I've been thinking about buying one. Are they any good! There must be pros & cons & any input would be appreciated. Ta. :)
intrade,
May 6, 7:51am
waste of time unless you modify them to run longer on electric.
rbrassey,
May 6, 7:54am
I've driven Honda Civic hybrids and they're surprisingly peppy as well as being economical.I'd definitely consider one of them at the right price on driveability/economy - don't know about maintenance of older cars.
gilligan2,
May 6, 8:21am
Not as economical as you might think.
sw20,
May 6, 8:26am
You can buy a shit ton of petrol for the difference between a new Prius and a new Corolla of the same size.
chris_051,
May 6, 8:27am
Save 40 grand and buy a 10 y/o Peugeot 406hdi and get the same fuel economy.
stevo2,
May 6, 8:31am
Rented one in Aussie for 4000km. Averaged 5lt/100km. Went well and had more than enough pep. Was a good roomy comfortable car but looks a bit Nanarish to me. The drivers window was to high for those of us who like to drive with an arm on the windowsill. haha Cheers Stevo
morrisman1,
May 6, 8:35am
Yes - If you are obsessed with your personal image and feel society will shun you unless you have a 'green' car
No - If you have any logic in yourself because you will realise they are an expensive fashion item with little functional improvement, plus the environmental cost of their complex production outweighs any environmental benefit that the better fuel consumption will give. They will have increased maintenance cost over a conventional vehicle and you can rule out towing with it.
stevo2,
May 6, 8:37am
I liked it because I could "sneak up" on pedestrians unheard and toot the horn. Mrs Stevo growled at me every time hahahahah Cheers Stevo
40wav,
May 6, 8:37am
You could get all ironic and squeeze a 6.5 L V8 in one. It would be a great sleeper.
bigfatmat1,
May 6, 8:44am
uneducated opinion
bigracket,
May 6, 8:44am
LOL @ Stevo
morrisman1,
May 6, 8:51am
Please explain where I have gone wrong. I dont mind being told Im wrong but I always ask for reason why
bigfatmat1,
May 6, 8:57am
Little functional improvement, environmental production cost, increased maintenance. I'm to tired to explain Ill offer you a explanation tomorrow on these points. I am currently studying hybrid vehicles unit standards to further my knowledge in my trade
morrisman1,
May 6, 9:05am
little functional improvement - they arent that much more efficient than a modern turbo diesel and certainly not on the open road.
Environment production costs - you dont think the extra copper, nickel, and everything associated with the extra electronics just falls out of the sky raining baby seals and candyfloss do you! It costs OIL, POLLUTION while mining and refining these materials.
Increased Maintenance - You add components you add maintenance. Those batteries are not ever lasting. There is also the electric motor and tricky transmission to take care of (if the electric motor is any good it may not need touching, i realise that). Specialised mechanics are required increasing costs of repairs.
berg,
May 6, 9:16am
Look into the "fine print" about the Toymoter Prius and it's carbon footprint. Sure, it might be "green" when you are driving it but that battery pack has a creation and disposal footprint that is huge.
speedwayfan1,
May 6, 10:29am
Only dicks drive Prius' or other 'I'ma clean, green car that doesn't harm the environment'.
Morrisman is onto it. A modern diesel is the better choice I think.
bigfatmat1,
May 6, 7:28pm
Im not going toargue about this but you really do need to study the the footprint of the prius the highlander the civic insight ect. Sounds like your information you have is very old one sided and you only listen to critics.
There is actually less maintenance on them batteries do not need servicing and often have 10+ year warranties. ac motors are electric induction type cheaper to manafacture than a dc and should require no maintenance the series hybrid has no direct drive between engine and gearbox this making the engine manafacture cheaper as its lighter weight and not as strong as a ice car needs to be. aAso it operates at an optimum rev range cosistantly it has 1/3 the co2 emisions of a normal ice because of this.All parts are recylcable a large portion is made from recycled scrap. Now take a look at ya diesel counterpart in heavy traffic stop start stop start the hybrid would run rings around in fuel economy highway driving 5l per 100 and partial zero emmisions. Now lets take into account production of diesel that creates a bigger footprint than petrol.
of course they have more electronics ect typical of any newer car you would think nothing of replacing ya computer every few years or tv. Yet as soon as someone wants to contribute less emissions you say thatits not a good idea to many electrics. and the trans is not tricky quite simple. Again no direct drive means more efficiency. Now put this over a life span of a car average lifespan is 148000km in nz and it becomes around 9% greener than your diesel that requires more maintenance. Your statements are true of 2003 but not now
lovemore_mbigi,
May 6, 7:33pm
100%!
richardmayes,
May 6, 7:41pm
^^^This.
Inside they are much flasher little cars than a Corolla, but they still seem dear for what they are. You'd definitely have to be a true fanboy to buy one.
They make pretty snazzy taxis, for those who can claim the depreciation back in tax.
(And I really like that Toyota have taken the first step and moved the discussion onwards from "if we designed a high-tech fuel-saving car, would anyone even buy it!")
richardmayes,
May 6, 7:45pm
Don't listen to the haters though. (You can tell who they are.) The fuel efficiency is definitely real.
I got a Prius taxi to the interislander terminal from kelburn, and it charged up the battery so much going down Bolton St that it ran solely on electric the whole rest of the way, it didn't re-start the petrol engine at all. This is clever stuff and it's definitely the way forward IMHO, I'm just not brave enough to buy in while it's still in an embryonic (i.e. expensive) phase.
croplink,
May 6, 7:56pm
As someone who has just brought one, I can say that it has definitely cut our fuel bill by half. I don't actually give a stuff about the "footprint" as a car is a car. Just hang on to your car for a few more years/km like I do if you're worried about that.It has surprisingly good speed and torque; 1500cc and gruntier than my 2300cc Camry so towing isn't a problem at all. Not expecting any higher maintenance costs as being a Toyota it is way more reliable than most of the Aussie/Yank/Euro crap on the roads. Overall I am well impressed with it and this is from someone who was pretty dubious beforehand.
fiatracer,
May 6, 8:26pm
Evo magazine [or possible Car magazine, both UK] have run a Prius on their fleet, and reported on it monthly. They NEVER got anywhere near the claimed fuel economy, yet there's a number of modern diesels out there that will match or better the Prius figures, while being a much better car by all accounts.
gman35,
May 6, 8:34pm
Just look at them , No.
pandai,
May 6, 9:00pm
If I wanted a fuel-efficient car I'd consider the Honda Insight as well.It's more of a shopping cart than the Prius though, there isn't a tonne of room in the back seat and it's not particularly well-equipped nor fast, but it's quite a lot cheaper than a new Prius too.
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