Just an fyi, you can't mock me more than I mock myself, so mock if you must.
I'm soliciting info from the well informed group here. I need a DD that can handle 85 - 90 miles a day at the lowest $/mile.
Been looking at used Priuses, (Prii?) I know at some point, ~150k miles, they need either a new battery, or cells replaced. I figure $3500 from what I can google.
Fuelly has a database of 4000+ cars, and they average 44 mpg.
Anyone have any experience with these things? I figure to spend a hundred bucks on limo tint for the whole car, so no one can see me.
Get a Sentra with 6-speed stick. The base 2.0 version. My brother's been averaging 30mpg over the past 1 1/2 yrs, and maintenance is simple. Fun to drive, too.
get a VW Diesel... or if you are the buy American type... one of those Chevy Cobalt things... they are available with a Diesel...
I'm not against Hybrids.... just like most conservative guys.. can't stand a Prius due to all the AHoles that drive them... don't become an AHole in a Prius...
Honda Civics run high 30s to around 40 or so mpg...
Just an fyi, you can't mock me more than I mock myself, so mock if you must.
I'm soliciting info from the well informed group here. I need a DD that can handle 85 - 90 miles a day at the lowest $/mile.
Been looking at used Priuses, (Prii?) I know at some point, ~150k miles, they need either a new battery, or cells replaced. I figure $3500 from what I can google.
Fuelly has a database of 4000+ cars, and they average 44 mpg.
Anyone have any experience with these things? I figure to spend a hundred bucks on limo tint for the whole car, so no one can see me.
Civic or a Corolla. 35+ MPG, lower purchase price and both will run to 250K without major issues.
If that's all the value you give your life, any chitt box will do, @ $2.50, a gallon I value and my well being more than the 10 bucks that you are talking about saving per day. Your talking a savings of $300 dollars a year, I just don't see how you can see any savings if you spend $24,000 to buy a Prius.Over driving any thing used that get 20 miles per gallon.
If that's all the value you give your life, any chitt box will do, @ $2.50, a gallon I value and my well being more than the 10 bucks that you are talking about saving per day. Your talking a savings of $300 dollars a year, I just don't see how you can see any savings if you spend $24,000 to buy a Prius.Over driving any thing used that get 20 miles per gallon.
This is the answer to a question that shouldn't have been asked...
Consider this. A non hybrid econo box is going to get mileage in the high 30's, so the prius will save you ~100 gals a year at best.
At $2.50/gal it will take you 14 years or 327600 miles to make up the difference of the cost of the battery replacement/repair. Which means you'll never be ahead because you'll need to replace the batteries every 7 years.
Hybrid's are a feel good vehicle, not a smart way to save money on your commute.
Friends don't let friends drive Priuses. But if you have to have one, put an NRA bumper sticker on it to piss of the smug tree huggers that typically drive them.
I don't get why it matters what kind of car a person chooses to drive. A Prius will get great gas mileage, what's not to like about that? I do agree that there are other cars that might make more sense economically. But I'm sure not going to dislike someone for driving a Prius. I recently bought a Subaru Forester and did receive some crap from people over that. But I don't care. Averaging 32 mpg which is way better than the 15 mpg I get with my truck.
I don't get why it matters what kind of car a person chooses to drive. A Prius will get great gas mileage, what's not to like about that? I do agree that there are other cars that might make more sense economically. But I'm sure not going to dislike someone for driving a Prius. I recently bought a Subaru Forester and did receive some crap from people over that. But I don't care. Averaging 32 mpg which is way better than the 15 mpg I get with my truck.
Stop whining. You were given fair warning about that Forester commie-mobile.
Consider this. A non hybrid econo box is going to get mileage in the high 30's, so the prius will save you ~100 gals a year at best.
At $2.50/gal it will take you 14 years or 327600 miles to make up the difference of the cost of the battery replacement/repair. Which means you'll never be ahead because you'll need to replace the batteries every 7 years.
Hybrid's are a feel good vehicle, not a smart way to save money on your commute.
This...
I"d be looking for a VW jetta diesel etc... hybrids are a total joke and waste.
