Toyota Prius: PH Carpool
PHer lives with a Prius for 100,000 miles so you don't have to
Car: Toyota Prius
Owned since: 2011
Previously owned: Mitsubishi Evo II, Mitsubishi Legnum VR4, Subaru Impreza Wagon Turbo 2000, Peugeot 106 GTI, Renault 19 16V; currently Subaru Forester Turbo, Suzuki Ignis Sport, Toyota Yaris Sport
"I'd just landed myself a new job after a couple of years in the doldrums, which came with the obligatory company motor. The last company car I ordered some years prior was a Skoda Octavia vRS, a car I was sadly not to drive as I left that job following a sizeable bust-up with my then boss. I found myself instead in a Subaru impreza Turbo 2000 wagon that turned out to have had a really nasty dose of tin worm.
"Following the obligatory three-month probation period my email finally pinged to the sound of Lex Autolease willing me to choose my poison. Something seemed strangely amiss as the choices ranged from Audi A3 poverty boxes to slightly less anemic Golfs, Vauxhalls, Hondas and a couple of Toyotas.
"In 2011 I think I was still waiting for the financial sky to fall in, and due to ongoing job instability whatever I decided to order I was going to keep my Forester as a fall-back. I'd looked at the Honda Insight, in as much I'd peered through the window of one at the Royal Cornwall Show. Online reviews suggested this car was even worse than it's main rival the Prius and, the more I thought about it, the more it became an exercise into how I could save as much money as possible."
"It dully arrived some 12 weeks later, the delivery driver pointed out the Mercedes style parking brake and the countless bongs. The bongs have only just stopped. A bong for the lights, a bong for the door, the boot, the bonnet. A slightly different bong for putting the car in reverse, a really pissed off bong if you walked off having not turned the car off to nip back indoors for something you'd forgotten. A bong if it didn't detect the key. Endless bongs."
Things I love:
"There was some early fascination. My first trip to grab a sandwich from the local shops was done in complete silence. I wafted along on a cloud of smugness that's difficult to comprehend unless you've been there. Though I nearly ran over a pensioner when he walked out in front of my whispering death mobile. It was a theme that would become something of a menace while cruising around the lightly pedestrianised coastal towns of Cornwall.
"The shock and awe of the electric mode while driving through the centre of a place like Falmouth in summer as people looked and walked straight at you is something you have to experience. You develop another sense where you just know they're going to throw themselves under the wheels of your car. That I didn't end up with a least one bonnet ornament during my stewardship is more down to luck than judgment.
"I can't write about this without mentioning the 'Clarkson' effect it had on some other motorists. A company car driver in a car he hates is your worst nightmare. He'll park it anywhere and not care if you ping dent it, hit it, set if on fire. He's not paying. And worse still, if he's driving 400 miles to get home he couldn't give a toss what you're driving or how quickly you're going. It's strange how many people seem to detest being overtaken by a Prius..."
"I could never get the car to do what I wanted to. The three modes of EV, Eco, and Sport (seriously?) were never available when you wanted them. EV mode was particularly hard to come by.
"It wasn't a bad place to sit, but compared to what? A park bench full of tramps? It's not until now I've changed it I realise a lot of the money spent on the technology was shaved off the interior. The most horrible of scratchy plastics, shut lines on the door you could pass your sandwiches through, the draught that would come through the interior drivers door handle, the fact that if you pushed the drivers window up all the way, the drivers door card would also bulge outwards, the Speak & Spell instrumentation. I'd swear the paint was so thin in places I'm sure you could see the primer too.
"The brakes were terrible - I had a number of moments where I didn't think it was ever going to come to a standstill. The road noise wasn't great, and the Bluetooth would frequently fall out with my phone, cut me off and disconnect for no apparent reason. The traction control worked in a different timezone, to the point where I think it was just a flashing light that wasn't actually connected to anything and, yes, spinning the wheels is entirely possible...
"Another complete mystery was the car's complete inability to charge any electronic device from any of the power outlets. A car brimming with electricity but would baulk at the thought of transferring it to a mobile phone. Astonishing."
"I never got to the claimed mpg. I quickly learned my ape-like application of the throttle resulted in me having to avoid Eco mode - I got better mpg when it wasn't switched on to any setting at all, the highest of which was a dizzying 64mpg. I'm sure you can get better mileage, but you'd still be driving to half the places I've been to."
Where I've been:
"The worst thing for me about it all is the fact I've covered 100,000 miles and I can't recall a single memorable one. I've been down many, many, roads and yearned to be back in my creaking Forester, clattered down a number of B-roads and longed to be behind the wheel of something else. I've even been to some decent events, a couple of rounds of the BTCC and the WEC, but the journeys are lost and of no lasting value. White goods motoring."
