Member Reviews: 2009 Toyota Prius

I have friends with Priuses (Prions?) up to 2007 and all report about the same mileage as our old recycled 2001 model. We get 50 to 55 mpg in the summer, far less in the winter, and average about 43-44 mpg year-round here in the frigid midwest, burning 10% mileage-robbing ethanol. If it's not a plug-in yet, what's the big deal?

First of all, we bought this car in 10/2008, at just about the wrong time.Gas was still $3.50 per gallon, the waiting lists were still four months out, and we were happy to find a loaded Prius that someone had decided not to buy. We paid MSRP. The following week, all the news about bank failures and credit default swap obligations came out. A month later, gas was below $2 a gallon and all of a sudden, you could get a Prius for thousands less. To add insult to injury, the state of Utah introduced a $2500 tax credit for hybrids, but only for vehicles purchased after 1/1/09.That said, we love the car. My wife is a Realtor who specializes in green and energy efficient homes, so it's almost a...

SAFETY: This is my second Prius.  The first was a 2008 that I had for about 14 months and 26K miles before it was totaled.  A pickup t-boned us doing irreparable damage to the car.  Luckily all of the safety features worked great.  The side curtain airbags did their job.  My wife was in the passenger seat and my daughter in a carseat in the back.  We all walked away without a scratch.PERFORMANCE: I traded in a sporty 30mpg '99 Honda Civic Si for the Prius and can definitely say that the Prius is not a sports car.  Of course, I knew that going in.  I don't understand why a lot of professional reviewers can't figure that out.  I have no problem with the performance of the Prius.  I have...

This is an '09 with the level 4 package.  The car was delivered with the tires 15# over inflated which made the handling bad, but once that was rectified, it has been great.  I actually paid my '03 C230 MB coupe plus $17,000.  I have been getting about 48 mpg even on freeway trips of 400 miles at 72 mph.  There is plenty of room for four people.  You can fit 3 in the back, but one should be a child.  The center is less comfortable.  Most of the controls are located on the steering wheel, which is convenient.

I purchased a used 2005 Prius with package 6 from milan on ebay. I can highly recommend his vehicles even though they have salvage titles. I was able to purchase this Prius with 9,500 miles for $18,500 in 2006. I flew to Houston to take delivery and was very impressed with the quality of the vehicle. I could not see any visible repair and body parts were nicely fitted. I later noticed a wheel about 1/4" bent when tires were replaced and metal screws in the inner body panels of the front fenders and bumper areas. This was noted when I had a halogen headlight replaced at a local dealer. The vehicle definitely had been repaired due to accident damage. I did have to have the Prius checked by...

I really like my Prius, I have package 2.  would recommend to anyone. Love that the seats go down for more room in back. Of course the camera in the back is also a great convience.Toyota service is excellent also.