Would the Toyota Prius be a good first car?

its up to you...its a good car but man that price is still rather high....i bought my 92 civic for $2500....and it gives me roughly 40-49 mpg....which is as good or even better then most hybrids....and the thing is that i really like to push my car....

Priuses are junk. Mine burned through 3 transaxles in 60,000 miles. I finally had it towed to the GM dealership and traded it in on an impala. If you want a fuel efficient first car, look at VW diesel jetta or perhaps a chevy aveo or maybe a ford focus.

they are such ugly malformed cars. Everything toyota makes is of poor design visually..but on the Prius..they have outdone themselves. they look like an anal suppository on wheels.

Personally, I would not buy a used Prius. I have heard that the expense of replacing the battery pack is quite high. You should look into this before buying used.

- Would it be better to spend more money to get a newer one? What a newer one buys you is more warranty time (assuming it's low mileage). This may or may not be important to you. It also buys you incremental improvements (2006-2009) or major changes (2010). - If you own a Prius or know about it, is it a good car? I have both a 2001 and a 2004, they have been great cars with no problems. It would take a lot to get me into something else. - Have you had any problems with it? There are three problems, though at your age they probably won't affect you. 1. If you have a significant other and only one Prius you may not get to drive it all that much. 2. At lunchtime co-workers seem to automatically head for the Prius because it holds four full size adults. 3. After you drive a Prius for awhile, it's hard to go back to an old fashioned car. - And just what do you think about it? Fun to drive. Economical to maintain. Most regular maintenance items are easy DIY if you are so inclined. Cheap on gas. The lifetime average of my 2004 is 56 mpg over 100,000 miles. Often those who say that XX car gets as good as a Prius is taking the number from one or to vacation trips rather than from a log kept for the life of the vehicle. Comfortable for both long trips and city driving. The Prius has replaced many of the components that require maintenance on old fashioned cars with electronics or with highly simplified parts, so maintenance is actually less. #################### Now having said all that, there are a few things to know. 1. It's a used car so you need to get the maintenance records from the previous owner. This generally means a private sale is better than buying from a lot, though there are exceptions. Private owners are generally not as good at hiding problems as car lots are. 2. If the previous owner has purchased the extended warranty, be sure that he transfers it to you. It can be transferred one time. 3. Like any used car, you need to inspect it both mechanically and to make sure it wasn't in any major accidents. If you don't have the skills yourself, there are companies that will do this for you. 4. Don't worry about the traction battery (the large battery)--they last for a very long time and they aren't that expensive to replace. 5. There is a small 12V battery that may need replacing. 6. The Prius doesn't allow the driver to abuse the engine or drive train by over-revving or lugging the engine. The Prius also does not allow the tires to spin, so you can be sure that a used Prius hasn't been abused in this fashion. Of course, it can be abused by not doing maintenance, putting in the wrong gas (regular only, preferably from a toptier gas station http://www.toptiergas.com/ ), using the wrong oil, etc. 7. The Prius doesn't depreciate as much as some cars do, but check the prices in the Kelly Blue Book to get the correct prices for your area. 8. You might also want to sign up to a couple of the Yahoo Prius groups to communicate with Prius owners.