As mentioned, the ford focus is a remarkably efficient car, actually drives a bit sporty, and is nicely put together. GF has one; for the the $26k or so it was new, it's a hell of a car. I'd buy one myself for commuting.
I don't know where you live so these may not be legal but the Kei trucks are awesome, my Subaru gets 45+ mpg, I drive anywhere from 20-200 miles a day and it does 75% of what i do amazingly well. Here is a car and drive write up on them Car And Driver Kei Truck
Cool part is they are 4wd, have a low range, and some even have locking axles, basically 50% economy car part 50%ATV, and 100% reason for your friends to make fun of you, but I have busted headlight deep snow drifts, followed ATV's down nasty trails, then driven home with heat and a radio. The biggest down fall I have had is my 100lb Airdale doesn't fit in the cab, so I had to get him a chain and harness to ride in back. But I have put a litte more than 200k KM on mine and she now uses some oil but I found and engine for $500.00 or and there is some guy in Canada that does a diesel conversion from the old 2 stroke reefer units off of a semi.
Friends don't let friends drive Priuses. But if you have to have one, put an NRA bumper sticker on it to piss of the smug tree huggers that typically drive them.
Turn in your man card.
I saw one up near Kalispell with an 870 in a window rack.
A couple of years back, I drove a prius on a 600 mile trip and got about 46 MPG. Decent driving vehicle with poor ground clearance. Not many cars can equal that fuel efficiency; whether it offsets the cost of batteries is another question.
I don't get why it matters what kind of car a person chooses to drive. A Prius will get great gas mileage, what's not to like about that? I do agree that there are other cars that might make more sense economically. But I'm sure not going to dislike someone for driving a Prius. I recently bought a Subaru Forester and did receive some crap from people over that. But I don't care. Averaging 32 mpg which is way better than the 15 mpg I get with my truck.
My experience has been that most Prius drivers choose the car to make a social/political statement. If they'd put more effort into math in school instead of liberal arts, they'd realize that as an economic choice it is not the best as fuel consumption is but one of many costs related to owning and operating a vehicle.
Much easier to say only commie [bleep] drive Prius, but some people need it spelled out.
Economicst have studies the Prius and discovered it's the most over priced of all the hybrids. Eco nuts buy the Prius because of it's unique looks, to single to everyone they are an environut, and on average pay $4500 more for the privilege.
If you are trying to pick up hippy chicks in Boulder, get the Prius, if you want the best value in a daily driver pick a hybrid that looks alike a normal car.
I have a Prius company car; some of my coworkers have Civic hybrids. I get the best mileage (avg. 46 on rural roads). It drives okay. I would prefer the civic because it seems more like a real car, not a go cart. My buddy says he likes my car better because it seems to have more power. None of us have had any mechanical issues, but they are hard on tires. I am about to get my second replacement set at 75k miles and my friend is about to get his third set of replacements at 100k.
You can look at that high daily mileage thing another way. If you are going to be spending that much time in the car then be in a car that you enjoy driving.
I can recall when people were paying a $3000 premium for the Prius back when they were in short supply. The rationale was that when gas is $5 per gallon the value of these cars will be even higher.
I paid $165/gallon last fillup.
Many of the other cars mentioned can do something besides just get you there. Personally I'd be embarrassed to be driving a Prius.
Kinda depends on what kind of driving you do as well. Drove a Ford Fusion hybrid for over a year, it got optimal mileage doing city driving, around 40 mpg. Mileage dropped into mid to high 30s with highway driving. Hybrids work best at low speeds. If I were doing a lot of highway speed driving, especially anywhere hilly, I wouldnt go with a hybrid.
I drive a Prius at work quite a bit, also a Chevy Volt. The Prius is a good car at all speeds. Mileage is amazing. It feels much better built than the Volt, which I would actually like to have myself. They are low-slung and meant for pavement,obviously,but they handle very well and are quite comfortable. There is nothing slow or pokey about them. Only thing I don't like a lot is the view out the back window, which is somewhat restricted and feels small.
If your need is primarily to haul humans on pavement,they are tough to beat. One of our largest taxi companies has scores of them, and I'm sure they did the math.
