Posted by Michelle Steiner on August 19, 2007, 8:52 am
why?
--
Support the troops: Bring them home ASAP.
Posted by Ike on August 19, 2007, 10:28 am
At various "Prius Club" events over the nearly four years since
I purchased my 2004, I've met perhaps 200 Prius owners. Another
100 or so became acquaintances because of our common technical
interest in the car. And, I've reviewed the comments of
thousands who post regularly in various discussion groups online...
A poll here cannot possibly generate a result that is more valid
than the aggregated experiences of Steiner, Brown, Macpete, et
al (and I'm part of et al).
Virtually 100% of the owners of the current edition are happy
with the car. Only the compulsive still keep mpg records. If you
throw out those who drive stupidly (for example, keeping it in
"B" thinking it will save brake wear), and others who drive OCD
(doing all those perfection techniques with Brown's data on a
Palmpilot hanging in front of them), what's left is more than
99% of owners who are all smiling. I suspect that a competent
poll of all current-edition Prius owners would generate the
highest consumer satisfaction numbers in the industry - and
perhaps in history.
The current edition averages about 45mpg. Ambient temperature,
highway/city, and terrain all matter, but not much. If the daily
transit to-from work is short, that matters a lot because the
car may never get into an efficient thermal operating range.
Shortly after buying my car, I did a careful calculation of the
total cost to drive the car from City A to City B and back on
business, in comparison to a train ticket. I think all pertinent
factors were included except for risk and depreciation, since at
that time the car was still worth more than I had paid for it.
The calculation favored the car, and it enabled stops enroute
for dining, shopping, etc.
I've owned some exotic and costly cars in my six decades of
driving (began in a Panhard!). The Prius was the best "bargain"
of all but one - a non-running Ferrari bought at auction that
was sold at 3x purchase price a month later. Of the practical
cars that I've owned - reliable cars that are suitable for trips
- the Prius is by far the winner.
My sole regret is that it is not a U.S. product.
Ike
Posted by Michael Pardee on August 19, 2007, 11:14 am
> At various "Prius Club" events over the nearly four years since I
> purchased my 2004, I've met perhaps 200 Prius owners. Another 100 or so
> became acquaintances because of our common technical interest in the car.
> And, I've reviewed the comments of thousands who post regularly in various
> discussion groups online...
> A poll here cannot possibly generate a result that is more valid than the
> aggregated experiences of Steiner, Brown, Macpete, et al (and I'm part of
> et al).
> Virtually 100% of the owners of the current edition are happy with the
> car. Only the compulsive still keep mpg records. If you throw out those
> who drive stupidly (for example, keeping it in "B" thinking it will save
> brake wear), and others who drive OCD (doing all those perfection
> techniques with Brown's data on a Palmpilot hanging in front of them),
> what's left is more than 99% of owners who are all smiling. I suspect that
> a competent poll of all current-edition Prius owners would generate the
> highest consumer satisfaction numbers in the industry - and perhaps in
> history.
> The current edition averages about 45mpg. Ambient temperature,
> highway/city, and terrain all matter, but not much. If the daily transit
> to-from work is short, that matters a lot because the car may never get
> into an efficient thermal operating range.
> Shortly after buying my car, I did a careful calculation of the total cost
> to drive the car from City A to City B and back on business, in comparison
> to a train ticket. I think all pertinent factors were included except for
> risk and depreciation, since at that time the car was still worth more
> than I had paid for it. The calculation favored the car, and it enabled
> stops enroute for dining, shopping, etc.
> I've owned some exotic and costly cars in my six decades of driving (began
> in a Panhard!). The Prius was the best "bargain" of all but one - a
> non-running Ferrari bought at auction that was sold at 3x purchase price a
> month later. Of the practical cars that I've owned - reliable cars that
> are suitable for trips - the Prius is by far the winner.
> My sole regret is that it is not a U.S. product.
> Ike
I haven't heard it put better, Ike. Because of wide variations in actual use
I've seen mileage between 33 and 61 mpg over periods of an hour or so, but
the real world average always sorts out to about 45 mpg after averaging over
thousands of miles.
An interesting data point: we just got back from a family vacation that
started in Flagstaff AZ and took us to Los Angeles. With four adults and a
large baby seat and the associated luggage we elected to take both 2002
Prius cars in the family. As you say I didn't bother keeping track of the
mileage, but on the way back we both filled up at a station in L.A. and then
refueled at the Pilot station just across the Arizona border. It was a full
dollar per gallon cheaper than the going rate in the first stations in
Needles CA, a dozen miles west, BTW. After something like 250 miles of
caravaning on the freeways of southern CA my car took $20 worth of gas and
hers took $19.50 (rounded to the nearest dime). That's about 2% to 3%
variation between them, including the vagaries of the pump shut-off. I was
surprised by the consistency.
Mike
Posted by Michelle Steiner on August 19, 2007, 12:07 pm
> I suspect that a competent poll of all current-edition Prius owners
> would generate the highest consumer satisfaction numbers in the
> industry - and perhaps in history.
That is borne out by Consumer Reports' readers polls.
--
Support the troops: Bring them home ASAP.
Posted by Bob & Holly Wilson on August 19, 2007, 1:02 pm
>
http://www.greenhybrid.com/
http://priuschat.com/
Bob Wilson
XML site map
> purchased my 2004, I've met perhaps 200 Prius owners. Another 100 or so
> became acquaintances because of our common technical interest in the car.
> And, I've reviewed the comments of thousands who post regularly in various
> discussion groups online...
> A poll here cannot possibly generate a result that is more valid than the
> aggregated experiences of Steiner, Brown, Macpete, et al (and I'm part of
> et al).
> Virtually 100% of the owners of the current edition are happy with the
> car. Only the compulsive still keep mpg records. If you throw out those
> who drive stupidly (for example, keeping it in "B" thinking it will save
> brake wear), and others who drive OCD (doing all those perfection
> techniques with Brown's data on a Palmpilot hanging in front of them),
> what's left is more than 99% of owners who are all smiling. I suspect that
> a competent poll of all current-edition Prius owners would generate the
> highest consumer satisfaction numbers in the industry - and perhaps in
> history.
> The current edition averages about 45mpg. Ambient temperature,
> highway/city, and terrain all matter, but not much. If the daily transit
> to-from work is short, that matters a lot because the car may never get
> into an efficient thermal operating range.
> Shortly after buying my car, I did a careful calculation of the total cost
> to drive the car from City A to City B and back on business, in comparison
> to a train ticket. I think all pertinent factors were included except for
> risk and depreciation, since at that time the car was still worth more
> than I had paid for it. The calculation favored the car, and it enabled
> stops enroute for dining, shopping, etc.
> I've owned some exotic and costly cars in my six decades of driving (began
> in a Panhard!). The Prius was the best "bargain" of all but one - a
> non-running Ferrari bought at auction that was sold at 3x purchase price a
> month later. Of the practical cars that I've owned - reliable cars that
> are suitable for trips - the Prius is by far the winner.
> My sole regret is that it is not a U.S. product.
> Ike