A vehicle like a Prius is not equal to a Yaris, Fit, Corolla or Civic. Prius are mid-sized vehicles and offer features, technology, comfort and abilities that aren%26#039;t even available on small vehicles, so there is no cost comparison unless you want a lesser vehicle. Compare an Accord to a Fit or a Camry to a Yaris and that%26#039;s the type of comparison people assume with the Prius to the others.

Ignore anyone who says the Prius will be %26quot;junk at 50-100,000 miles%26quot;. The truth is Toyota has never had a person pay for a nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery pack under regular use. There have been people who have damaged theirs (such as the guy who drilled a 3%26quot; screw into the NiMH trying to install an aftermarket stereo system), and there have been ones damaged in accidents.

But there has never been one that failed under normal use, including multiple Prius used in multiple cities as taxis with over 200, 250, even 300,000 plus miles without an issue.

The federal government has tested Prius NiMH and discovered that at 100,000 miles, the NiMH power storage level had dropped by 10%. That means that at over 100,000 miles, a Prius will still have 90% of it%26#039;s NiMH storage capacity.

If a NiMH did fail, the entire pack is $2985.13, for either generation Prius. Call your local Toyota dealership and ask for the parts department. And the only maintenance to do is oil and filter changes, tire rotations, a coolant change between 75-100,000 miles depending on your climate, and general inspections.

So, with the basics of how they hold up laid out, if you have any other questions on the NiMH packs, the electrical system, or any other aspect of the Prius, feel free to look up any of my assorted posts on Yahoo Answers.

I also have posts on the cost of ownership over each 100,000 miles, and how you can compare the Prius to any other vehicle over each 100,000 miles. Essentially, the Prius costs about 8 cents per mile with gas at $3.00 a gallon, and that includes maintenance and new tires.

Now, with this being a full hybrid that recharges itself the more you press the brake pedal, the more you can brake in stop and go traffic, the better off you%26#039;ll be.

You must learn to drive in a different fashion than you may have before to maximize the mileage on a full hybrid.

You must train to lift off the accelerator at double the distance you normally would and at least coast until the point where you would normally begin braking. At that point, press the brake pedal down slowly until you come to a normal, full stop. That will generate as much electricity as possible and shut down the ICE when the system recognizes that it%26#039;s no longer needed at the beginning of your stop.

Also, you need to accelerate in a gentle, easy fashion. Jack rabbit starts eat up lots of gas. Press the accelerator imagining yoou have an egg under the pedal and you%26#039;re trying to roll the egg out, not make omeletes.

Doing those two things will maximize the mileage in every vehicle, from big diesels to Prius.

I average 53.7 in a mix of highway at 65 mpg and city driving of 25-40 mpg. That%26#039;s with the auto temp on at 68-70 and the stereo running the XM or iPod.

Your mileage will go down in the winter, just like it will for every vehicle, because of the higher rolling resistance of your tires on the slush and the ICE will run continuously to produce heat for the cabin. The air conditioning is only run by the electric system, so it runs independent of the ICE running, which is the opposite of a regular vehicle.

As far as the safety factors go, the Prius is a mid-sized vehicle that weighs 2985 pounds with full tanks of gas and fluids. It comes standard with four wheel, independently controlled ABS, which means that it controls each wheel separately of the others, so it will only apply the brakes to an individual wheel that is locking up. Not all systems do this.

Also, the Prius has a full-speed traction control that applies the ABS system to either of the front pulling wheels if either of them slip on acceleration at any speed. Most systems are either a low-speed or a mid-speed only traction control.

The Prius comes with self-adjusting dual-stage front airbags that automatically reduce the size, or even shut off, the front airbags depending on the size and position of the front occupant, or whether there is even someone in the front passenger seat. The Prius also comes standard with side seat airbags, full side curtain airbags, and seat belts that automatically pull you up into a correct seating position so you are away from the airbags and then relax slightly to reduce bruising, called pre-tensioners and force-limiters.

Check any other vehicle you are looking at to make sure it has all of these features standard, at least.

Beyond that, my advice is to take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side, place what you need your vehicle to do and on the other, place what you want your vehicle to have. Then leave that sheet alone for a few days and come back to it. See how your answers may have changed or evolved and correct accordingly.

Thanks for reading this far. I teach about hybrids and advanced tech for Toyota. 20% 2 Votes