Buying used 3gen or leasing used 4gen

[lovec1990]

its not healthy for engine if it does not reach operating temperature before its stopped it can couse some issues

[Catlover]

To be honest, having had a gen3 (for just 6 months but during the colder part of the year) and a gen4 (for the whole of a year) I couldnt say there was any real noticeable difference between the two in warming, though there probably was.

Lets face the facts, you doing very short journeys to work, 2.4 miles each way..... whichever Prius, gen3 or gen4, there will most times the engine will have only just reached full temperature and maybe not even full temp sometimes. Certainly on those runs I would say you not going to get the benefit of the technology of a hybrid vehicle such as the Prius.

Now here is a thought, forget the idea of a Prius altogether and get a Nissan Leaf or Renault Zoe. You will get a full weeks running, no sorry, a full months running on one full charge. How about that for a thought?

[lovec1990]

2 minutes ago, Catlover said:

To be honest, having had a gen3 (for just 6 months but during the colder part of the year) and a gen4 (for the whole of a year) I couldnt say there was any real noticeable difference between the two in warming, though there probably was.

Lets face the facts, you doing very short journeys to work, 2.4 miles each way..... whichever Prius, gen3 or gen4, there will most times the engine will have only just reached full temperature and maybe not even full temp sometimes. Certainly on those runs I would say you not going to get the benefit of the technology of a hybrid vehicle such as the Prius.

Now here is a thought, forget the idea of a Prius altogether and get a Nissan Leaf or Renault Zoe. You will get a full weeks running, no sorry, a full months running on one full charge. How about that for a thought?

I did search in EV direction, but i would have hard time charging it there are no charging stations nearby and at home it will charge 20hr+. so full EV is out of querstion but i did look for Prius plug in sadly they are even rearer than normal prius

[TonyHSD]

Hi, in such a case with extremely short journeys any car except full ev will not be suitable or be healthy for the car. If charging is a problem than I see a small engine petrol car as the best option for that job( Aygo, Vw Up, Mitsubishi Colt, Fiesta, Polo, Yaris etc) something that its small and has around 1.0 3 cylinder engine. These are ideal, they sounds and feels like chainsaw, hairdryer, and more kind of appliances but they do fit the bill perfectly. Easy warming up, easy cooling down, relatively low fuel consumption, fun to drive( manuals most of the time) , and easy and cheap to maintain. And whenever you need a larger car for example you can rent one for a day or two and job is done. You don’t need to move a 1.5 tons of steel when you can do same job with a 900-1000 kilos machine. Due to the nature of your needs the hybrid will not be as efficient and numbers will be very similar to one of those small cars I gave as examples. 

Regards 

[Catlover]

4 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, in such a case with extremely short journeys any car except full ev will not be suitable or be healthy for the car. If charging is a problem than I see a small engine petrol car as the best option for that job( Aygo, Vw Up, Mitsubishi Colt, Fiesta, Polo, Yaris etc) something that its small and has around 1.0 3 cylinder engine. These are ideal, they sounds and feels like chainsaw, hairdryer, and more kind of appliances but they do fit the bill perfectly. Easy warming up, easy cooling down, relatively low fuel consumption, fun to drive( manuals most of the time) , and easy and cheap to maintain. And whenever you need a larger car for example you can rent one for a day or two and job is done. You don’t need to move a 1.5 tons of steel when you can do same job with a 900-1000 kilos machine. Due to the nature of your needs the hybrid will not be as efficient and numbers will be very similar to one of those small cars I gave as examples. 

Regards 

Numbers will be very similar EXCEPT for the number relating to purchase price - Prius number will be much higher.

[lovec1990]

16 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, in such a case with extremely short journeys any car except full ev will not be suitable or be healthy for the car. If charging is a problem than I see a small engine petrol car as the best option for that job( Aygo, Vw Up, Mitsubishi Colt, Fiesta, Polo, Yaris etc) something that its small and has around 1.0 3 cylinder engine. These are ideal, they sounds and feels like chainsaw, hairdryer, and more kind of appliances but they do fit the bill perfectly. Easy warming up, easy cooling down, relatively low fuel consumption, fun to drive( manuals most of the time) , and easy and cheap to maintain. And whenever you need a larger car for example you can rent one for a day or two and job is done. You don’t need to move a 1.5 tons of steel when you can do same job with a 900-1000 kilos machine. Due to the nature of your needs the hybrid will not be as efficient and numbers will be very similar to one of those small cars I gave as examples. 

