Toyota Pruis

[Chickpea]

I would love to hear from any of you that drive this car, have tested it, etc... we are very seriously thinking of buying one and would love to know your thoughts.

Thanks

 

[goofer]

Kudos to you, Chickpea. It is definitely cool to go hybred !!

 

[Smiling JOe]

Some freinds of mine bought a Prius a couple of years ago, and they love it, especially the gas mileage. One big caution is that it makes no noise when it starts, so people and pets won't quickly jump out of the way. Could be a slight hazard in that regard.

 

[John R]

get the latest model year you can afford.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Seems like I recall Toyota have a problem with some of the Prius models. A couple of good sources for consumer comments on autos are:
edmunds.com and
kbb.com (Kelly Blue Book)

 

[Chickpea]

Thanks for good info....and for web links SJ.

 

[Paula]

What's the safety of the Prius. We're in the market for a used car that is very safe (5 star ratings preferred), reliable, gas efficient. So far, the Honda Civic is coming up strong. It has better safety ratings than the Accord (5 star front and side) even though it's a smaller car. I've heard it's becaus the body of the Civic is one piece so that helps in a crash (the accord has 3 body pieces, so that makes it more vulnerable, though it's still 5 star front crash and 4 star side crash). Our daughter is going to learn how to drive this summer and I want the safest car possible as a family car (she won't get her own car).

The Prius is on our list, too. We're hoping not to get anything past a 2002, though, unless the safety is significantly better (that's the only thing that will get me to buy a newer car). And I think Honda may have a hybrid Civic (they're not going to offer the Accord Hybrid I just read this morning because it's just not selling well in North America - Prius has that market).

 

[6thGen]

Penn and Teller did a good bit on this on their Showtime show. They basically concluded that it gets about as good of milage as a Corolla, Civic, Mini, etc, but does not perform near as well. And you don't have to dispose of batteries with the non-hybrids. The Prius is more of a brand name or status symbol than a serious alternative if you put it on a pro/con list.

 

[Kurt]

People who have them love them.http://priuschat.com/forums.html

 

[Smiling JOe]

What's the safety of the Prius. We're in the market for a used car that is very safe (5 star ratings preferred), reliable, gas efficient. So far, the Honda Civic is coming up strong. It has better safety ratings than the Accord (5 star front and side) even though it's a smaller car. I've heard it's becaus the body of the Civic is one piece so that helps in a crash (the accord has 3 body pieces, so that makes it more vulnerable, though it's still 5 star front crash and 4 star side crash). Our daughter is going to learn how to drive this summer and I want the safest car possible as a family car (she won't get her own car).

Toyota Highlander and Ford Escape also come in a hybrid. The Escape is tiny and feels tiny. The Highlander and Prius are much roomier. The Civic is also tiny.

Paula, note that the safety ratings are based per category. ie- the Civic is rated in against other "small" cars, while the Accord is rated in the "mid-size" category. Also, be aware that there are two safety ratings for vehicles -- the government's and the insurance companies'. IMO, the insurance ratings are much more intensively studied, while the government's ratings are inferior. The Insurance Institute for Hwy Safety, linked above, conducts frontal offset crash tests, which I don't think the gov't does.

Search your auto's results here, and check the 2007 Award Winners.

Here are the IIHS results for the Prius.