What next?
"I now drive an Insignia estate that replaced the Prius. 6,500 miles in and I'm starting to think the Vauxhall is worse..."
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Note - stock photos for ilustrative purposes only!
Styling of these is pretty good, not so much in white though.
First Prius came out 20 years ago. Im not a fan of their extra everything approach to the hybrid pizza, but it shows how glacially the car industry has been moving that this arrangement is still relevant.
Should get more interesting when the Chinese get going ahead of the stodgy outlook from the Yanks, Europeans and Japs and their vested interests. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1spsVY7gNX8
Yes the doors are tinny and the plastics a bit cr*p but when I'm getting into a mini cab at 6.00am a near-silent Prius is an infinitely more pleasant place to be than than a roaring rattling banging 4 diesel something or other.
And I'd definitely have one as a city car.
I'm still amazed they haven't made some sort of fake engine noise mandatory.
That said, I'm a big fan of hybrid cars. I went out looking for a Honda Insight earlier this year and ended up getting a good deal on a Jazz Hybrid. So far, it's probably been my favourite car because it just makes everyday use and commuting so easy and painless. It'll do 60mpg, it can run on electric power in the right circumstances, and it's so comfortable and quiet. Even just the quick start it does on the electric motor is pleasant. When the time comes to replace my wife's car, I'll probably get her something hybrid too. All the money the Honda saves me is directed back towards what I really want to spend money on, my guitars and my motorbike.
I'm still amazed they haven't made some sort of fake engine noise mandatory.
We have a 2015 Prius, its the wifes car , I kinda feel the same its white goods , its easy to drive, good on fuel, spacious and comfy. Its has the worst ICE that I have ever used though , the bluetooth is dreadful and its so clonky for a futuristic model. Its very cheap to run though, we had a VAG diesel before and its more or less the same in my eyes
Of course the big thing a lot of PH'ers dont realise is that some people dont care about cars , to them they are simply a means to an end and for this purpose the Prius is ideal
That's not my car in the photo's in the write up as I dare say some poor soul is cleaning out a bank holiday festival of sick from the rear seats after a night taking fares....
Mine was some sort of mauve/purple as it's as near to a gun metal R32 skyline (sigh) as I could get.
If I can address the following:
Yes, the insignia is worse than the prius in every way. The expectation with the Toyota was that it would be awful, and it was. There was an expectation (a crumb of hope) with the insignia that it would be better, and it just isn't. It's worse on fuel, it's not that spacious despite being enormous (estate) and the ICE is terrible. I did like the toys on the prius, especially the hard drive. If you get picked up by some bloke with the entire back catalogue of Queens of The Stone Age on the hard drive, that car used to be mine. I frequently compare the insignia to my Forester Turbo, and in terms of load, there is no contest, the forester batters it into a cocked hat. And it makes a nice noise....
I cannot see the insignia making it to 100,000 miles, it's flimsy, a Bush toaster vs the Toyota's Samsung washing machine.
I agree that in certain circumstances it makes an ideal choice, but I have to argue that while it walks off with the illusion of being a white good, it's more complicated than that. I think I'm right in stating that the vast majority of MOT's have to be done by Toyota? and that any repair to that car gives me the impression that it would be stupendously expensive. It's also not that cheap to buy new, mine would have been way north of £30k which is crazy, I would imagine that the 5 year warranty is paper thin on certain parts too....
I have just seen a new one and it made me think of this:
(>_<)
It ticked over the magic 1,000 mile run-in phase whilst on the autobahn, and I thought I'd see what it could do on the derestricted section. It showed an indicated 117mph, 5mph more than the book figure. The dash started to rattle and the car really didn't like it. There was a niggling rattle from the dash from that day forward, no matter how much cotton wool I stuffed in the gaps.
The materials were dreadful, and the rear doors so flimsy. Never again.
I, too, chose it for it's low BIK, thinking it would save me some money, which it did, for a time. After having it for around a year I bought a Boxster for a bit of fun. Spent more than the Prius would ever have saved me, and not sure I'd have done so with a more engaging company car. Still, the Boxster isn't exactly losing money.
Mine was the 10th Anniversary special, which looked a bit better than the boggo versions, but wouldn't have been worth the premium for a private buyer. £3k more than the top-spec T-Spirit.
It went last October, to be replaced with a Golf GTD estate. Very pleased with it, and a massive upgrade.
Interesting to hear how much real-world experiences differ from what you read in the mags.
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