new arrival in the fleet - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Erdrick · 01-22-2008, 10:33 PM

Well, the stable has just been fattened. Not being content with my 1998 Jetta TDi, I decided that I needed another car on the other end of the FE spectrum. The diesel will be great for highway commutes and long trips, but the new car should be best for getting around town. Any guesses as to what the new car is?

2005 Prius. 75k on the odo. Price at auction? $4900. With parts, taxes, fees, etc., I should be looking at around $6500 -- about half of what KBB listed it at. Unlike my Jetta, this badboy has a clean title too.

The real reason I got the car though is for my wife. She can't drive manuals (yet), so the Prius looked to be the best FE-based option for her. She is going to freak when I give her the news. After I explained the car to her, she said that she was willing to pay up to about $7500.

Any Prius owners out there that want to chime in? Think I walked away with a pretty good deal? I will say that it hasn't been driven yet, so there IS the chance that it doesn't even run, but with the damage it sustained (it was an auction for wrecked cars), there shouldn't be any problems. It will probably be a quick fix, consisting of spraying some parts and hanging them.

SVOboy · 01-22-2008, 10:49 PM

Sounds not too bad, any pictures? Prii are funii!

MetroMPG · 01-22-2008, 11:01 PM

Wow. From what little I know, sounds like a very good deal.

I met someone on the weekend who's driving a rebuilt, formerly written off gen 2 Prius. He's planning a Hymotion PHEV conversion on it in a few months.

I second Ben's request for pics! Before & after.

Erdrick · 01-23-2008, 12:31 AM

Not sure how long these will be good for, but this is the actual auction that I bought the car at.

http://www.protechauction.com/index....&carid=2288346

As for the after pics, I still have another 2-3 months left in Japan, so the car will likely sit at my dad's shop until late April. Then the fun begins.

I plan on collecting info from other Prius drivers as to what they would do if they were in my position, in regards to parts acquisition. For example, if you have a perfectly good hood, then a switch to carbon fiber would probably not make sense. If your hood is destroyed like mine is though, then the difference in price between the carbon fiber part and a metal part might be worth it. In any case, I have a lot of time to plan my attack.

SVOboy · 01-23-2008, 12:54 AM

Oooh, you're leaving japan soon? Want me to take over your job so I can spend the summer in japan,

?

I mean...nice car.

Erdrick · 01-23-2008, 02:46 AM

SVOboy: Feel free to take my job. I will even give you a recommendation. Worked for my buddy from college. Funny thing is we will both be heading back to America at the same time. Just so you know, I am an ALT. The money sucks, the advancement opportunities are just about non-existant, the salary is DECREASING as time goes on, and there is usually next to no satisfaction that can be gained from your work. On the other hand, the vacations are nice (can you say 2 month PAID summer vacation?!), and the work is really easy. Oh, that and you get the chance to really work on your Japanese.

Buuuut, the real matter at hand is the Prius. I just figured out what my first mod could be. The auto parts website that I visited quoted me 57kg for a steel hood, and 37kg for an aluminum one. Both are primed and ready to be painted. 20kg is definitely a sizeable chunk of weight. The difference in price is about $70 ($130 vs. $200), so it could foreseeably pay for itself in the long-run. Any thoughts on this idea?

SVOboy · 01-23-2008, 02:53 AM

I would definitely go for the aluminum hood. While you're at it, why not, eh?

WaxyChicken · 01-23-2008, 02:53 AM

How about an EV only switch?
LINK

MetroMPG · 01-23-2008, 09:11 AM

Hope you don't mind I grabbed a few of the pics from the auction site to post here for posterity...

I noticed that the wheels looked pretty chunky compared to a standard Prius, then realized only one has a trim ring. I had no idea the Prius had trim rings on alloy wheels.

Also, what's an "ALT"?

Erdrick · 01-23-2008, 07:40 PM

No aversion to you posting the pics. On the contrary, I appreciate it.

As for the trim ring(s), I am not even sure what they are! Haha... Any explanation on that?

As for ALT, that means assistant language teacher. Basically it means that I am backup to a licensed Japanese (person) teacher of English.

As for the weight issue, I think that the 20kg is a pretty sizeable amount of weight to be cut, but I want to try working it out to see how long the payback would be. Anyone know of any good calculators that look at FE based on weight? I think that Ernie Rogers might have had something along those lines...