Regards 

Greetings,

thank you for your reply to my questions as you may see i currently own 2002 Yaris 1.0 and it averages 40,3MPG.I did think of buying hybrid Yaris but current Yaris has unapelling interior, but i did heard rumors that in October Toyota may reveal new 4gen Yaris sadly it may be avaible to late, but its also one reason im still waiting with buying a Prius in case i like new 4gen Yaris. Im kinda decided i want a Hybrid car so we cannot go smaller than Yaris

[Catlover]

Ziga, do you have the Toyota Auris hybrid in Slovenia? The mechanics of Auris hybrid is basically the same as a Prius ie engine and hybrid system, slightly smaller, but a little bit higher from the road and less fuel efficient but you not concerned about mpg. In the uk the Auris is less cost to buy then a Prius.

[lovec1990]

Yes we do have Auris Hybrid here but they are not that cheaper from Prius if you compare same age and milage cars i belive its becouse of popularity Auris is far more popular than Prius so it holds price better

[lovec1990]

Update:

While choices in my country are still limited i pretty much have to wait, but i noticed something intresting that gen 4s have most normal price diversity and prices are not all over the place.

As for warm up time i watched this video(link bellow) and in it gen 4 stayed in EV for short time after start then turned ICE on but after driving 0,7-0,8miles EV mode returned. So we can assume that when car start using EV mode again ICE is warmed up enough?

 

Video link:

 

 

[Catlover]

Hi Ziga, I have seen that video before, I watched a lot of you tube in my early days of having Prius.  Note, he started off with a fairly full HV Battery. Reversing out of his garage the computer chose to run the car on Battery. He started driving forward, went a few hundred yards, got to about 25 mph and the computer chose to run on ICE. Then it went back to Battery a short while after.   The computer will ALWAY look after the engine. Would you want to be doing 40-50 mph on battery then the engine starts from cold? No. So on the Gen3, from cold, the battery will drop out and let the ICE start at around 18mph, in a Gen4 it is higher, somewhere around 27mph, but these are the maximum with a cold engine. Back to the video, he didnt travel to far on the ICE before the battery took over again, all computerised. The engine would not be fully warm as if you done a 10 mile journey, it was a short distance, but enough for the computer to switch back to battery, some time later the computer would recognise the engine is losing temperature (whilst on battery) so it kicks the engine back in. He did remark that on the highway doing a reasonable speed the ICE would be running most of the time, but whilst doing so would be charging the HV battery.  If the computer says the engine is warm enough you can "force" the battery to kick in by taking your foot of the throttle for a moment, and if there is enough battery charge, it will kick in again and allow you to cruise or gentle acceleration, but no more.  A technique used in my hybrid, learnt off You Tube and fellow forum contributors, is to "pulse and glide". This means you accelerate moderately to the speed you want to go, say 50, then ease off the throttle and glide on low throttle pressure. Accelerate is the Pulse, easing off is the Glide. You get good economy that way, but you not too bothered about mpg you have said.

On your daily journey of 2.5 mile each way, its hard to say what the car is going to do. The car in the video had a nearly full charge to start with, this can only be achieved if the ICE is running a lot, whether 2.5 mile is far enough, I doubt it. So you may not have enough battery charge initially to run on battery, so you run on ICE, so the car needs to run on ICE to charge the battery, but 2.5 miles is not going to put much into the battery and some of it may be used to run on battery during the journey. You will be what we call a "vicious circle", that is not enough battery in store to run far in EV mode, so runs in ICE mode, but not enough to charge the battery up much, so round you go in a circle you cant get out of.   

You looking at a car, the Prius, with lots of technology to keep the environment cleaner and achieve good mpg, but the use of the technology restricts it working to its maximum efficiency. I agree with whats already been said, to suit you it with what I know of your normal driving pattern you be better sticking to a ICE car like you have or an all electric car.

[lovec1990]

Even normal ICE car i doubt reaches operating temperature in 2.4 miles. Look my wish is to own a hybrid car becouse of intresting tech, but i can wait too see what new hybrid  Yaris will bring

[Catlover]

No doubt about iy, Ziga, you will enjoy the "interesting: tech in Toyota Hybrids.

