That Prius is ...How Much?

[carnageehw]

Originally Posted by bronsin

Yes the Prius has in fact proven to be durable and dependable. In spite of dire predictions to the contrary.

But I wonder if you could comment on my calculations. They show a Prius will only save $2000 in gas per 100k miles versus a Yaris. Yet it will cost you $10,000 more to buy a Prius than a Yaris.

What do you make of that?

I think it totally depends on where you drive. If you drive in the city a lot, you will get less than 40 in the Yaris, and get way higher than 50 in the Prius. I get 56-60mpg city in my Fusion. The Prius has a higher MPG rating than the Fusion.

And then there IS the higher class. A Prius is more high end than the Yaris, and the Fusion higher class than the Prius. So that's where the money goes.

But in general, if gas mileage is your main concern, I may not recommend a hybrid over a subcompact car. It mainly depends on where you drive, and how often.

For me though, I drive 50,000km a year, mainly city with a ton of parking and slow maneuvers. The amount of gas I save is great.

[bronsin]

The cars reason d' etre is high gas mileage period.

The "high end" argument just muddies the water. (as Toyota no doubt intended)

Which is fine if people want to buy into that.

The problem is the insane mentality people have today. I mean, Obama just twisted the manufacturers arms into committing that their cars will get 63 mpg by 2020 or something? Thats crazy! What are these people thinking? How much is this car going to cost? My 650 cc motorcycle didnt get 63 mpg! Is it going to be like "carbon credits" where no one makes a car that gets 63 mpg we just have to pay a "tax" because ours doesnt? Is it going to be something like the Volt or the Leaf which costs even more than a Prius?

Am I going to be the victim of all this nonsence?

Hell no Im not going quietly!

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by bronsin

The cars reason d' etre is high gas mileage period.

The "high end" argument just muddies the water. (as Toyota no doubt intended)

Which is fine if people want to buy into that.

Yes, the Prius is designed from top to bottom to squeeze the most out of every drop of gas. BUT, Toyota was also smart enough to know that the Prius needed not be a base line economy car if it was to become as successful as it has. Would the Prius get even higher MPG's if it were the size of a Yaris? Maybe, but not guaranteed (remember aerodynamics - a smaller car cannot be as sleek and rakish). The Prius has become, by far, the hybrid king because Toyota came up with the perfect formula. Affordable, but not el cheapo, just the right size for general practicality, and a look that satisfies those that want to show that they drive a hybrid.

With all that said, now that the Prius is hugely successful, Toyota is expanding it's Prius line-up with the V and C and maybe more. The C will fill that lower class spot some maybe looking for.

Spend some time on PriusChat forums and you'll learn the many reasons people have bought the Prius. Many of them not just for gas/money savings, but for the whole package. Some buy it because they love the technological aspect of it. They know that the Prius doesn't necessarily add up economically compared to a Yaris. But these people didn't want the Yaris.

A quick look at the interiors will tell you the big difference in class.

Originally Posted by bronsin

The problem is the insane mentality people have today. I mean, Obama just twisted the manufacturers arms into committing that their cars will get 63 mpg by 2020 or something? Thats crazy! What are these people thinking? How much is this car going to cost? My 650 cc motorcycle didnt get 63 mpg! Is it going to be like "carbon credits" where no one makes a car that gets 63 mpg we just have to pay a "tax" because ours doesnt? Is it going to be something like the Volt or the Leaf which costs even more than a Prius?

Am I going to be the victim of all this nonsence?

Hell no Im not going quietly!

Welcome to the world of Washington bureaucrats. Non-engineers that know nothing about cars or anything else for that matter that just yell out numbers that sound good and somehow automakers have to achieve them.

Get ready for major changes in the auto industry. Engineers have already spoken out saying cars will have to give in at least one of three areas: Price, size, or safety. Well, safety's out. And don't expect cars to shrink too much. So guess what? We're going to get a bunch of offerings like the Volt. A $41,000 compact.

[carnageehw]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Y
A quick look at the interiors will tell you the big difference in class.

The Prius interior of course, makes road head impossible. A big design flaw, imo.

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by carnageehw

The Prius interior of course, makes road head impossible. A big design flaw, imo.

Hahaha

[ROCKLAND TOYOTA]

Originally Posted by carnageehw

The Prius interior of course, makes road head impossible. A big design flaw, imo.

HEAD yes, but HAND no.....

[Flipper_1938]

Originally Posted by carnageehw

The Prius interior of course, makes road head impossible. A big design flaw, imo.

Not impossible ....uncomfortable.

[DebbyM46227]

Originally Posted by bronsin

The problem is the insane mentality people have today. I mean, Obama just twisted the manufacturers arms into committing that their cars will get 63 mpg by 2020 or something? Thats crazy! What are these people thinking? How much is this car going to cost?
Hell no Im not going quietly!

Hopefully someone with some sense will be elected in 2012 and crazy things like O-Care and 63 MPG by 2020 will be done away with.

I can't afford a $41K Chevy Volt. I'd have to make the choice between making my car payment or the mortgage payment. Or find a rich man.

