Toyota Prius

Yes. It saves tons of money in gas, better value than its competitors and it's dependable. What more can I say?

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Well no, I don't own one, but carefully checked it out before buying another corolla a couple of months ago.

I figured I'd have to own the car for quite a few years to make up the difference in price with the gas savings.

It depends tomkitten, on how much you drive.

Do the math....

The price difference between the 2 vehicles is let's say $6K.
Assume $4 gallon gas

I know my Corolla gets 35mpg.
The prius claims 60 mpg, but real drivers say it's more like 45mpg

If you drive 12,000 miles a year, it will take 2.6 years to make up the purchase price, IF you maintain 60mpg in the prius.
If you drive 12,000 miles @ 45mpg...it would take you 4.9 years

If you only drive 10,000 miles a year, the time in years extends to 12.5 years @ 60mph to make up the difference.....23.4 years if you get 45mpg.

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Toyota Prius
I'm less interested in the tons of money in gas savings than in the tons of pollution in exhaust savings.

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I think your state offers rebates Tom, so you might want to check into that. It makes the price more competitive. I think Chai's 45 mpg is what you should expect if you are doing city driving. One friend claims she gets the 60mpg when she does all the little gas saving tips and is on open road. I know a few people with them and overall they seem very happy. The only complaints I hear are about the lack of carry-on space and the fact that they are frequently stopped by people who ask them "how do you like your Prius?".

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Actually GW, you would get better mileage in the city than on the open highway. Under 35 mph, you use no gas at all.

Your friend gets great gas mileage because she's so careful. I'd be careful too, as would tomkitten.

However, from my observations while driving...I set my cruise control coming to work at 55 for a 10 miles stretch of road, and I don't ever pass anyone, including prius's While driving around town, it's really hard to stay under 35 mph, it's just too slow, especially since you can't use cruise control. Even there, I've never passed a prius, but there sure have passed me, over 35, using gas.

Unfortunately, I think a lot of people feel they are doing so great buying a prius, but don't do most of the things that make it a gas/pollution saving vehicle.

Here's an ARTICLE from a site call treehugger about a team who got 110 mpg....but look what they had to do to acheive it....it would be ridiculous to expect anyone to drive like that, wouldn't even be safe.

So, re the pollution, that would be directly related to the amount of gas you save....which, overall I don't find impressive in real world usage when considered with the monetary cost.

If I looked, I'm sure I could find many ways to make a bigger impact with the $6,000 worth of resources.

tomkitten, if you are commited to driving mostly under 35mph, coasting as much as possible, and don't mind your impact spread over several years, then a prius is for you.

Don't get me wrong, cool idea, I just think it's not the best way to make an impact.

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Chai wrote:

Actually GW, you would get better mileage in the city than on the open highway. Under 35 mph, you use no gas at all.

I probably did get that flipped around in my head. More coffee - NOW!.

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I get 37-40 mpg in my corolla and it is 5 years old and 82,000+miles

I think it is better then the prius because -

$8,000- in sticker cost
Cheaper to insure
Cheaper up keep
If I miss an oil change , I dont drop gas mileage like crazy
It is a stick, so I can coast A LOT easily
More trunk space
( Less passenger space though)

And the amount of environment damage is minuscule in comparison
The only reason the prius does better is because it forces you to use less gas
If you drive like a sensible person, the corolla performs the same and STAYS the same in the long run.

I know 3 people who have had their prius for around 4 years and they do not stay at the same gas mileage/performance over a long period of time.

But I do not own one, so I do not know how true those statements are NOR do I know if it is from basic care to the vehicle or not. It is just hear/say

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Feds as well as state gives you rebate...helping to defray the costs. Feds rebate was $2000 or $2200. States rebate varies.

Also you are allowed to drive in HOV lane in many states..saving more gas:

Hyperlink to Toyotoa Prius/Other Hybrid incentive and rebate info:

http://www.hybridcars.com/local-incentives/region-by-region.html

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Re the HOV lanes....the drivers over there are going faster, over the more efficient 55 mph.

Wouldn't you be better off gas wise, staying in the slow lane poking along at 55?

In fact, every day I get home a lot sooner than most people, driving in the right lane. Everyone thinks they're so smart trying to drive in the fast lane, and end up sitting in traffic. Meanwhile, I'm in the far right, cruising past them, only merging into a more leftardly lane when I have to, like when the lane I'm in is an exit lane.

Out of curiosity ragman, what is the average mileage you get?

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That really depends entirely on the traffic and the density where you drive. Here in Albany, NY area is clearly not the same as Metro-NYC, LA or Chi-town or Hot 'Lanta.

