2004 Toyota Prius T3 from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong with the car - maybe criticise the dash for scuffing easily.

The car is great - very economical although you have to drive it the right way. This is clear by the reviews in the UK where they got ex-racing drivers to try it and they got 40mpg. I drive it carefully and I have achieved 70+mpg on the motorway over 100 mile journeys on a few occasions and often get over 60mpg.

Very nice to drive - comfortable and quiet.

Boot space is great - can fit a weeks shopping in with ease.

The view out the rear view can be obscured, but the side mirrors more than make up for that as they are great.

Buy one!

I really can't understand the appeal of hybrids. You can buy a number of small diesel cars right now which will achieve 60 mpg in day to day use, without the cost, complexity and unknown future reliability of the hybrid drivetrain and more importantly its complex electronics. No heavy battery packs with their heavy metals and noxious chemicals, and being diesel powered, ready "out of the box" to use renewable vegetable oil based fuels, or biodiesel if the infrastructure and tax policy would accommodate them.

There's also the matter of the Lupo TDI 3L. Over 20g/km less CO2 than the Prius (even when burning standard fossil diesel), against 104 g/km for the Prius), a genuine 70-80 mpg in daily use, near identical performance and about £4k cheaper when they finally decide to import it. And an infinitely simpler design which will be more reliable and cheaper to maintain. Even comparatively big, high performance diesel cars like the new Focus and Golf will do 0-60 in 9 seconds, 50 mpg and still only have maybe 40g/km more.

If it weren't for modern diesels, the hybrid would be a good choice.

Are you seriously comparing a Prius to a Lupo? They're over two size classes apart! Prius is bigger than a Golf, which is bigger than a Polo, which is bigger than a Lupo.

I have a Prius, and something as tiny as a Lupo was not an option.

And on top of that, I wanted an automatic. Why should I be forced to spend my whole time wiggling some pointless lever just to get reasonable consumption? How many automatic cars of the Prius' size can get anything like its mileage?

And don't forget that diesel is maybe 5% more expensive than petrol at the moment - add that into your calculations.

And it's not as if it's all about economy - it's also about pollution and the high-tech features. I don't want to be sitting in urban traffic jams belching out soot, I want to be drifting along quietly on electric with the engine off.

How much is a new battery pack, and how long do they last?

Not sure about that Prius sceptic. His/her points are fair, except they seem to relate to driver satisfaction only, and some reference to C02 emissions overall (fuel/battery combined). But doesn't the Prius drive on electric only in cities if you want it to? Surely, the benefits in terms of cleaner air downtown are enormous. A Lupo can surely not achieve that. In fact, in Paris, clean cars should be made compulsory, like non-smoking areas. Large guzzler SUVs are equivalent to someone smoking right in your face. Or perhaps I don't understand Prius. The few I have seen seem to glide silently. Pity about their rear seat, barely fits three I should think. I am just eager to see Toyota and/or other car makers produce family-size (Scenic, Touran, Corolla Verso etc) hybrids or biofuels or whatever. They would be a hit, not just for drivers, but for the rest of us who have to breathe it all in...I'd buy one, probably.

Great web site by the way. rjd in central Paris (realterms@gmail.com)

No, the Prius cannot run on electric only for any length of time - unless you run the fuel tank dry and Toyota does NOT recommend that at all.

The only time the Prius (or any hybrid for that matter) is producing fewer emissions than a conventional small economy car is in heavy stop-and-go traffic that you find generally only in large cities.

Toyota claims the battery will last as long as the vechicle.

The Prius has an EV mode switch (electric only) that can be selected at any time - you certainly don't need to run the fuel tank dry. The petrol engine will kick back in if your battery gets low or you exceed 28mph (but in busy urban traffic that is not likely)

Hi.

I've been researching hybrid cars. Found a really good site on the Prius:

http://john1701a.com/

This site has everything about the Prius, even some stuff Toyota wouldn't tell me.

I heard through the grapevine that by 2008, each vehicle in Toyota's line up will be a hybrid. Lexus is also bringing out a GS450h, which has a 225kW V6 giving V8 performance with a 4cyl's economy.

If I had AUD$50,000, I would buy an all-options Prius. It's not a particularly beautiful car, but I'm a sucker for gadgets.

Enjoy!

I would hate to be in one in a major accident.

Where does all that battery acid go? have you seen what gel acid does to your skin... your kid's skin.

Ask Toyota for a major impact crash study. Where is that.

If I am going to be in an accident I am better off being the hammer, not the nail. My kids are worth more than a tankful of gas!

Oh, and where do you dispose of the batteries when they are depleted? Recycle? Oh yes, there is no environmental impact there. Ignorance is bliss!

ER the same place that all other cars go to? I believe its called a scrap yard. Nobody is claiming that hybrid cars don't polute just that they polute less than conventional petrol/diesel powered cars.

As for the poster who was worried about battery acid-are you having a laugh?? You might as well say your scared of getting electrocuted!

The fact is hybrid haters that sooner or later we are going to have to cut down on pollution and you can't keep on putting your head in the sand. Hybrid is one step closer to the solution. I will buy a Prius once they come down in price..don't like the way it looks much though..

I happen to live in the States and have owned a Prius for nearly 27 months. It has been extremely reliable. It has excellent crash test results, so you needn't worry about acid burns from the battery. I found that comment very funny indeed!

Hey, I recognize the commenter who mentions the battery acid! He posted a comment as a Hummer owner, and made the exact same statements about rather being the hammer than the nail, and that his kids are worth more than a tankful of gas. Extremely interesting that a Hummer owner would come and make disparaging comments about hybrid vehicles. Very interesting, indeed...

I look, read, and observe Toyota prius' I would love to have the prius. I am a taxi driver owner and cannot decide how

logical it would work with four passengers on distance

and also high mileage 50000 per year average any answers.

As for accidents, I had a head on with a Ford SUV and held its ground. You must realize the Prius weight is around 4000 pounds.

As for the taxi driver comment, the real risk isn't performance or accident safety (the Prius can easily handle both) but batteries. If you are averaging 50,000 miles per year you may be looking at battery replacement (estimated between $5,000 - $7,000) every two years according to Toyota's estimate of 100K mile battery life.

Yes, the costs of batteries are going down, but if you are considering a Prius I would recommend some sort of business leasing program where you can turn in the car every year or two in order to avoid an extremely expensive repair bill.