Gyroscopic Investing

Anyone on here own a Prius? I'm looking at the 2nd generation (2004-2009) versions right now since it seems like their premiums in the used market have gone down since gas prices have gone down.

Any thoughts on them? I'm currently on a business trip and got a 2015 Toyota Prius for my rental car. I think it's pretty neat how quiet it is but I worry a bit about issues regarding the complicated design of electric motors, the actual engine, and the hybrid synergy system that holds it all together and the batteries themselves. I worry with added complexity will add to added problems but this could just be all in my head.

I also figure it then adds as a good inflation edge buying a Prius when the premium is down due to gas and if gas goes up again in the future, I'll be set. If not, I have a decent car that gets 50mpg.

I'm also wondering about pros/cons of a hybrid versus finding a car that has good gas mileage that is a non-hybrid. Ultimately I'm looking for total cost ownership, of car price + maintenance costs + gas mileage.

Thanks y'all!

How much do you drive? If you're a light driver, things change quite a bit.

My wife puts on probably 10k a year mileage-wise. For trips to see the folks and such, this would take care of that which would add maybe 1-2k per year.

There are Priuses in my general area for about $8-9k with 70-90k miles on them.

On a side note, I just think they look cool from a nerdy environmental perspective. Whether this is true or not is not the question (from digging up earth metals to make the batteries, etc.), but just good marketing.

That sounds like a superb deal to me if the Prius offers everything else you need in the way of passenger and cargo capacity.

My mom has had a 2nd gen Prius for about ten years now. She loves it. It still gets around 44-46 mpg and there have been no major mechanical issues. These cars are generally good for around 200+k miles.

Upsides...
*Great mileage
*Great reliability
*More room than most people think
*Easy to park in tight spaces.

Downsides
*They are as sexy as Richard Nixon on a Saturday night.
*Acceleration can be anemic.
*Interior layout is not the greatest.
*Comfort level (seats etc) is no better than average.
*At one time, driving a Prius was tantamount to announcing you are tree hugging left wing moonbat. I think that stereotype has faded though.

I think the basic argument for or against a hybrid comes down to how much you drive. Hybrids tend to hold their value remarkably well and they command a premium in the new car market. If your annual mileage is more or less average or below average the argument for a Prius is pretty weak. On the other hand, the farther north of the national average you are, the more a hybrid car can make sense. If you don't drive a lot I would look at a nice corolla, which still gets very respectable mileage and will cost you a lot less.

I was looking on Edmunds.com for some comparisons. Factoring out options and mileage, I'm getting the national base price for a 2008 Toyota Corolla (top model) is $6,980. A top model Prius (touring edition) is $9,094. So we're talking $2,000 difference unless you can find a good deal.

Based on fueleconomy.gov, I'm showing this comparison (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do? ... 0&id=24882)

Combined fuel economy for a Corolla, 29, versus 46 for the Prius. You'd recoup that $2,000 cost in 75,000 miles @ $2.10/gallon (which is a lot, or perhaps 7 years worth).

Plus on a sitenote, the 2008 Toyota Corolla is a forgettable design. While the Prius design is an acquired taste, you can certainly say it stands out in a crowd. The same thing can be said about the Volvo 240 station wagons, or like my father says "a refrigerator on wheels".

my wife and i have had two hybrids but never a Prius, (Honda civic and Saturn vue) the gas mileage we got was never close to the top number unless  (not the lead foot) was highway driving and very contentiously hyper-milling, city driving or having a heavy foot (accelerating like normal traffic) and the gas mileage was good but not much better than a new/newer gas only car. We never had trouble with batteries or electric, but we were starting to get subtle indicators of future electric issues around the time we sold them... Also oil change cost was much much higher and there is little to no home mechanic work you can do on them unless you are a new school home mechanic - then you would probably be willing to tackle quite a bit,  (cramped compartments full of electronics isn't my car guy thing)

All in all we enjoyed them and got our moneys worth, but ultimately the economics was probably a break even and the reliability/i cant fix it myself or afford a big fix issue always made me nervous 

I drive a Prius. I actually really like it, in spite of it being gutless in Eco mode. Make that any mode.

I consistently get between 50 and 60 miles per gallon. It's pretty cool. And it only gets better in bad traffic if you drive right. I got 70 mpg on my way home today due to stop and go freeway traffic and smart pulse and glide techniques.

My wife likes her Ford CMAX hybrid. It has gutsy acceleration. We tested the Pruis, and didn't care for it.

I personally don't care for the CMAX on-board electronics, they are fussy and confusing. But the car itself is great, very well thought out use of space, tons of headroom.