[lovec1990]

Thanks,

i keep reading forums about hybrids currently while waiting for new Yaris to be revealed and avaible to order so i can see what kind of tech it offers and at what price(Prius is still alternative) i read alot about Prius and its tech, but im still researching could ICE reach operating temperature in my short trip and from what i found is that it can reach it. Most info i got Prius normaly starts using EV mode after traveling 1mil one report said it took 0.9mil at 10°C for car to start using EV mode and if im not mistaken car will not stop ICE warm up if its not warm enough?

Why is this important Prius or yaris both are hybrids and will be used in same route so if one can reach operating temperature so could the other. Based on my caculation i could travel 33% of my route in EV mode.

 

[lovec1990]

Update:

as im waiting i started thinking:  Yaris is most popular Toyota in my country i even se quite a few Hybrid Yarises on road from time to time if car is popular so its more chances of being stolen for parts or sale in other country, but on the other hand Prius is unpopular here so there may be safer as car itself is unpopular plus it has unique look so it can be spoted fast. Currently there are no priuses reported stolen while 30 Yaris-es are reported stolen whats your take on this?

[Catlover]

Thats a good point Ziga, well thought out.

Its the same in the UK, there are cars popular for thieving, so keep away from them. The Prius is not considered a fast car, so thieves after quick get away cars are not interested.  My Prius is in Hypersonic Red, not a common car, so can easily be spotted. I got it because I liked the colour.

[lovec1990]

well in basic new yaris or 2016-2017 Gen 4 Prius both will need to be leased, but i suspect i might get better deal and discount with Prius plus i might sleep with less worry about car being stolen plus i could find on web what too look for in Prius while Yaris would be too new for that

[Catlover]

On a Prius, back brakes are worthy of looking at. Rust/seized due to lack of use. Because the electric motors have a braking effect the back discs are not always in use. Over time this can cause sticking callipers and rusted discs. 

Cant remember any other serious points.

[lovec1990]

plus from what i read you should check if car scraped front bumper and/or underbody protection becouse of low ground clerance

[Catlover]

In the UK we get lots of man made road humps, traffic calming devices. Some are so high proper sports cars have a big problem because they low to the ground. With my gen3 there was no problem. Gen4 is a bit lower, no problem with just me and the wife, but if I have a passenger in the back (not a common thing) then i can hear the front bumper scrape the top of the hump.

[PeteB]

When I had my Gen 3 Prius, I went into a shared drive where there was quite a steep slope, and something under the centre of the car made the most appalling scraping sound, even worse as I reversed back off it.  I was alone in the car, but admittedly I'm no lightweight!

My dealer said it was an air deflector on the underside which was bent, but they straightened it an repainted with some rust inhibitor (and didn't charge me).

Both my Gen 3 and Gen 4 would scrape something underneath exiting my driveway if there was at least one rear passenger, but not enough to do any damage.

[lovec1990]

Guys i was thinking when i drove from my job with my Yaris: My yaris has this blue coolant icon that indicates engine cold, but normaly it dissapears at 1 mil to 1.2 miles so if my old Yaris can reach running temperature on my trips so we can asume Prius will as well?

[TonyHSD]

Hi, 

to reach proper operating temperature you will need to drive the car for a lot more, blue light on dashboard means that the engine is cold and to take it easy, but when disappears doesn’t mean that engine has warmed up to it’s best operating temp. Prius / Auris hybrid are  your best choices because those hybrids are designed  to work at lower temp than any other petrol or diesel powered cars. All you need to do is proper service on time with 0w20 oil, and once in a while drive it on motorway for at least half an hour so you get all components heated up engine, exhaust, tranny, wheel bearings, brakes. Don’t worry much, just grab a Prius and you will love it. 

[lovec1990]

well things are turning funny: it seams sellers have hard time selling Prius cars: one decided to write into description that car is reserved untill and that test 2016 Prius suddenly gained 2k km and suddenly become used car

[Catlover]

prices coming down?

[lovec1990]

no same i belive that with first one that is reserved they most likely just want too trick those in doubt and that 2016 i belive they just trying too see if reason it does not sell is that it was clasified as test car