Green Living
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Prius Owners...?
I was wondering if anyone on this board drives a Prius....and if so what you think about it? I'm seriously considering getting one and want some opinions before I go for it! Thanks in advance!
Re: Prius Owners...?
Me! Me! I just got my Prius back in April and I LOVE it. I got rid of a Nissan Xterra for it, and I was a little nervous because I wasn't sure I would have room in the Prius for all of the outdoor gear, etc. that I could cram into my Xterra. I found, though, that I can fit almost as much in the Prius as the Xterra. The hatchback is really nice. The backseat is roomy enough to fit 3 adults pretty comfortably, and will no doubt be roomy enough for 2 carseats (someday!).
Driving it is so fun! It tells you instantaneous gas mileage all the time, so FI and I make it a game that whoever drives has to park the car with a higher mileage than the last person who drove it. :-) For a hybrid, it picks up well if you need it to, though it will eat away at the mpg. The lowest I've had the mpg so far is 49.6 and that's after sitting in a traffic jam for 2+ hours with the A/C running and the engine recharging the battery.
I love, love, love my Prius and tell everyone I know they should get one! Have you test driven one yet? If not, I highly recommend it. You won't want to get out of it. :-)
A family member has one and loooves it (and this is the last person you'd expect to intentionally do anything earth friendly). I just rode in the backseat recently, it's extremely spacious. And it gives you all sorts of information about your energy use while you drive - the display is like a spaceship! There's lots of other cool features too, like you don't need to put the key in the ignition to start the car, and you can just have the key near the car (like in your pocket) and touch the handle to unlock the door.
This person drives a lot every day for work and basically works out of the car, and there's plenty of room for all their stuff. And I'm glad they're polluting less while driving around
)
My DH has a Prius and he loves it, but the snow issue is a real one. It does get stuck pretty easily. It handles pretty well on small amounts of snow, but if it builds up and there is ice, it can get tricky. We live in VA and don't get much snow, but last year was our worst winter in decades - and the Prius stayed home a lot (and DH ended up working from home!)
But other than that, all good things to say about the car!
I had a friend who drove one and ended up trading it in after two years. I can't remember exactly what her complaint about it was, but I think it had something to do with the maintenance and upkeep it required. She travels a lot (drives from SoCal to Washington, then to Vegas and Montana and stuff like that) and I think it was too much of a pain for her for all that travel.
But I'd think if you were just using it as a commuter car you'll love it. The snow problem IS a huge problem, though, so if you live in a snowy area I'd look into other deals. The other problem I have personally with the Prius and the reason I didn't get one is the cost. It's pretty inflated still. I love my Yaris, though. It's about the same size and I got it for $8,000 less than the Prius' on the lot. I get only 40MPG but that's enough for me. My little guy is a workhorse that's driven over 9,000 miles in three months without a complaint.
Oh I didn't know the prius handles poorly in snow! Good to know. I have had my eye on one for several years but have a corolla now and no need to upgrade.
Jebuell-how does the yaris handle in the snow? I also fancy their tiny little compact size. Nice toknow that they can bank 40mpg too!
It honestly has never driven in the snow. Just monsoons and it did fabulous in the one it drove through this weekend!
However, I have a friend in Minnesota who also has a Yaris and she says it does pretty good. She doesn't have snow tires on it and only drive it around town, but it at least goes over the snow. Though she did say that in general she waits to drive until the roads have been plowed.
Oh, one thing about the Yaris- if you are going to have kids in it make sure it has the side curtain airbags! My first Yaris didn't so I traded it in for my current one when I was planning on having kids. It's just that in crash tests they didn't do so well on the side crash test and the airbags are the only things that make it better. The same applies for the Prius, too, as well as any other compact, efficient car.
Hey if you can afford the Prius and want it- go for it! I really wanted one as well it was just outside of my price range whereas the Yaris fit into it very nicely.
And a lot of that bad press is political. My family has owned Toyotas for years without any problems. And I love that you can drive and drive and drive them and they stay dependable longer. I like the idea that my next car purchase will come because I need a new car after giving my Yaris to my 16 year old.
Haha, OK, that *may* not happen, but it's a nice thought.
Chiming in late...
I love love LOVE my 2007 Prius, by far the best car I've ever owned. I get 46 mpg on my bumper-to-bumper commute, which technically is a mix of local and highway but I only get up to highway speeds for a few miles. The Prius fits 5 adults comfortably and has a huge trunk and the backseats fold flat (I've fit chairs, Christmas trees, and bikes back there). I'm sure you can fit 2 carseats in the back seat, which leaves the entire area behind the hatchback for baby stuff. The dashboard is very intuitive, I feel like all the buttons are right where they're supposed to be. My iPod plugs right in. I can drive in the HOV lanes in most highways in VA.
That being said, it is terrible in the snow. It's lightweight to save on fuel economy so it has no traction. I'm already planning on trading it in for a Subaru when we move to our forever home in Upstate NY. As much as I love my Prius, and trust me I DO, I would not buy one if I lived in CT.
Katie Talks About...
This is not true. It does use more engine power on the interstate, but it is always using it with electric power, as well. My commute is 30 minutes each way, 20 of which is on the interstate going 65 MPH, and my average consumption is consistently 56-57 MPG.
When we considered the Fit vs the Prius, the Prius was just a better deal, even with the higher price tag (this is considering we will have it for 10 years).
I can't speak for the snow issue, I live in Florida, but we started out shopping for an economical (not necessarily green) car, and the Prius came out the winner.
We just bought a used 2007 Prius in mint condition with most of the bells & whistles (nav system, etc) for $12K. With our trade-in it brought the final price to under $10K. It took us a month of monitoring the used vehicles in our area to find one in good condition within our price range.
My husband commutes 100 miles/day and so far he's averaging 52 MPG. So whomever said that its just a typical car on the highway - well, I've yet to have a typical car match that mpg.
We saved over $200 last month on gas for DH's commute. Even if we have to invest in better tires for the winter, we've found it VERY hard to argue against the cost savings we're experiencing.
And, FYI - this past weekend we fit our DD (16 month old in a car seat) and two dogs (1 @ 95 lbs, 1 @ 50 lbs) in the car with room to spare for a daytrip. With the split folding backseat we've had ample room whenever we've needed it. We've yet to miss our SUV.