Sorry, could not resist.

http://robbreport.com/automobiles/bentl ... anne-speed

Who cares what the mileage is.  This is my daily beater ... I have a good car for the weekends. 

... M

Hmm, pretty big jump in price between 2nd and 3rd.  3rd gives you a more conventional interior and more headroom.

No one would still own the Elio-like 1st gen unless you do want to be labeled a left wing moonbat like moda!  j/k

Greg, what do you think about that Elio?

Mountaineer wrote: Who cares what the mileage is.  This is my daily beater ... I have a good car for the weekends. 

Very classy, Mr. Government Bureaucrat.

MachineGhost wrote: Hmm, pretty big jump in price between 2nd and 3rd.  3rd gives you a more conventional interior and more headroom.

No one would still own the Elio-like 1st gen unless you do want to be labeled a left wing moonbat like moda!  j/k

Greg, what do you think about that Elio?

It's actually not a bad idea if you had a regular car as your 2nd car for transporting children around and such (or for if your better half has a job as well for commuting).

I'd be very interested in a couple of things:

1.) Initial Reviews from Early adopters, and the eventually used car market with these.
2.) more important, how is the safety from a NHTSA or IIHS rating-wise. I think this is one of the big reasons at least for me for not buying a motorcycle and riding that to work (that and I'm in the northeast where it'd get pretty cold).

Perhaps this thread should be renamed to hybrids/alternative vehicles.

I'm mainly looking for opinions on having a car that gets good gas mileage, isn't terribly ugly (if it's pretty/nice stylistically that's a plus), and low price. I'm on the fence a bit about buying a car where you're buying it BECAUSE it depreciates in price fast. A good plan perhaps if you intend on driving the car into the ground but not if you want to trade it in someday.

A car that depreciates fast seems like it could in principle be sane if you buy it once most of that depreciation has already happened, and if the depreciation is due to something you don't care about. For example, minivans seem to lose value incredibly quickly, but not for any mechanical reasons that I can tell. It seems to be purely about the fashion of vehicles. They're not hot or sexy or tough or powerful. Well I don't care about that but I do like money and cargo space, and I drive so little that the poor gas mileage is irrelevant, so there's a good bargain!

http://www.moneycrashers.com/hybrid-cars-pros-cons/

This seems to be a good concise write up on hybrids. Certainly the premiums for buying hybrids is low right now due to gas being low. May be a good time for buying one.

Pointedstick wrote: A car that depreciates fast seems like it could in principle be sane if you buy it once most of that depreciation has already happened, and if the depreciation is due to something you don't care about. For example, minivans seem to lose value incredibly quickly, but not for any mechanical reasons that I can tell. It seems to be purely about the fashion of vehicles. They're not hot or sexy or tough or powerful. Well I don't care about that but I do like money and cargo space, and I drive so little that the poor gas mileage is irrelevant, so there's a good bargain!

Around 2002 I bought a top of the line 1993 Nissan Quest with 80,000 miles on it for $3,500.  I drove it for two years and sold it in 2004 with 120,000 miles on it for $2,700.  No mechanical problems of any kind during the period I owned it.  Didn't even need to replace the tires.  Wonderful vehicle.

Roomy, comfortable, safe, and great gas mileage.

My parents had a '98 Quest that they sold in 2014. Another tank of a vehicle.

Pointedstick wrote: My parents had a '98 Quest that they sold in 2014. Another tank of a vehicle.

Aha!  So L-I-B-E-R-A-L-S are the ones that buy Soccer Mom Vans!  It does sound like the Volvo of Vans though.

MachineGhost wrote:

Pointedstick wrote: My parents had a '98 Quest that they sold in 2014. Another tank of a vehicle.

Aha!  So L-I-B-E-R-A-L-S are the ones that buy Soccer Mom Vans!  It does sound like the Volvo of Vans though.

Those 1990s Quests/Villagers were a joint effort between Nissan and Ford and they built a really nice all-around vehicle.  I bought the new Quest model when it came out in 2004 and drove it for 10 years and really liked it, but it was nowhere near as well-designed as the earlier Quest model.  The biggest problem with the minivans is that they basically have a car tire on a truck chassis, which means most of them go through tires like crazy.

I bought a Honda Odyssey last year and so far it's been great.  Really nice vehicle.  I spent a lot more than $3,500 for it, though.

I ended up digging and found a good do-it-yourself thread on how to replace some parts in your big battery pack of the prius once it starts to fail. This was my biggest fear from buying a hybrid was the battery just going to garbage. I'll have to think about this some more. I do like the idea of other people thinking I'm a tree-hugging environmentalist.

http://priuschat.com/threads/gen-ii-pri ... 588/page-2