Is a Toyota Prius a good first car? Winter? FWD?

Eww. A Prius. Get a real car. If you actually go with a Hybrid, check out the Honda CRZ. Nice car.

FWD / AWD...it doesn't really matter that much. It really comes down to a driver's skill on a harsh road conditions. Heck, I live in CO and I used to drive rear wheel drive even in the snow and I was better than dumb people on Subarus. Anyways back to your question -- Prius is mainly for older people who like to go 0 to 60 in 11 some seconds. If you are so concerned about AWD, get Subaru... maybe an Impreza or Legacy would do you fine.

AWD would be better as you have 2 extra wheels driving. the eco friendly side is a bit of a joke because of the batteries. if you include building the car it actually causes more environmental harm than a v8 land rover because of where all the battery Components need to come from. nice thought but they aren't great for the environment. the other thing you would need to consider batteries don't last for ever and over time will loose their range as a result they need to be replaced at some point, consider this cost before buying such a car. front wheel drives in my opinion are hopeless in the wet, they slip/skid and you get no where. i personally feel much safer and feel more control in a rear wheel drive car. subaru make some great cars, they will cost the same as a prius but offer you all wheel drive and a well built car. your 18 and getting a 30 grand car? don't get anything to swish, your new at driving, think of the cost of insurance, get something your not going to be scared about crashing, fairly high chance you will.

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. the 2004 Prius has cost 12 cents per mile for dealer maintenance, tires, and fuel combined. The 2001 is similar but my wife doesn't keep a logbook so I don't have the exact numbers. I'd stay away from any sports cars or SUVs because beginning drivers just don't have the experience to handle them. - Winter The Prius is a great winter car if you put on decent tires such as Nokian WR-g2 severe service all-seasons. The vehicle stability control really makes the Prius better than many 4x4s in all but deep off-road snow. Note that the OE tires aren't much good in winter (just like the OE tires on any car). One Prius group member has driven the Prius on his rural mail route in Minnesota for the last five winters with no problem. You won't have any problems - I honestly don't know why people bash on the Prius. As far as I know there are two reasons: 1. sour grapes. 2. They somehow fear that the Prius will harm their standard of living. I don't see how they arrive that this but that seems to be the case. In fact, it enhances it, being the first car in a very long time that has real innovative engineering rather than just taking me-too technology from the last century, putting it in a new wrapper and advertising the heck out of it so that people will think they are getting something new.