We’ve now had our Prius for a month, so this is a good time to reflect on ownership so far.
I did weeks of research on these cars before I put my name down for one, and I am satisfied that the Prius is a better solution for our expected wants and needs over the next three years than another V50, A4 Avant, or Golf TDI would have been. One month in, I remain convinced. So if you want to pick a fight about the cons of the Prius then go somewhere else! It works for me and that is what matters – YMMV.
I have had turbodiesel company cars since 1993. TDIs are a great mix of power and acceptable economy but they are not the panacea. Their success has driven road vehicle particulate emissions way up and diesel is now a stupid price in the UK, killing much of the benefit of fuel economy. My last car was a V50 2.0 D SE. The engine was Euro IV, which was the latest eco tech at the time. Delivery was held up because Volvo couldn’t get the engine control systems right on time and I don’t think they ever did. Our fuel economy was a real-world regular 40mpg, 5mpg less than our previous A4 Sport 130 TDi 4 door. To match the V50′s fuel cost, the Prius only has to do 37mpg average, and the emissions are nothing compared to the diesel.
Prius wasn’t even on the radar when we started looking at Volvo replacements. Sarah and I did a bit of a garage tour one day, dropping in to Toyota to try an Avensis Verso. They had a metallic blue Prius in the showroom, so we had a sit in it and were seriously impressed. The rear leg room was absolutely amazing, and as any dad knows, rear leg room is really important when you have three under-tens in the back seat, all dying to put the soles of their shoes in the small of your back. The further away from me they are, the better!
The Avensis Verso was discontinued and I didn’t like the Corolla Verso with its ‘buried alive’ back seats, so we went and looked at other MPVs, including the exceptionally ordinary VW Touran, and the apparently swish Mazda 5, which a friend of ours has. The Mazda was cramped and dreadfully cheaply-finished up close, so that was out. Then we tried the new Honda CRV. That was beautiful (if a little tight in the back seat) and we actually decided to go for one of those, in Bright Red with black leather.
I came home and plotted the tax implications of various options using the comcar.co.uk data, and the Honda was £3500 in tax over three years, while the Prius was £1300. Yes, a third of the BIK tax on the Honda, so £2200+ net salary saved over three years – money I would much rather put in my pocket than donate to the unelected stealth tax maestro, a.k.a. the new Prime Minister. The following Monday morning, I rang Toyota’s fleet department at Redhill and blagged a week-long demo in a Prius.
Toyota sent us a silver T-Spirit, and it was superb: we did 500 miles in the first three days. I found myself going out for late night drives just to have the roads to myself. The kids and I practised using the self-park facility (crazy), the Sat Nav (average as with all manufacturer solutions) and the reversing camera. They loved the rear space, the excellent stereo, little low tailgate window for the dog to look out of and the energy meter display, all totally fascinating for junior gadget freaks. After that week-long playtime, there was no contest – the hybrid was in.
