From 16mpg to 40+mpg

[Truckman]

Bought a 2007 Prius with just shy of 100K miles on it the other day. Got a great deal on it, it was a friend's sister's car. Bought new by her (parents) and dealer maintained - have all the records.  I was commuting in a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited getting about 16-17mpg. A brick with a wind sail.

I can't cut the commute, but we just had a schedule change so I went from 16 104 mile round-trip commutes a month to 9 round-trip commutes a month. I also started carpooling in November, so now I drive about 4 trips a month. Add in the fuel savings of the Prius, and I'm taking my gas bill from ~$400+/month to hopefully <$75/month.

[b4u2]

Very nice!

[Nords]

Bought a 2007 Prius with just shy of 100K miles on it the other day.

Congratulations! 

Check the recalls and tech service bulletins with your Prius dealer to see if they owe you any freebies.  Since you're close to 100K you may also be due for a coolant change, a new cooling system pump, and a new set of brake shoes.

[Truckman]

Thanks!

I know the brake pads are getting close; I'll probably get another 3-4 months out of them. I'll have to check the service records for the coolant and pump to see if they've been done yet, if not I'll keep them in mind for the next service. Thanks for the heads up!

[Exflyboy]

Nice job.. over $300 a month in savings.. thats a LOT of money!

Frank

[kendallf]

I just got the coolant pump recall done on my wife's 2007 Prius, with just about 80k miles on it.  Perfect timing as I got a free coolant change out of the deal.  :-)

My family now has two Priuses (Prii?) and we are super happy with them.  We plan on driving them until the wheels fall off.

[greenmimama]

That is an impressive cut in your fuel usage!

[frugalman]

It's the gift that keeps on giving.
$300/mo change in expenses is equivalent to $51,900 after 10 years
(300 * 173, where 173 is the future value of investing your $300/mo for 10 years at an average return of 7%).

[Workinghard]

Our son recently got a 2009 Prius with less than 50k miles for 11,000. He loves it, but had driven a friend's. His insurance went down too. He was able to sell his Mitsubishi Lancer for $6500. The Prius is his second car and both have been newer than the cars we drive. (Haha) I know there were some recalls but can't remember what they were for.

Congratulations on your "new" car! 

[Truckman]

Thanks again, everyone!

Yeah, I'm really stoked about the large savings in gas expense. Of course, we had an increase in our insurance because we're adding a vehicle. However, we are looking into significantly changing our insurance plan so that should be coming down, too. Since we've had full coverage on everything, I'm hopeful that dropping comprehensive and collision for all 3 vehicles we will still come in under what we had been paying for 2 with full coverage. Our daughter is getting her license soon, so she will take over the Jeep - unless I need it to get in to work in the snow. She will also be footing the bill for her own gas and insurance.

Anyone know what's up with the Toyota Owner's website? I'm trying to see if the Prius has had the recalls performed or not. I don't recall seeing any open recalls when I was checking it out a couple weeks ago, so I'm assuming they had been done.

[Nords]

Anyone know what's up with the Toyota Owner's website? I'm trying to see if the Prius has had the recalls performed or not. I don't recall seeing any open recalls when I was checking it out a couple weeks ago, so I'm assuming they had been done.

I haven't had any mail from Toyota in a while.  IIRC the last recall expired in Sep 2013, and I think it was for the coolant pump.  I'm not sure that the coolant pump recall applied to all the Priuses in that model year, either.

The local Toyota dealer may be eager to develop a customer relationship with you by running a VIN search on the recalls and TSBs.  Of course if you need to have something done then they're probably the only ones authorized to do it anyway.

The best forum for these questions (and other accessories or info) is PriusChat.com. 

[greaper007]

Another plus, in Colorado hybrids don't need to have an emissions check and we can drive in the hov lane.   In other places I've lived you get free on street parking.