Are you doing your 90 miles a day on clear FWYs or in traffic. If in traffic a Prius might make sense because of the regenerative braking. Like taxis.
HWY's not so much.
This.
Hybrids are great for city and other stop-and-go driving, because they reclaim kinetic energy with regenerative braking, whereas standard cars just waste it as heat.
But on the highway, you have a less-efficient power train (gas to mechanical to electric to mechanical is less efficient than just gas to mechanical), more weight, more complexity, and more expense than a small standard car.
If you're commuting on the highway, get a gas or diesel car. Only if you're commuting in a city does a hybrid make sense.
No way I would ever buy another hybrid. One daughter had the civic and the other has a prius. There Forte is in town driving not highway. I have a V6 accord and get 36 mpg hwy. The other daughter has the 4 cyl accord and gets 40. You have $2000 for the catalytic converters and almost $2000 for the batteries. No way to offset that cost with 10mpg.
Its been a while, but I saw something on the Green Footprint on a Prius...
When the manufacturing costs and battery are factored in and then the disposal of the battery, when depleted... a Prius was one of the highest carbon footprint of any vehicle on the road....
once again, Stupid TreeHuggers...
can't stand them but have to admit, when down in Phoenix, there are zillions of them as cabs... in that environment, they make a lot of sense....kinda like the Buck Rodgers version of the old Checker Cabs of days goneby...
The only way you'll see an advantage with a Prius is if you're doing lots of city driving once getting to the city.
They do NOT get better mileage going down the highway. If you do 55mph you'll get close to what they advertise. But you're not going to do 55mph so you end up with a POS that doesn't get any better mileage than any other modern day 4 banger.
They're built for inner city commuting/driving. Not highway use. They're a complete waste of fugking money.
a prius is Ok but, if you have a flat tire and are sitting along the side of the road, Bikers will stop, steal your birkenstocks and eat all of your tofu sandwiches.
Drive a Prius and see how you like it. Then go drive a VW Jetta TDi. If you can tell the difference and want a car that's fun to drive, buy the VW.
Word among sports car buffs is that the Prius is really boring to drive and that the handling sucks. But a lot of people don't care or can't tell the difference. Whatever turns your crank
I just traded my wife's Jetta TDi for a new VW Beetle. She's wanted one all her life. It's fun car to drive but is essentially a two passenger car... plenty of room in the back seat as long as you don't have legs.
Since VW got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, emissions wise, you can probably get one at a big discount right now. That doesn't effect the quality of the car... they just got caught...
I'd rather hit a body appendage on an anvil with a ball-peen hammer than be seen driving a Pius... Hyperbole aside, it is a complete waste of money for all the reasons stated.
I put 95K Mi on a work provided Prius in ~2yrs and I hated it for every single inch!! Less than 10K of that was in town. The visibility is terrible, 3-4 bad blind spots. Interstate here is 75MPH, so everyone pretty much drives ~80MPH. @ that speed I averaged 40-42 in the summer and ~2MPG less in the winter. I can recall one VERY cold trip from Fargo to Billings where the ambient was -15 down to -22F. I had a choice, clear windshield, or warm feet, but I couldn't have both. I got under 30MPG that trip of ~1300Mi round trip. The traction control algorithms worked well on wet roads but sucked sweaty donkey balls in snow/ice and there is no way to disable the TC. On the highway the wind noise is REALLY LOUD.
I could drone on for PAGES, but the jist would be, don't do it.
I will add that I didn't ever have any service issues. Gas, oil, tires, never hit the shop for anything else.
I'd rather hit a body appendage on an anvil with a ball-peen hammer than be seen driving a Pius... Hyperbole aside, it is a complete waste of money for all the reasons stated.
Worried about looks of waht you drive is vain. Could care less.
But not driving it for the waste of money is more than reason enough.
Drive a Prius and see how you like it. Then go drive a VW Jetta TDi. If you can tell the difference and want a car that's fun to drive, buy the VW.
