Hybrid

[chasineyes]

So we may be looking for a new commuter car for the wife in the next couple months and what I was wondering is. When a prius is running with the Air or Heater on does that tend to dramatically drop you MPG? I'm guessing the engine would have to be running much more when those accesories are on?

Thanks

[CAMAN]

In normal driving conditions, no, not really. In stop and go traffic, yes slightly. While cruising down the road that engine is pretty much running constantly anyway, the only time it shuts off is when you coast down a hill or take your foot off the pedal for some reason.

The major thing that affects your MPG is the temperature. When the nights start dipping into the 20's, I have seen as much as an 8 MPG drop in fuel economy from summer driving conditions. Once those battery's get cold, they stay cold, for a LONG time, and they don't like to be cold.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Most if not all newer Toyota hybrids have electric powered a/c compressors. So the engine does not need to be running in order for the a/c to work. The heater needs to have the engine running in order for it to work.

[rundrave]

I bought my wife a new 2008 prius, we have about 32k of trouble free miles with it. that little car has impressed me. I like it just for how much room it has on the inside, it was very surprising and with the back seat folded down it makes traveling easy with our 2 dogs. But even with 4 adults(and no dogs ) there is still plenty of leg room and still lots of room for cargo in the hatch. I am 6'3 and sit comfortable front or back.

As for the mileage we recently drove to the cities and back for the weekend on less than a tank of gas(12 gallons) and put on about 550 miles and averaged about 51.5 mpg. I will tell you that the AC has no effect on the mileage but there is a slight drop in the winter time with the heater, but im not sure if thats more to the heater running or the winter blend of fuels. I will also note that wind will play a big factor in your mileage as well and you will see some decrease in mileage but nothing significant.

Its really fun when you figure out how to drive them, its almost like a game to see how high we can get it, and we have no trouble accelerating to freeway speeds etc.

Also let me also state that you cant go out and purchase a car like this new or used and say you are saving money on gas. I bought the car because she liked the car and strictly that. I paid 20k for the prius, and could have bought a brand new corrolla for $15k and spent less money in the end. it drives me nuts when people ask us how much we save on gas....we didnt save anything, we just have a car that gets good gas mileage!

[CJH]

Assuming you are looking at a new Prius, from a $$$ standpoint you are typically better off buying a Civic/Fit/Yaris/Corolla/Cruze(new)....... They all get good mileage and so you would never make up the purchase price difference in gas savings, unless you put on HUGE miles.

Just another option to consider.

[spearchucker]

I wonder how the used market is on these? Who is going to want to buy one and then have to replace the batteries or something. How expensive are the batteries. I heard the first ones were in the $7,000 range. The price must have came down a little as production ramps up.

[Macgyver55]

I know two people who own these. One, an uncle had an 08 that I had the opportunity to drive while on vacation in California. I had better accelleration than I had anticipated, but still rode like most any other small car. In talking with him, he told me he was somewhat disappointed with the mileage, in that it was getting quite a bit less than was advertised. He attributed this to the fact that the greater percentage of his driving was on the highway. He then told me that when ever they would travel more than a moderate amount, that they would use his wifes Camry because they both though it was more comfortable. He had the car until late last year when it had an "electrical problem" that he said would have cost him several thousand dollars had they not covered it on warranty. Due to his limited knowledge of vehicles, he was unable to convey to me the nature of the problem. This was enough to scare him off and trade it on a Camry before the warranty expired.

Now he has two Camrys.

The other owner I know has been mostly happy I believe with her Prius, but uses it nearly all the time for city driving. I havent discussed it much with her but I havent heard complaints.