Electric/Hybrid car drivers - Post your experience/buying advice

[turbotalon1g]

I had a friend ask me about these and I'm pretty clueless on them, I've had a few car people say that they surprisingly love them and they are cheap to own.

A local BMW guy picked up a used 2007/08 prius for under $4k, it needed $600 of battery work and it's as good as new, he says he loves it for commuting the instant torque is awesome he says.

He has a hi hp bmw, used to have an S4, silverado SS before the prius as a DD.

[Kracka]

Andrew (PlanoEvo) put over 400k miles on his Prius before it finally gave up the ghost. The battery and entire hybrid system was still fine, it was everything else that wore out. He was still averaging ~60 MPG on his last day driving it. His only maintenance was a oil changes, a water pump belt, and a set of rear drum shoes. That. Is. It.

So far so good with the Volt. Had to get the wall charger replace under warranty, and a coolant leak fixed under warranty. Otherwise, it went from May - Oct without needing a tank of gas and has been great. Quiet, comfortable, and incredibly efficient and cheap to own. for Maintenance, it needs an oil change every-other year and coolant every 5 years. There are reports of guys going over 250k miles with no noticeable battery degradation.

From my research and talking with owners, avoid the Hyundai/Kia hybrids; they seem far less durable. The Nissan Leaf battery seems to lose battery capacity rather quickly so I'd probably avoid one of those too.

One other good thing about most EV/hybrid vehicles are their longer warranties on the battery/hybrid systems (typically 8 years/100k miles).

[tehehodi]

If my opinion matters, I would love to drive a Prius with how far and how much I drive to work. :)

[turbotalon1g]

why wouldn't it?

what year was planoevo's prius?

[Kracka]

2005

[turbotalon1g]

Thanks, a local picked up an 06 and had the battery replaced for $700, he has owned it for 9 months/12k miles and loves it, says he averages 48mpg driving the shit out of it.
I might put up my civic for sale and get one, that cargo room in the back plus giant opening with the lift gate is very appealing.

[Goat Blower]

On the upper end of the scale, I've driven the Tesla Model S and the Roadster. I used to laugh, but honestly, I'd own one. The S is especially nice.

I've had the Prius as a rental, it wasn't bad, actually better than I would've thought.

[tehehodi]

Does the Prius go full electric like the volt or does it just kick the motor on while accelerating and then intermittent on and off or whatever it does.

[b00sted_spyder]

I have dismantled a Prius and you must be certified because the battery can kill you if you dont know what you are doing. Prius batteries sells as soon as we pull them out.

[Kracka]

Does the Prius go full electric like the volt or does it just kick the motor on while accelerating and then intermittent on and off or whatever it does.
The smaller Prius C can go full-electric since its a plug- in hybrid like the Volt, but only for about 10 miles due to small battery size.