Prius, any good?
Discussion
I've potentially been offered a Prius as a company car, question is are they any good?
Appreciate the whole pious/white good thing, but are they any good? Two advantages for me, it gets me away from diesel and it's auto - I do a lot of driving and fancy auto for the inevitable traffic.
It'll be one from the pool so an old shape one, I think - 61 plate?
One thought, we're paid based on HMRC mileage rates, pay the fuel and claim back, these seem to be very tight as I've worked out in my current car I'm losing out, albeit only slightly, so the question is do they get anywhere near the mileage, I assume not? I don't hurry when commuting etc, I've learnt chilling and enjoying the tunes is the best way to relax when doing the grind.
I have other more interesting cars so the fact it's 'dull' isn't a massive issue, it would merely be the company car/daily to get the grind work done
Any thoughts?
Appreciate the whole pious/white good thing, but are they any good? Two advantages for me, it gets me away from diesel and it's auto - I do a lot of driving and fancy auto for the inevitable traffic.
It'll be one from the pool so an old shape one, I think - 61 plate?
One thought, we're paid based on HMRC mileage rates, pay the fuel and claim back, these seem to be very tight as I've worked out in my current car I'm losing out, albeit only slightly, so the question is do they get anywhere near the mileage, I assume not? I don't hurry when commuting etc, I've learnt chilling and enjoying the tunes is the best way to relax when doing the grind.
I have other more interesting cars so the fact it's 'dull' isn't a massive issue, it would merely be the company car/daily to get the grind work done
Any thoughts?
We run one as a taxi in a hilly rural area so it gets quite a hard life. It also does regular airport runs of 200 motorway miles with a big taxi sign on the roof and we still get just over 50mpg. I am aware that latest generation diesels can better this but it suits our needs as we can offer a hybrid car to our clients if they need to get their ISO Certifications for businesses.
It has covered 45000 miles since July 2012 without missing a beat, plenty of legroom, well equipped, all our passengers like it and cheap to service. It handles reasonably well and the ride is generally smooth.
Would I buy another one? Yes, in fact this one replaced an earlier model.
Am I a green warrior? No. I have a V8 hot rod as well as a couple of big Audi's, one with the 4.2V8 TDi engine. We bought it for cynical business reasons and were very pleasantly surprised.
It has covered 45000 miles since July 2012 without missing a beat, plenty of legroom, well equipped, all our passengers like it and cheap to service. It handles reasonably well and the ride is generally smooth.
Would I buy another one? Yes, in fact this one replaced an earlier model.
Am I a green warrior? No. I have a V8 hot rod as well as a couple of big Audi's, one with the 4.2V8 TDi engine. We bought it for cynical business reasons and were very pleasantly surprised.
Round town good, on the motorway shocking. its like chalk and cheese: quite and comfy at low speed short journeys in town and the opposite on the motorway for 100 mile+ trips. I won't be getting one despite it costing about 50p a month in tax and having loads off cool stuff on the T-Spirit model. I will stick with my 5 series and suck up the tax liability
shep1001 said:
Round town good, on the motorway shocking. its like chalk and cheese: quite and comfy at low speed short journeys in town and the opposite on the motorway for 100 mile+ trips. I won't be getting one despite it costing about 50p a month in tax and having loads off cool stuff on the T-Spirit model. I will stick with my 5 series and suck up the tax liability
Strange, mine is excellent on the motorway - UK to Italy in a day no problem at all.AnotherClarkey said:
Strange, mine is excellent on the motorway - UK to Italy in a day no problem at all.
Might be because I had the UK demonstrator that had had the tits thrashed off it of the previous 3000 miles. Drove better then the BMW round town but was too buzzy for me at high sped. OP: ask the fleet manager for the keys and take it for a good drive and see what you think opinion is useful but you will have to drive it ultimatly shep1001 said:
Might be because I had the UK demonstrator that had had the tits thrashed off it of the previous 3000 miles. Drove better then the BMW round town but was too buzzy for me at high sped. OP: ask the fleet manager for the keys and take it for a good drive and see what you think opinion is useful but you will have to drive it ultimatly
Always good advice.shep1001 said:
Round town good, on the motorway shocking. its like chalk and cheese: quite and comfy at low speed short journeys in town and the opposite on the motorway for 100 mile+ trips.
There is truth in this. we bought a Prius + for tax reasons and around town and suburbia fairly pleasant but I find it drones a bit at higher motorway speeds and does not feel as planted on the road as such. Does it do the job, yes.
Would it be the first set of keys I would pick up, no
tdm34 said:
kentmotorcompany said:
Its very common mini cab in central London. If it was rubbish it wouldn't be, tells you all you need to know.
are they congestion charge exempt? if so then that's your answer I reckon..Drove a Mk2 Prius quite a bit in a previous job. Very relaxing and quiet around town and in stop-start traffic, which is what it's designed for really, but a bit gutless for acceleration / overtaking at higher speeds, though it cruises well once up to speed (low drag & rolling resistance helps I guess).
Would recommend if your driving involves lots of stop-start of congested roads, but perhaps not if a lot of higher-speed driving where overtaking power is required. Would be fine for constant-speed high speed cruising though.
Would recommend if your driving involves lots of stop-start of congested roads, but perhaps not if a lot of higher-speed driving where overtaking power is required. Would be fine for constant-speed high speed cruising though.
Prius don't like "higher" motorway speeds.
Keep it below the limit and remember that you need to back off the throttle to get the revs to drop and they're perfectly acceptable.
It's a different driving style to a normal auto due to the gearbox, or lack of, but once you get used to it they're very relaxing to drive.
Keep it below the limit and remember that you need to back off the throttle to get the revs to drop and they're perfectly acceptable.
It's a different driving style to a normal auto due to the gearbox, or lack of, but once you get used to it they're very relaxing to drive.
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