Any reason not to get a Prius?

My mom wants a new car and asked me to do the research for her. Everything I see on consumer reports et al have the Prius as the highest ranked car for things like “car i’d most likely buy again,” “customer satisfaction,” and “gas mileage.” It also seems to have astonishingly high resale value, although I understand that is because the older cars have the HOV stickers that you can’t get anymore. Basically I can’t find any reason NOT to get one, so what do you think? Is there any reason to get a different car? Also should she wait for the '09s?

I heard that the '09s will be available in more body styles.

There are a couple of threads open about how they are so quiet that sometimes people can’t hear them coming which is a problem for the blind. I don’t know how much this should factor into your decision making process though.

Does she live in an area that has very cold winters?, extremes in temperature are generally not good for rechargable batteries, and NiMH batteries do not tolerate deep-discharge well and can be damaged by overdischarge (I’d assume the Prius’s software is intelligent enough not to deep-discharge the battery pack), NiMH batteries also self-discharge when not in use, again, probably not an issue in the Prius, but something to think about

how much will the battery pack cost to replace when it’s exhausted, and what’s Toyota’s policy on replacing defective/failed battery packs?

personally, I’m not convinced hybrids are the answer, Diesel has been around much longer, and is a proven, reliable technology, if she can find a Biodiesel filling station in her area, so much the better

When it’s time to replace my Saturn Ion (which I’m getting 34 MPG City in, no idea of Highway, I don’t drive long enough on the highway to make a difference), the replacement vehicle will probably be a diesel, assuming the availability of biodiesel in my area

The thing that bothers me is there’s no 5 and 10 year history in hybrids, yet. No real evidence as to how well the battery packs, regenerative this-n-that, etc. will hold up over time, the expense and trouble of maintenance, durabilty, and all those other unknowns.

I won’t consider a hybrid until they’ve been on the market at least 10 years.

My 18-year old gasoline-engined Toyota reached 18 years, in part, because its technology is tried and true.

A friend here at work just told me her relative had to pay nearly $3000 for a replacement battery on their Toyota Prius. Granted, this is “third hand” info but I would definitely research this angle before purchase!

Plus, with all that automation, there’s more potential for things to go wrong, the Prius is more a computer-on-wheels than it is a car, it’s a driving game with ultra realistic graphics and physics modeling :wink:

speaking as a technician, and knowing how prone electronics are to expensive repairs, the last thing I’d want in my car is an ultra-complicated and ultra-sophisticated computer system (that’s why I plan on disabling my OnStar thingy after my year’s up, don’t like the possibility of “big brother” tracking me in my car, or the tattletale-inducing “black box” computer

cars should be simple, mechanical conveyances, nothing more, the Prius couldn’t be further from this concept, IMHO

…not to mention the fact that Hybrid drivers are the leading source of Smug pollution, the last thing we need are Smug storms ravaging the land… :wink:

It isn’t the time frame you’re looking for, but NY taxi Priuses have now gone well over 200K miles without needing battery pack replacement. Will potting 250K on a Prius over 15 years be different from 250K over seven years? I don’t know enough about the dynamics of battery-pack survival to answer that, but it seems like a reasonable risk to me.

Overwhelmingly, battery pack life has exceeded expectations and it doesn’t appear to be a limiting factor in car life span.

I can dig up cites if needed.

a question from somebody who knows nothing about the Prius:
Are dealers the only place you can get service? If so, what does that add to the costs of ownership over the years?

It’s a totally new kind of engine, and most mechanics are not familar with it yet. So I assume that you have to rely on the dealer, and pay dealer’s prices for parts and service. Am I wrong?

I would think that selling a used car would be more difficult if everybody thinks they are locked into the dealer for service.

Which leads me to a related question: Re-sale value for the Prius and other hybrids. I’ve read that Prius holds it’s value pretty well.But is that because it is a good car, or because of “snob appeal” ?
The Prius has a distinctive look, so everybody sees that you drive a hybrid, and you can show off you are environmentally and politically correct.
But other hybrids–like the Honda Civic-- don’t sell as well, even though they are also good for the planet. Is that because it’s not flashy, and so your friends might not notice that you own a hybrid?

In other words, are people buying the Prius (and not the Honda) more as a political/fashion statement, than because it is a good car? Snob appeal is good for a couple years and maybe 2% of the market. But when that 2% is saturated (mostly by people who will be buying new cars, not used ones), will the resale value of the Prius drop sharply? The average buyer of a used car is worried about maintenance costs, and doesn’t want to buy a used car that can only be serviced at an expensive dealer

I believe the warranty on my 2002 Prius battery is 8 years. I’ve never had any trouble with it, yet.

Looking around online, it looks like batteries as a rule don’t need complete replacing except in the event of a car accident. Something to think about, but I don’t really see that as a deal breaker.

I can’t speak for others, but I am leaning towards the Prius because none of the other hybrids can touch it in terns of gas mileage. The next best I saw was the Civic hybrid that was around 35mpg.

Full cost replacement or pro-rated?

I would research the ROI of a Prius versus an economy car of similar size. I was listening to Clark Howard on the radio and he said it wasn’t cost effective to purchase it (fuel savings versus premium cost of Prius). Certainly as the cost of fuel rises (which it is) that changes but I don’t know the break where this occurs. But the purchasing goal wasn’t specified either. Is it to buy green or be cost effective?

Really? I’ve been comparing the two lately for my own purposes and the Civic LX Hybrid was rated (on Vehix.com) as 40 city, 45 highway. The Civic has much higher JD Power rankings on everything but Drivetrain, while the Prius is rated pretty low in Comfort.

The basic price from my local dealers on a good Civi LX Hybrid was $23,2nn, while the Prius is either $25,7nn or $27,5nn, depending on model. I also noted that I wanted a dark blue car and could find SIX of the dark blue Civics locally, but not a single dark blue Prius (and it does come in that color) within 75 miles.

I think this is a good reason not to get a Prius; that it’s not worth the additional cost vs a high-mileage conventional car like a Honda Fit.

The Prius started selling in Japan in 1997.

Prius owner here. I bought my '05 used in April of last year and it is by far the best car I’ve ever owned. (used '67 Dodge Dart, new '80 Civic, new '90 Civic, used '96 Plymouth Voyager) It is comfortable, powerful enough to keep up with Atlanta freeway traffic, mileage averages 45-51mpg depending on traffic. In my year of ownership, I have never needed any maintenance on this three year old car except oil changes.

I’m a believer in hybrids for life.

What kind of driving does she do? My commute is almost all highway (35 miles each way), where the Prius gets about 45 mpg. Compare to, say a Corolla, that gets 35 mpg.
Assume 15K mi / yr (also assume my math is correct and a Corolla is comparable, which may be reaches):

Prius: 15000 mi / 45 mi/gal = 333 gal/year * $3.50 /gal = $1166
Corolla: 15K / 35 mpg = 428 gal/yr * $3.50 / gal = $1500

So I’d save about $300 / year, and at a sticker price of about $6K more, in 20 yrs I’d break even (and that’s not including mx costs).

Your mom probably doesn’t do this kind of driving, but I just wanted to point out Hybrids aren’t for everyone.

A Prius ain’t a Corolla. Sizewise, it’s more like a Camry.

The only Civic hybrid I saw on CR was the 4 cyl Hybrid CVT, which they rated at 37 mpg. The points about extra cost per gas $ savings are well taken, but I think she is more interested in reducing gas consumption than saving money as long as they are in the same ballpark.