Word among sports car buffs is that the Prius is really boring to drive and that the handling sucks. But a lot of people don't care or can't tell the difference. Whatever turns your crank
I just traded my wife's Jetta TDi for a new VW Beetle. She's wanted one all her life. It's fun car to drive but is essentially a two passenger car... plenty of room in the back seat as long as you don't have legs.
Since VW got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, emissions wise, you can probably get one at a big discount right now. That doesn't effect the quality of the car... they just got caught...
Hmm, I believe someone else mentioned this option.. LOL. Wish I could find a used one locally for reasonable...
I'd rather hit a body appendage on an anvil with a ball-peen hammer than be seen driving a Pius... Hyperbole aside, it is a complete waste of money for all the reasons stated.
Worried about looks of waht you drive is vain. Could care less.
But not driving it for the waste of money is more than reason enough.
Toyota claims they built the Prius to last 180000 miles. At 4.00 gas you have to drive one 300000 miles to break even over their standard gas model. Do the math. ED K
I'd rather hit a body appendage on an anvil with a ball-peen hammer than be seen driving a Pius... Hyperbole aside, it is a complete waste of money for all the reasons stated.
Worried about looks of waht you drive is vain. Could care less.
But not driving it for the waste of money is more than reason enough.
Yeah, and?...
Was using your quote to say, why worry about the looks, worry about real reasons. Similar to what you said, less the vanity part.
If the looks of the car got 75 mpg, cost less, was reliable, had a long life span, I"d drive a prius in a heartbeat. Or a subaru etc...
We have a standard Hyundai Sonata our 2nd and both avg around 33 mpg. The thing i dont get about a Prius is over the course of 100k mi it will save you about 700 gal of gas or around $2200 over our Sonora Since a Prius costs about $4-$5 k more than I gave for my hyundai I fail to see the savings plus my sonata is much more roomy than a Prius. A couple of ladies I know have Prius ' though and they do like them and seem to not have any problems.
I would take a look at the smaller Hyundai Elantra as they get even higher mileage than the sonata and have about the same interior room as the Prius then do the arithmetic
I am about to get my second replacement set at 75k miles and my friend is about to get his third set of replacements at 100k.
Because they put undersize tires on it to increase mileage, but the weight is high for the size of the car because of the battery packs. We rented a 2012 Altima a few year ago to go in to NYC for the day. Ran 75mph all the way out and back, stop and go in the city, then ran up to Watkins Glen for the vintage races on Sunday. 34mpg for the weekend, comfort in spades, loads of room, good handling. And an Altima will run 250k miles without real issues.
I am about to get my second replacement set at 75k miles and my friend is about to get his third set of replacements at 100k.
Because they put undersize tires on it to increase mileage, but the weight is high for the size of the car because of the battery packs. We rented a 2012 Altima a few year ago to go in to NYC for the day. Ran 75mph all the way out and back, stop and go in the city, then ran up to Watkins Glen for the vintage races on Sunday. 34mpg for the weekend, comfort in spades, loads of room, good handling. And an Altima will run 250k miles without real issues.
My wife's Altima averaged 38MPG.
And if I didn't measure it myself, I'd have not believed it.
I am about to get my second replacement set at 75k miles and my friend is about to get his third set of replacements at 100k.
Because they put undersize tires on it to increase mileage, but the weight is high for the size of the car because of the battery packs. We rented a 2012 Altima a few year ago to go in to NYC for the day. Ran 75mph all the way out and back, stop and go in the city, then ran up to Watkins Glen for the vintage races on Sunday. 34mpg for the weekend, comfort in spades, loads of room, good handling. And an Altima will run 250k miles without real issues.
My wife's Altima averaged 38MPG.
And if I didn't measure it myself, I'd have not believed it.
Dave
I believe the Altima is the one's my folks got that does better than 40.
Get a Skoda Octavia Wagon TDI. Get the 4x4 version of it. Great Car to Drive, awesome mileage. Getting around 45mpg in it.
Oh wait, they don't make it in the US.
I had a VW Jetta TDI. 2006. Used it as a daily driver. Left my boat and truck at the company I worked for and drove that back and forth. Great Power and Diesels run like a top. Averaged around 42mpg in that but that was at 70mph.
If I had a choice I would get a Tesla. But they are also 100K.
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