The Bottom Line: I would look at other cars for fuel economy. Their computer was not accurate. It had adequate power and a great air conditioner. Poor rear view visibility.
I have been interested in purchasing a car that gets great gas mileage. I have owned several Toyota's and Honda's and small American economy cars. The cars I have owned had previously got around 30 miles to a gallon of gas. I was excited when Honda and Toyota offered a sedan that was a hybrid. A car was now being made that could nearly double what my other economy cars had given me in gas mileage. I discovered that Toyota had a Rent-A-Car program in which I could rent the new 2004 Prius. I called to reserve one for the weekend, but it had already been reserved and would not be available for three more weekends. I called three more participating Toyota dealerships, but they were wanting to rent the Prius for $49.95 a day, with only 100 miles per day. Toyota of San Bernardino rented the car to me for $32.95 a day with 200 miles (10 cents for each extra mile). Since I had the next week off, I rented the car during the week for a couple of days.
The dealership was very friendly. We did a walk around inspection. He said it had a full tank of gas. He demonstrated how to put the key into its slot, how to use the transmission, and off I went. The car that I rented was equipped with Navigation system. The mapping system was way cool. It had a voice activation system. I found it easy to use. The car was easy to drive. The transmission is different. It has a knob that you put into drive or reverse. It drives very smoothly.
I rented the car because I wanted to know for myself if the air conditioning would cool the car, whether or not the car had enough power, and if the gas mileage was true.
The air conditioner system was very cold. The air conditioning system was very effective throughout our use of the car. I was very impressed.
I went to my house and picked up my wife and two of our children. The boys ages 5 and 7 were fascinated by the navigation system. We quickly went on a ride from Redlands to Victorville. This would take us through the Cajon Pass. It is a long, uphill stretch of highway. I set the car on cruise at 70 mph. It held it steady with no problems. I was impressed now with the power of the Prius. It is not a race car. It will do what it is designed to do. It has good power to get onto the highways and it will maintain its power once it is there.
Now for my last question. The fuel economy of the cars computer differs greatly with what it actually gets. Whenever you accelerate you will notice that the car gets between 6 to 30 mpg depending on how fast you accelerate. Several times I tried to accelerate the car lightly so that only the electric motor would engage. I found this to happen once. To drive a car in this manner would make you a hazard on the streets. I drove the car in a conservative manner (no sudden acceleration or quick stops). The cars computer on our trip to Victorville through the Cajon Pass gave us a round trip gas mileage of 45.7 mpg. To Victorville (uphill) it was 23.7 mpg (again according to the cars computer). We had traveled 99 miles. I filled the car up with gas. It held 3.23 gallons. My hand calculator makes this 30.65 miles per gallon. The next day we drove the car on the highway, in town, and took our children to school. If anything, I was very mindful of the fuel economy. I tried to drive the car in a manner that would get the maximum efficiency. The cars computer was showing that it was getting around 40 mpg. 40 mpg is a car that I could live with, that is if it was getting 40 mpg. It was time to take it back to the dealer. I had traveled 151 more miles. I filled it up again. It held 5.85 gallons of gas. 151 divided by 5.85 is only 25.81 mpg.
Summary
The car is very impressive with all of its technology. It is probably the way all cars will go in the future. The air conditioning system was strong. The car had plenty of power and maintained its power up the long highway passes. The fuel economy was horrible. Toyota should check their on board computer systems for accuracy. I would hope that it is a software problem and that it is not done intentionally to fool their customers. I have had other computer systems in Ford's, GMC's, and Cadillac's that were very accurate. If you are buying it for the gas mileage, be aware of the difference in the cars computer and what you are really getting. I was disappointed in the actual fuel economy.
When I returned the car at the dealership, he asked me if I would be buying a Prius. I told him no. I told him that the gas mileage was not as high as expected. He said that was what everyone was telling him also.
I too wanted to believe them. You don't know me, but before you buy, please rent one and see for yourself (just bring along your own calculator to check the results).
Let me know if you have any questions: Tahquitzman@hotmail.com.
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