Proud owner of a 2014 Prius, with 30k miles. I've been lurking on this board for a couple of months, learning about the Prius. I was either going to get a Prius, Insight, or Fit. In my neighborhood, the Prius is the most popular vehicle, by far. And all of my Prius driving neighbors recommended it. I was amused by this thread, where a Las Vegas resident claimed he dodged a bullet by not buying a Prius.- due to advice here in PriusChat. I am in a very similar situation and felt that this board convinced me to buy a Prius. I think I dodged a bullet. Thanks, PriusChat! | PriusChat I have had 3 fill ups, and have averaged a calculated MPG average of 54.3 mpg. That has been within 3 mpg of the computerized estimate, and I've been thrilled with these fuel economy figures. I have one issue that I just noticed last night. Occasionally, while driving, there's a beeping sound, like Morse Code. It happens when the radio is completely turn off, too. I've read an older thread, which kind of discussed this, without a clear solution. High Pitched Noise When Decelerating or Coasting? | PriusChat In my case, the beep happens when I hit a small bump, or when the road isn't completely smooth. How rare is this?
I'm the OP of the thread you linked. I did not wind up buying a Prius. Yes, there are lots of Prius in Las Vegas. My concerns with owning a Prius here are twofold. First, if one parks outdoors here, the interior temperature of a car can reach 140F. Those sorts of temperatures are objectively not good for the batteries in a Prius. How much degradation do those sorts of temperatures do do a battery? I have no quantitative answer to that. Of course, if you park in covered parking, this is less of a factor. The "Solar Roof" option is also said to reduce cabin temperatures when parked; this may alleviate some concerns. Second, air conditioning is a necessity in LV more often than not. A/C is a heavy burden on the Prius, and fuel economy is said to take a big hit when using the a/c to combat 110F+ ambient temps. Exactly how much? I'm not sure. Anecdotally, I have a friend who drove a Hyundai Sonata. In quest of better fuel economy, she traded it in on a Sonata Hybrid. She wound up trading that back in on a gas Sonata because in the summer, the hybrid model was getting *significantly worse* MPG than the gas model. Does that hold true for Prius? I can't say. Another part of the reason I did not buy a Prius is that I don't drive enough miles for the fuel economy of the Prius to be worth the premium over the car I wound up buying, that gets 37MPG. But that's a personal reason, and not a reason anyone else shouldn't drive a Prius. I look forward to reading about your experiences, as well as those of other folks in Las Vegas, Phoenix, etc. I may wind up with a Prius next time.
Hey egg_salad, I wish I knew you were still active here as I wanted to compare notes with you before I purchased my Gen 3. Your post really made me think twice, but I have quite a few satisfied Prius owning neighbors that convinced me. In the past (with my 1.5 liter Scion), I always had better mpg in the summer, even with the AC running at the coldest setting. I actually struggle more with mpg in the winter- probably due to the longer warm up times and winter fuel blend. Currently, with my 7-8 mile commute from a cold start in the morning, I'm averaging ~54 mpg (from the tripometer, which has been a couple of mpg optimistic, compared to hand calculations). If you're interested in seeing this summer's mpg, I'll give you my fuelly link, and we can keep in touch via pm. I agree that you'll probably save money by buying a less expensive, reliable economy car, as that was my original plan. While I ended up paying more that I intended, I'm also getting a bit more room, comfort, and some modern features. I hope I'm as satisfied a few years down the road as I am now.
On a side note, the beeping I was hearing was only for a couple of days. Fortunately, it has disappeared, so I won't worry about it.
Do you park outdoors? I'm really interested to see how the battery degrades in our heat at the 10, 15, and 20 year marks.
it won't last that long to find out. what did you buy that you are expecting to get 20 years out of, without a major expense?
I am in MS, so A/C is vital here. My MPG rises until over 90F, then slowly decreases. MS has wildly different humidity than LV, so direct comparisons cannot be made, but LV should be a lighter load at any given temp than MS. (LV goes to higher temps, I used to live in NV) The Prius electric A/C will have a smaller 'hit' than any belt driven A/C. (when temps rise above 90 F, take the car out of ECO, which limits A/C to lower speeds. Other than summer afternoons, I use ECO year round)
Of my last 3 cars, one was sold at 26 years old, one at 10 years old, and the most recent was 28 years old. The 26 year old was a 1984 Volvo 245 Diesel. I did have to replace the clutch on that one once, and it cost almost $300! The other two, a Scion and an Acura, never incurred any expenses besides normal maintenance. It kind of saddens me when people have low expectations from expensive equipment.
I was also very interested in the same thing about the batteries, probably too much so. Yes, I park outdoors but am obsessed with looking for shade. My previous vehicle was a Scion xB with the 1NZFE engine. It would be another coincidence is that was your 10 year old car.
the prius is designed for 10 years or 180k. you're fortunate to have had such good luck with your other cars. i suppose a non hybrid has the advantage of less items failing due to time instead of mileage. especially in hot climates with no liquid cooling.
Oh! Thanks for letting me know that. I do see quite a few Prius advertised for sale that are more than 10 years old and/or have more than 180k miles. I wonder who is buying them beyond their designed usefulness limits? I guess that means if a person buys a 4-year-old Prius, they should only expect 6 years of service from it. That doesn't seem like a lot of value for $14k or so. People who are interested in keeping cars for the long term may be better served with a car other than the Prius. I think I'll wait until the Corolla iM has reached an acceptable price point.
apologies, i thought we were talking about major repairs, not average lifespan. the whole car doesn't disintegrate at that point, but you should be prepared potentially to replace major items like the battery, tranny, engine, a/c compressor, various pumps, injection and etc.
Can you document where 10 year and or 180,000 miles is the designed useful life? The Return on Investment of a car depends quite a lot on the number of miles you drive a year. No Prius is a bargin if you do not drive it. I drive just over 30,000 miles a year, which yields a much quicker ROI than the industry standard 12,000 miles. For truly impressive ROI, drive 150,000 miles per year. Prius v: 300,000 miles club | Page 7 | PriusChat
I loved the toaster. Lots of room, good mpg, and very reliable. I don't disagree about the highway driving, though. Unfortunately, it didn't survive a crash. I've read that the Prius can be a bit noisy on the highway. But I find the ride to be quite nice.
