There are two views on what should be a first car:
A. Get a cheap used car because new drivers often get into accidents due to lack of driving experience. A cheap used car cost less when it gets wrecked.
- There is not much to say about this veiw. It's pretty self explanatory. It's also what most people do.
B. Get the safest car you can find because you can always replace a car but you can't replace the driver.
One of the safest cars out there is the Prius, and here's why:
1. There are four braking systems on the Prius:
- Regenerative brakes
- Friction brakes
- Engine brakes
- Parking brakes
2. Vehicle stability control:
- A system that prevents doughnuts during slippery conditions if you are going anything like a reasonable speed. Studies from Europe and Japan indicate that VSC reduces head-on collisions by over 30%. Other cars have this feature, but not in the Prius' price range.
4. Brake assist:
- A system that applies extra force to the brake pedal when it senses an emergency stop. Studies by Mercedes indicate that people press the brakes quickly but not hard enough. Brake assist compensates for this tendency.
5. Brake override:
- A system that stops the acceleration when the brake pedal is pressed firmly.
6. The smooth acceleration of the Prius (there are no gears that shift) helps prevent you rear-ending someone if they slow down right after stopping. (An old fashioned economy car typically has a very low first gear to disguise the fact the engine is small--this creates rapid acceleration up to about 10 mph after which the acceleration bogs down. The Prius smoothly accelerates up to it's maximum speed of about 105 mph which is controlled by the system.)
7. Optionally in the 2010 Prius:
- Radar pre-collision
- Lane keep
Many of these systems prevent the accident in the first place. The best accident is one you don't have.
Besides the safety aspects, the Prius is a mid-size car so there is more room for friends and equipment. It has low maintenance requirements and a very high owner satisfaction rating. I purchased my first Prius (a 2001) for my wife (who was also a new driver at the time). It was so good that I got a 2004 for myself. It's been one of the most exciting and fun-to-drive cars I've ever driven. The 2001 now has 85,000 trouble-free miles and the 2004 has 120,000.
-gas milage
2004 Prius MPG from the logbook. (Complete years only):
2003-2004 -- 50.8 mpg 17,628 miles
2005 -- 52.6 mpg 14,688 miles
2006 -- 56.3 mpg 16174 miles
2007 -- 57.3 mpg 18384 miles
2008 -- 59.9 mpg 21755 miles
2009 -- 61.4 mpg 16177 miles
2010 -- 65.2 mpg 12134 miles
-comfort
No problems on over 1000 mile trips.
-durability
No problems here either. Nothing is broken in the over 120,000 miles I've driven it so far.
As for the issues some of the other answer are talking about, they either exist only in the minds of the detractors or are not a big deal.
1. The Prius is new.
The Prius has been sold since model year 1997 and is now in the third generation. That's 14 years. It has been exported from Japan since the 2001 model year.
2. The battery only lasts 10 years and is expensive.
In 2004 the battery was redesigned and failures have been almost non-existant. Even the 2001-2003 batteries typically last 200,000-300,000 miles. They cost under $2000. Hardly a king's ransom. In addition there are reconditioned batteries which are even less. and you can always get one out of a recent wreck for about $500. Basically the battery is a non-issue with Prius owners. Unfortunately, there is a lot of FUD being spread by people who know nothing about the car. The very high owner satisfaction rating and the number of people who have purchased more than one Prius has put the lie to these kind of statements.
3. Repairs are specialized.
The Prius is actually an easy car to work on. Many Yahoo Prius group members do DIY. In addition, Toyota has replaced many mechanical parts with more reliable electronics. For example there is no alternator, no starter motor, no clutch or torque converter, no serpentine belt (2010+), and the automatic transmission with it's hundreds of parts has been replaced by a simple planetary gear set similar to a differential.
|
Linear Mode
