Not just for greenies

So, after giving my wife's aging Passat to one of the kids, we were in the market for a new car.  She commutes, I work from home, so there was no rush to get a second car.  The main criterion was that it had to be reasonably fuel efficient.  (She also wanted heated seats and a sunroof, but both of those were negotiable.)  We came close to buying a Mini Cooper, but price (gah!) and dealer issues finally put the kibosh on that idea.  We toyed with a Smart Fortwo, which is really quite a nifty little conveyance, but the timing wasn't there.  (Nor was the gas mileage -- quite disappointing.)  We finally got around to test driving a Prius.  We drove it home.

Features
We bought the mid-line Prius, with cruise control, Bluetooth, SmartKey, backup camera, and no doubt other stuff I'm forgetting.  (The 2009 Prius is optioned a little differently so I have to go by memory here.)  Bluetooth allows you to take phone calls through the car speakers and microphone system, i.e. fully hands-off phoning.  The Smart Key system lets you enter and run the car without actually putting a key into a lock;  the "key" is a small remote.  (There's also a real physical key that hides in the remote, to let you enter the car if the battery dies.  We needed it, as I'll explain later.)  Some of the traditional car options such as automatic transmission are irrelevant in the Prius with its continuously variable transmission.

The center touch-screen display handles a multitude of tasks, including all climate control, phone connection (Bluetooth), fuel consumption and energy usage displays, and more.

No sunroof, but there is plenty of glass and visibility to make up for it.  No heated seats;  although we'll probably install aftermarket heated seats next winter.

The car is in nanny mode by default, and beeps incessantly in reverse, or if a seatbelt is unbuckled.  Fortunately you can disable the beeping:  http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Reverse-Beep-in-a-Toyota-Prius and you can use the same technique to disable seatbelt beeping if you want to.

Driving
The Prius is surprisingly roomy and surprisingly fun to drive.  It's a semi-hatchback design, so not only is there good trunk room, you can actually use it.  (unlike our Volvo S40, which has a large trunk and a pitifully puny trunk lid opening.)  Visibility is good.  It's kind of funky to start the car with an on-off switch, but I guess it fits.

Once you're on the move, I think the theme is that there is more to the car than it lets on.  The gearless (CVT) transmission makes the engine rev higher than you might be used to, so my first impression was that the car lacked power.  Well, no, it doesn't.  It's not a hot-rod by any means, but if you floor it, it's going to move.  I can easily maintain 65 MPH up Greentree Hill outbound.  Pittsburghers will know just what that means.  Everyone else: that means it has enough power to live with, even in hilly country.  You're not going to win any stop-light races, but the car has more than enough power to be reasonable and safe.

Handling is similar.  The car gives off no sporty-handling cues, but if you fling it though some S-bends, it will obey with only a reasonable amount of tire squeal and suspension complaint.  The car doesn't invite you to drive it hard, but if you do anyway, it obeys.

The fuel consumption display shows you a bar graph of time-averaged gas consumption for the last 30 minutes.  This display is a stroke of genius, in my opinion, and if every car had it I bet the US fleet gas mileage would go up by 10% if not more.  I've had cars that show instantaneous mileage, and averaged mileage, and they just don't work. The Prius shows an average bar every 5 minutes so that you can discount unusually [un]favorable driving conditions.  It really makes you a better driver.

The cloth seats are good.  Not great, but entirely acceptable.  The longest I've driven in one sitting so far is 6 hours;  I was quite ready to get out of the car, but there were no aches or pains.

Mileage
This is why people buy a Prius, right?  Well, expect anywhere from 30 to 50+ MPG.  You'll get the low end if you jackrabbit away from stops and pay no attention to the "Consumption" display.  You'll get 50+ on the highway if the wind isn't blowing in your face.  A friend reported 65 MPG on a 200-mile highway trip (US highways, not interstate), but I think he p*ssed off a lot of people behind him.

The Prius electric motor system has the greatest benefits in city driving.  If you regularly drive long highway distances, you'll do OK, but consider a different car (Yaris, Fit, etc.)  Expect 40+ MPG in fall-spring city driving, 35+ in summer (air conditioning) or winter city driving.

Reliability
Our Prius ran flawlessly for a year, and then fell prey to an electrical demon that repeatedly discharged the 12-volt battery.  (Unlike other cars, the Prius has a very small 12-volt battery to run the radio, locks, dashboard, and lights;  the large NiMH battery runs the electric motors and starts the gas engine.)  It's a good thing that the smartkey remote has a real key backup, because otherwise we would have had to start smashing windows!  Fortunately, our problem appears to be relatively rare, and all of the repairs are covered under warranty.

I was concerned about main-battery life, but it's covered by an 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty.  The gas engine is covered by a 60 month/60,000 warranty, and everything else is covered by a 36 month/36,000 warranty.

If you are a do-it-yourself type, don't buy this car, or at the very least make sure you can get technical support from Toyota.  The hybrid system involves potentially lethal voltages and currents, it's not like working on your grandpap's Chevy.

Overall
We were pleasantly surprised by the Prius.  I think we had this notion of a "Greenie" car that sacrificed everything to gas mileage, and that's just not what the Prius is about.  Is it sporty?  No, but you can drive it much harder than you might think at first.  Is it roomy?  Yes.  Is it comfortable?  Yes.  Is it fun to drive?  Yes.  (for suitable values of "fun".)  Is it economical?  Yes;  you'll pay a premium for a Prius, but you'll use less gasoline.

Would I buy another?  YES!

(Edited to add beeper disable note.)