My Prius's gas mileage 45-55 mpg from my type of traffic and driving style as compared to former 25 mpg saves me over $40 week. Multiply that times 52 wks ...over $2000. Paid for the difference vs Corolla in about 2.5-3yrs. and it's far less polluting and far more fun.

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FYI -

The last time I filled up my corolla, it was just about 10 gallons.

I drove 375 miles before having to fill again, another 10.

That's with running the a/c almost every day, using cruise control, and not speeding.

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Mine too.

I fill up for around 35 .00 every other week. And I drive like crazy. Not fast.. just a lot.. allll over town

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oh....have to share this story.

I'm in the supermarket parking lot yesterday, and got caught in a line of vehicles at a dead standstill. No one could go back, or forward, of the, oh....7 vehicles "trapped", 4 of them were SUV's.

The reason for the holdup?

An SUV, the first in the line, was waiting for a car to back out, to take it's parking space....couldn't see the car, but could tell the SUV wasn't about to budge....I mean, no sense in walking 30 more feet, is there? Rolling Eyes

Apparantly the guy in the parking space was REALLY taking his time. Finally, horns started blowing, so SUV #1 finally moved up when another space opened.....then vehicle #2 and #3 tried the same thing, waiting for the guy in the space to get the hell out....more cars are piling up behind me, probably another 5....

Anyway, the people in front of me finally gave up, and I got a chance to sprint around, taking a place right across from the culprit.

You guess it. A prius.

This prius made a bunch of SUV's and regular cars, all burn their gas for at least 5 minutes, because, as I could see when I got up there, he kept putting his car in reverse, realize he needed to do something, put it in park, back in reverse, etc.

Of course everyone could have found another space without bothering to stop, but it was so tempting. You pull up, seeing the backup lights, think "oh good" wait a minute, give up,......next. The rest of us couldn't help it if the people way in the front forced us to stop, and become trapped.

dick wad.

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One of my friends has it and he just loves it. The self parking is soooooo cool.

Having said that, I would *never* buy one

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prius and similar "fuel sippers" - as well as bicycles and walking shoes :wink: - sound more appealing all the time .
or perhaps consider having an oil-well drilled in your backyard ?

i also read that some "eco friendly" boaters have had some liposuction done to fuel their boat for an ocean voyage .
what's next ?
hbg

Quote:

Opec warns oil could reach $200

Opec, the oil producing cartel, has warned that the price of crude could keep rising to reach $200 a barrel.

Opec president Chakib Khelil blamed the falling value of the US dollar, which makes other assets, including oil, more attractive for foreign investors.

His comments came as oil prices hit a fresh high, just below $120 a barrel.

Prices were lifted by a strike at a UK refinery that disrupted North Sea production, and supply problems in Nigeria due to pipeline attacks.

BP shut down a key North Sea pipeline at the weekend after staff walked out of the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland in a two-day strike over pensions.

Providing a third of UK oil output, the closure of the Forties pipeline has raised fears about supply shortages.

US light crude hit a high of $119.93 a barrel before edging down to finish at $118.79.

In doing so, it passed the previous record mark of $119.90 a barrel achieved on Friday.

In London, Brent crude ended at $116.74 a barrel after earlier rising to a peak of $117.51 a barrel on Monday.

Disruption

The BP-run pipeline from the Forties oil fields in the North Sea relies on steam and electricity from the Ineos refinery at Grangemouth.

Grangemouth's closure has caused up to 70 platforms in the North Sea to either shut down or reduce production of oil, resulting in the loss of 700,000 barrels of oil a day.

Although BP has said it can re-open the pipeline within 24 hours of the strike's end on Tuesday, it will take weeks for the refinery to return to full capacity.

"It will affect supplies from the North Sea and that has a potentially significant impact," said David Moore, a commodity strategist with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

'Perfect storm'

The trouble at Grangemouth is the latest spur to an already febrile oil market which has seen prices rise nearly 25% this year.

Regular attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria, the weak US dollar and general concerns about the ability of supply to meet global demand have underpinned the market this year.

Oil producers' body Opec has shown itself disinclined to raise quotas to curb rising prices.

The dollar's decline has also made dollar-denominated assets such as oil and other commodities relatively cheap for some investors.

"We have got a confluence of a number of events that have really disrupted crude oil supply and that's what's driving oil to a new record," said Victor Shum, from energy consultants Purvin and Gertz.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/7370441.stm

Published: 2008/04/28 21:10:29 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

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Toyota Prius

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