Daily Driving a Gen 2 Prius; My Brief Review

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
12/31/2018 at 14:34 • Filed to: None

VERDICT: The car is as dull to drive as it is to look at. Visibility out the rear window is laughable to nonexistant. Still: smooth, good braking, tight steering, (almost) enough power to get out of its own way. Comfortable front seats. Engine sounds like a pencil sharpener. I’m driving this one because my nephew left it with me for a month while he eats Grape Nuts in the Wilderness somewhere.

And I will happily return it to him when he’s back.

This is my report.

READER BONUS: AN ASIDE: There’s not going to be any such thing as a free ride for Planet Earth when we consume an automobile. I remain unconvinced that driving one of these (stupid, IMHO) hybrids is a measurably better deal for Mother Earth. What is lithium mining doing to Chile, for example? And all of the e-waste in newer cars, and the high unlikelihood that cars of today will last as long as cars of yesteryear, requiring us to consume more automobiles.

DISCUSSION (13)

facw > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/31/2018 at 14:57

Cars have been lasting ever longer. The average age of cars on the road has gone from less than 6 years in 1970 to over 11 today. Now it’s possible that new electronics will make harder to keep cars on the road going forward, but that certainly hasn’t been the case thus far.

I think I read some study indicating that hybrids like the Prius are a net positive for the environment vs. a conventional new car, but because of the more environmentally intensive materials, not a huge one. Pure electrics and plug-in hybrids use even more battery materials, but often use no gas, so can be a bigger positive, as long as you are not in an area that gets most of its power from coal. The main takeaway from the study was that even though older cars are more polluting the most environmentally friendly thing is usually to drive (and maintain ) your car for as long as possible, because of the significant amounts of pollution associated with building any new car and scrapping your old one.

RallyWrench > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/31/2018 at 15:08

Interesting you found the seats comfortable, to me they’re the worst part of the car. I defend these as good transportation though. They do pencil out much better than a VW diesel, when talking about 45mpg+ cars. One of the delivery drivers we see used an ‘ 08 Prius until recently, she had over half a million on it and though it was destroyed cosmetically and was falling apart, it ran perfectly.

ihm96 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/31/2018 at 15:17

I don’t think you know what tight steering is sir. Its not a bad commuter car, but I could never convince myself to drive one for myself. Took one to NYC once and was at the speed limiter of 107 most of the way lol. Got a little light occasionally but nothing too scary.

Would never describe the steering as tight though, certainly not when compared to cars of old. I guess for 2018 the Prius probably has better than average steering feel based on the new cars with their shitty electric steering racks, but for its time period easily has some of the most numb steering feel

Ash78, voting early and often > facw
12/31/2018 at 15:23

I subscribe to this theory, as well. Unfortunately since we don’t live in a 1:1 demand-based manufacturing economy, companies will keep spitting out cars at whatever level they see fit, then slashing the prices accordingly until somebody (who otherwise would have just kept their old car running longer) decides to jump into something newer.

If I were a more left-wing conspiratorial type, I’d say that manufacturers should be sued for overproducing cars without proven demand. But I also don’t want to live in a society where cars cost twice as much and you have to wait 6 months for them to be built...

gettingoldercarguy > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
12/31/2018 at 15:27

Toyota Pious

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > facw
12/31/2018 at 16:14

I think I could not have stated my views more effectively than that: driving a Prius or a Tesla is not a huge net gain for the planet. And the batteries will require replacement at some point also...

I just had my ‘89 Camry crushed. Great driving car. Many cars I did not consume while owning that Camry. Lots of trade-offs, but no trade-ins.

I did not mean to conflate owning a 29-year-old car with buying a newer hybrid, just that I suspect it will prove easier to keep the Camry on the road after twenty years than it will with Prius. In fact, my brother-in-law has a Gen 2 Prius with around 225k miles on it and the engine is absolutely knackered , and the batteries are shot. Car is completely spent.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Ash78, voting early and often
12/31/2018 at 16:15

Delusional liberal scum.

They claim they’re giving us what we want, but we’re also snapping up whatever they’re offering. The cluelessness of people about the cars they drive is bewildering.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RallyWrench
12/31/2018 at 16:18

My brother-in-law has a Gen 2 with ~250k on it and the engine is shot and the batteries are shot as well. And he never got 45mpg out of it. The car you’re mentioning must be doing a lot of mixed driving, which is where I think a hybrid’s efficiency is maximized. But my brother-in-law’s car is completely knackered. And it’s not like he used the entire car as a curb feeler, either. Just drove it up and down Interstate 5 many, many times.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RallyWrench
12/31/2018 at 16:19

Seats are a very personal thing. To me, they’re firm and straight, and that’s what my body needs.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > ihm96
12/31/2018 at 16:22

Well, certainly not compared to a Z06 or a GT-R. But for a grocery hauler it does quite well. I certainly have no interest in owning one.

The car I most recently purchased is a 2011 Mazda 3, base model, manual transmission. Almost unacceptably harsh ride, and lots of road noise. But great shifting, no rev hang, and a modest amount of pep. It’s a car , as opposed to a lump of gelatin . But the previous owner had tint applied to the rear window and where the tint runs over the defroster wires on the glass, the visibility is significantly impai red. Need to get that removed.

shop-teacher > RallyWrench
01/01/2019 at 01:07

Its funny how seat opinions can carry so much. Years ago I rented a very new '10 Camry to drive to New Orleans and back. Those seats were like a torture device for me. I was in pain within 40 miles. I traded it in Memphis for a W-body Impala, and you've never seen anyone so happy to drive a rental Impala. And yet I see people all the time describing the Camry as comfortable.

RallyWrench > shop-teacher
01/02/2019 at 12:22

It’s a weirdly individual thing . All of my Toyota trucks over the years have given me no complaints, even the worn-out bench in my hammered old singlecab. But all the Priii I’ve driven and ridden in have all caused physical pain (on top of the obvious mental pain, of course ;)

shop-teacher > RallyWrench
01/02/2019 at 13:54

Yeah, that's why I pay no attention to when people declare seats comfortable or uncomfortable. You just have to try them for yourself.