/\ TRUTH

I have borrowed my folks prius SO MANY times to haul large things. The rear seats fold down and being a hatchback it has tons of space.

Unlike our civic hybrid which has the battery directly behind the rear seat making the seats unable to fold down and making the trunk smaller. fail and fail.

somehow, I dont think you belong in this thread...

Why not? As far as im concerned if you want mileage, you need big torquey engine and a T56. The torquey engine for low rpm cruising.

The Z28 got 28mpg with 3.73s

I keed I keed.

Back to prius talk

see exhibit A:

I am going to go and look around at a bunch of cars here pretty soon. Sentra, Corolla, Camry, Accord, Civic, Fusion, Fiesta, Fit, and a couple others I am forgetting. I still think a used Prius is looking pretty good and from the few people who actually have first hand experience, they sound like a good A to B car.

Thanks for the input guys

2.3L Focus + $230 SVT suspension = very fun car to drive.
Steering is quick and feelsome.
Wife's Focus throttle steers despite being an automatic.

YO OP,


Life is too short to own a fucking Prius.

I mean really, I would not want to waste a second of my life owning one unless I am turning a profit in some way. Or turning it into an all electric with >500 lb/ft of tq for shits and giggles.

Love,

Your friend.

If you are serious about getting a used one. Do your self one thing look for any damage under the hood. I have seen way to many of them that have front end damage (which should have totaled the car BTW) come in to the shop and have issues.

Look for the vin stickers on the fenders and hood. If they are not there run. Thease cars have a tendency to nose dive when braking hard. When this is done the wieght of the rear witht he battery rises and carries the car further than it should and slams into the object in front of it usually taking out the hood, headlights, fenders, radiator and core support. Also there is a vin stamped into the core support. Check for that as well since that the new ones will not have to numbers stamped in it. Propper rear brake adjustment on the rear brakes will help prevent this issue.

If you do get one be very carefull not to hit curbs or rest on them. Thease cars loose their alignment very easily and will destroy tires. Trust me I know. I have seen them go in as little as 18k miles. Also what ever the sticker states go about 4psi higher. this will give a better tire wear pattern. Most tires that I have replaced have been due to poor out side tire wear while the center is still fairly good. Proper inflation, slow accelration and deceleration, and regular rotation is the key to long life of thease tires.

The intake manifold below the throttle body will get oil and carbon build up in it as well. Keep and eye on it. I have seen it get dirty as fast as 20k. It all depends on how hard you drive the car.

Also the dash has a tendency to be a rattle trap. I have had to remove many dash pads and foam kit it to prevent a rattle only to induce a new one. The customer never understands this.

As mentioned earlier that the inverter coolant pump (diverter valve I think) goes bad. If you dont get a light for it and it wearing out slowly you will fry the inverter.

Also the NAVI and headunits like to go out as well.

I know I will be bashed by 18psi since I don't have one and never have but thease are my personal experiances with them on a daily basis for 4 years while working at a Toyota dealership as a mechanic. Out side of all that they are very good cars and will last. I would never own one unless some one gave it to me. Even then I would only own it long enough to sell it. Which hopefull would not be too long.

Have a great day,
Jared

P.S. My buddy loves his Yaris. He says it's a great daily and even better on gas on top of that its half the price and wont have to deal with the above.

umm. Prius is my DD (duck.....)

never understand about Jetta TDI. every tests by magazines have shown its mpg is not even close to Prius. Jetta TDI is the same dimension as a Corolla and gets the SAME mileage. I will get you the links for those less informed if you must. AND diesel is more expensive than regular. Jetta TDI is probably one of most over-rated car on internet. few have driven it, but somehow the mpg myth never dies.

Prius is a boring car, but as an A to B car, it is a great car.

One of the reasons I don't like jetta tdi myself so much is because a good friend of mine had one (mark4) and had nothing but problems with it. Too much shit to list, he was ready to drive it off a cliff when he finally traded it in.

I honestly don't know why people here love them so much. Maybe their experience (or for most LACK THEREOF) with them differed greatly from my friends.

this is Consumer Reports test. same magazine, both automatic model. tested mpg and performance:

Jetta TDI vs. Corolla

0-60
9.8 vs. 9.9

1/4 mile
17.5 vs. 17.6

overall mpg
33 vs. 32

150 miles trip
39 vs. 39

length
179 vs. 179

width
69 vs. 69

height
58 vs. 58

wheelbase
102 vs. 102

and here are pictures of Corolla and Jetta (quick, tell me which is which), I never understood about Prius vs. TDI, it should be Corolla vs. TDI. don't forget TDI costs a lot more than a Corolla

Road and Track tested in Los Angeles:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/co...reality_page_3

Prius vs. TDI

Easy suburban
57 vs. 41

Suburban sprawl
67 vs. 39

Mixed suburban
62 vs. 43

Canyon driving
41 vs. 31

Freeway
54 vs. 45

Dreaded commute
58 vs. 47

LA "4"
50 vs. 32

Cruise control A/C off
57 vs. 53

Cruise control A/C on
56 vs. 49

overall trip
54.5 vs. 42.7
__________________

Consumer Reports tested Prius at 44mpg overall, TDI at 33mpg overall.

TDI
city - 23mpg
hwy - 47mpg
150 miles trip - 39mpg
overall - 33mpg

Prius
city - 32mpg
hwy - 55mpg
150 miles trip - 53mpg
overall - 44mpg

no comparison lol.

I can see it now: they all come in and say that these tests are invalid or something, and that in real world driving they get eleventybillion per mile on the jetta.

disclaimer: not saying Prius is a better car than TDI, I would take a TDI over Prius on a track. But just tired of TDI's mpg myth.

http://motortrend.automotive.com/142...dsg/specs.html
Motortrend overall
Prius - 37.3mpg
TDI - 28.6mpg

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showpost.p...22&postcount=1
Motorweek tested
Prius - 49.2mpg
TDI - 36.2mpg

http://www.greencarreports.com/blog/...golf-gathering
interstate
Prius - 48.3mpg
TDI - 39.5mpg

Rural
Prius - 60.1mpg
TDI - 44mpg

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fuelec...mktid=cj260233

backroad
Prius - 47.2mpg
TDI - 41.2mpg

City
Prius - 48.7mpg
TDI - 31.6mpg

highway
Prius - 47.4mpg
TDI - 40.6mpg

I'd laugh my ass off if someone actually took a prius onto a race track:giggle:

I think it started in europe, with the polo. Smaller engine with no turbo gets 70mpg apparently. Somehow Americans didn't understand what a polo was, and figured they meant Jetta.

WTF was Motor Trend doing to get 28.6 MPG from a TDI? Burnouts? lol..

The worst mileage I've been able to squeeze out of mine was 33, driving like a maniac to and from post in Texas. The TDi is fun to drive in its own way, that low-end torque is not something I'm used to getting from any 4-cylinder.. and it's not terrible at handling, either. Can't say either about a Prius.

I guess I look at the Prius as being an appliance, where the TDi is still a car.

Ummm, no... Those things are piles of shit. No power, no handling, no comfort, no space, no safety, not even that good on fuel economy for all the trade offs. My friends future wife drives one and with only 15k miles, its already falling apart. Rattles, squeaks, and a trans that is already crapping out. Aside from those legit reasons, I fucking HATE THEM! They are retarded for 99% of the roads in America. In an old European city with narrow roads and a short commute, I can sort of understand. But here, with high speed highways and longer commutes... stupid.

I dunno, I'd take that one with the hyabusa engine in it. That's about as close to an inclosed 4 wheel motorcycle as you can get.