suburban was at fault, but my brother had to get a new Prius. I have ridden in it a few times, smooth ride, silent etc (But I am NOT the best judge on such things, I drive a 1995 Jeep Wrangler when I am NOT on my Bicycle).

My Brother in his Prius gets over twice the mileage I get in my Jeep, but then I drive my Five Speed Manual, 2.5 Liter, Four Cylinder Jeep at 50 mph, so I get about 22 mpg (The EPA says 18, the difference is that I do drive slow and you can see it in the miles per gallon).

My bicycle is a Cannondale with bags:

[turntxblue]

3. We have a 2008 Prius

and our experience has been all good. We love it, it gets great gas mileage, and is comfortable and easy to drive. The back seats fold down to where you can haul TONS of stuff, also. My husband was a die-hard SUV fan, and he loves it as much as I do.

[bcool]

4. Loved it until it was totalled

I had an '06, and loved it, until it was totalled in an accident. I averaged just about 50mpg, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the whiz-bang technology. The airbags worked quite well in my accident - while the car was totalled, I escaped with just bumps and bruises.

My only complaint was that it didn't have a real solid feel to it. The replacement I got for it (an '08 Civic Hybrid) has a much more hefty feel about it (and looks and drives more like a "regular" car) - although its mileage isn't quite as good as the Prius.

Bottom line - I'd buy another. The only reason I switched to the Civic was that Prii were hard to come by at the time I needed a replacement.

[NYC_SKP]

5. 2007 Touring pkg w about 80,000 miles. Love it.

Only problem was with HID headlamps, made Toyota replace after warranty due to so many complaints with them.

Seat comfort sucks, the only problem, I go used to it but had to use back supports at first.

I understand they've improved that.

Also, I can fit 10 foot lengths of building materials in it with the hatch down, so pretty happy with that.

My mileage, because I drive like a cat on speed, is usually under 40 mpg, but I've gotten 55 on some trips keeping speeds around 65.

:hi:

PS, Touring pkg has navigation and blue-tooth phone interface, indispensable for what I do. And bigger, nicer wheels than the butt-ugly standard wheels and wheel covers.

~~~~~~~~~~~

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Javaman]

11. I think you might have posted this in the wrong spot. nt

[Greyskye]

7. 2005 Prius

It's actually been the best car I've ever owned. Reliable; we've only had one issue, and that was fixed quickly.

We live in foothills, so we're always changing elevation. Even so, I get over 45 mpg. When we take it on long flatland trips, I get around 50 mpg.

Storage is excellent; with it configured to seat three, and with 2/3 of the rear seat folded down, I can pack enough for a 5 day music festival camping trip that includes way too many creature comforts.

It's a little squirrelly in high cross winds; that's probably my biggest complaint.

[GodlessBiker]

8. 2007 Prius here. Like it, but would never buy another Toyota.

[northoftheborder]

9. Love my Prius! (2009)

I use mine for suburban and urban roundabout, plus some short trips. When I had to trade in my Toyota Sienna, I wanted to downsize, but still have some cargo space. Works great, I can even put small furniture in it. MIleage less than advertised, 43 mpg on average, but still great compared to nearly anything else. It has a smooth and quiet ride, VERY maneuverable, easy for me, a small person. Have had no problems with the famous gas pedal, or any problems whatsoever; owned a year and a half; the fancy GPS is nice to have, however I have yet to take the time learn how to use it. (It is not intuitive.) The back seat is comfortable for two, but only holds three children who are not fighting!

After reading some of other posts, I remember now that it does not do well in strong winds! Too light, I suppose. That's not something we experience in Central Texas too often, but a strong norther last Christmas had me driving very slowly on the highway because of wind buffeting.

[hatrack]

10. 2001 and it's been great - just over 120K as we speak

Only two real problems to date:

(1) Violent shaking of steering column when backing at an angle (i.e. leaving an angle parking space) - fixed on Toyota's dime.

(2) Sensor failure resulting in Glowing Dashboard Indicator Of Death - also covered by warranty. The loaner was the best part of that trip to the dealership. The only thing they had left was a black Dodge Ram set up for mudding - it had a small ladder so that you could get up to the running board so that you could get up to the cab. Like driving on stilts . . .

Mixed overall mileage holding fairly steady - 40-45 winter, 45-50 summer.

[AldebTX]

12. I Love Mine

I went from a BMW 525i and $160 a month Gas bills to a Prius III and $50 a month gas bill.

The ride is good and I love the touch screen navigation on the upgrade model.

[AldebTX]

13. 2010 Model btw.

[kestrel91316]

14. A good friend is on his second Prius. He loves it, has no complaints

whatsoever about it.

[Nihil]

15. 2005 model bought with less than 1 year / 500 miles on the clock

Love it.

Great mileage - even with me being slightly heavy-footed (my wife tends
to get better MPG).

Very comfortable to drive + most spacious rear seats for that class
(I'm 6' and my sons are taller but we do fine).

I play keyboards from time to time and dropping half the back seat means
I get all of my gear in and still able to fit two passengers.

Only negatives that I can think of are the service charges and the tyres
(seems to get through them surprisingly quickly considering they are not
being driven at all hard).

Will be keeping it for a while longer (paid off and happy with it) but
would have no hesitation with replacing it with another in the future.

:hi:

(Edited because the title didn't like the less-then sign!)

[trof]

16. Love our '08. 3000 mile road trip no problem.

I'm 6'3" and very comfortable in it.
Below-the-floor 'trunk' space very handy.

[MountainLaurel]

18. Love ours

The only time it's been in the shop is when I was in an accident (bimbo in an SUV hit a stopped truck, which ran into a stopped me) and she needed body work. Otherwise, it's only been routine maintenance in the past 4 years. It's big enough to carry gardening and woodworking supplies and for us to evacuate with three dogs and a cat.