[08blackyari]

Originally Posted by DebbyM46227

Hopefully someone with some sense will be elected in 2012 and crazy things like O-Care and 63 MPG by 2020 will be done away with.

I can't afford a $41K Chevy Volt. I'd have to make the choice between making my car payment or the mortgage payment. Or find a rich man.

I'd reconsider your statement a bit. Think about how little the overall gas efficiency has changed in the typical vehicle since the 1970's but how much more power we've engineered to get out of these cars. The fact is that we can get 63 mpg BEFORE 2020 and it won't cost $41k. What it will cost is common sense. People need to seriously evaluate what type of car they need as opposed to what they want. A single mom with two kids doesn't need a Ford Excursion to pick up groceries or drop kids off at soccer practice. Let's face it, most drivers are driving only themselves 90% of the time.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by 08blackyari

I'd reconsider your statement a bit. Think about how little the overall gas efficiency has changed in the typical vehicle since the 1970's but how much more power we've engineered to get out of these cars. The fact is that we can get 63 mpg BEFORE 2020 and it won't cost $41k. What it will cost is common sense. People need to seriously evaluate what type of car they need as opposed to what they want. A single mom with two kids doesn't need a Ford Excursion to pick up groceries or drop kids off at soccer practice. Let's face it, most drivers are driving only themselves 90% of the time.

I dont know if youre keeping up with current events but a Honda Accord used to get 35 mpg back in the day. I saw a sticker on a showroom floor on an Accord recently that said 16 mpg.


They must weight 3000 pounds plus.

[08blackyari]

Originally Posted by bronsin

I dont know if youre keeping up with current events but a Honda Accord used to get 35 mpg back in the day. I saw a sticker on a showroom floor on an Accord recently that said 16 mpg.


They must weight 3000 pounds plus.

Yeah, the weight issue has to change in cars in order for us to advance. We got to the moon, didn't we? People need to "right size" according to their needs and half the battle is done. I drive a Yaris because I: drive 99% of the time by myself, don't carry any sort of cargo 99% of the time. When I commute to work every morning the majority of cars have one person in them.

[rningonfumes]

Lets leave the 63mpg by 2020 out of it. That's purely political. It gets the President votes because it looks good for now. He will be out of office well before 2020 hits.

I agree with Kal-El. Even if Toyota developed it first, they couldn't expect people to pay so much for so little. I'm talking about asking people to pay for the new tech. When the Prius first came out, they couldn't put that tech in a Yaris for a Camry price with out giving something extra. Think about the first Prius, it was a Yaris only bigger with more accouterments. So it supports the idea that people aren't just chasing that mpg.

[carnageehw]

The MPG is just a really awesome side benefit. Don't think of buying a hybrid as if it's the cheapest possible gas option, look at it as buying an upscale car that's so cheap on gas, it's like buying a cheaper car.

Plus, gas is a much more daily draw on your pocket book. With financing and automatic withdrawls, paying the monthly price for a car is a simple and often affordable deal. Gas is a much more variable cost, and when budgeting, variable costs are not too nice.

[rningonfumes]

LMAO!!! HAHAHA... maybe it weeds out the ones who aren't flexible?

[freeridelectric]

Lets not forget lithium ion battery powered cars are in their infancy. If batteries were produced on the scale of the ICE they would be extremely cheap. I have 30k miles on my EV now and have not paid the for gas so 3000 dollars stayed in the American economy so far.

Nissan will own the EV market like Toyota owns the hybrid market. However 10 years from now the EV market will dwarf today's hybrid market. China and India want to drive like Americans and all the easy to get at oil is gone. The US can drill all they want but OPEC will still set the price for a barrel of oil. Only way gas will be cheap in the future is through demand destruction by means of recession. Gas restricts our economy, just as the economy gets going, high oil prices restrict it. A vicious circle I do not want to support. Flat screens that cost 10k dollars 10 years ago cost 640 dollars today and so it will be with batteries for EV's, the early adopters will pay through the nose but they are very important for to advance technology

[bronsin]

I hope there is a bright future for electric cars. They make sense. But they need to cost $15,000 (or less) not $30,000+.

Maybe the price comes down when they sell a million of them?

The Prius's price has not come down to anything reasonable.

[Cosworth]

If the current generation Yaris had a "mild" hybrid setup for city travel, it's everything that one could ask for. In the city, Prius rules over Yaris.

But, I mostly drive on the freeway, so there's no sense in buying a Prius. I routinely get 40-45mpg on the freeway here in MI.

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by Cosworth

If the current generation Yaris had a "mild" hybrid setup for city travel, it's everything that one could ask for. In the city, Prius rules over Yaris.

But, I mostly drive on the freeway, so there's no sense in buying a Prius. I routinely get 40-45mpg on the freeway here in MI.

Since I drive mostly in town I wonder would the "shut engine off at lights" help mileage all that much? I have heard it does not. Since a feature of the Prius is a thermos that keeps coolant hot, perhaps plugging a block heater in with the Yaris will do thing mileage wise.