New Car Suggestions

[Sal]

Well, the time has come... I'm soon moving to Indy (although my location already states that I'm there), and I am losing my company car (a Ford Taurus).

So now I have a dilemma. I will get a car allowance from the company I work for so I would like opinions on Segway-friendly, Segway-ease-of-transport vehicles.

I'd like something that does well on gas, but not toyish.

I have heard folks talk about the Toyota Prius, any other thoughts on the matter? If Pickup trucks were econimical, I would consider one, as they are so practical for many tasks.

Well, I'd love to hear more from our esteemed members.

-Sal

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[SegwayUtah]

Sal,

If an HT will fit in the trunk of a 2004 Prius, and if your weather is conducive to a non-4WD vehicle, buy the Prius. There are no questions in my mind on that one.

Chris

[dexter]

>>I'd like something that does well on gas, but not toyish.

I drive the Honda Civic Hybrid (gas/electric). I bought the manual transmission model because I like a stick shift. Other than the technology (and resulting gas milage) it looks, feels and operates like any other Honda Civic in the line. Four door sedan, nice trunk, etc.

I have also heard many good things about the Toyota Prius. I chose the Honda over the Prius primarily because of the availability of manual transmission, but I also like the styling better and I have personal experience with Honda that makes me a "repeat buyer" (no bad experience with Toyota, I've never owned one.)

The trunk of the Civic Hybrid is just a bit shy of allowing me to take my Segway along. I have heard that it fits in the trunk of the Prius. This of course could be a big issue if that is important to you. I have successfully taken my Segway in the back seat of my Hybrid (no disassembly, just collapsed the control shaft) but it was rather awkward to get in and out. It is possible a "p" might fit well in the trunk. An "i" would probably fit if you were willing to take one or both wheels off.

The new 2004 Prius has some very nice new features as the technology improves. With regard to mileage, the Honda and the Toyota work on a different design "philosophy", because of this the Toyota gets better mileage than the Honda in city traffic (stop and go) but the Honda beats the Toyota on the highway (at least comparing the spec sheets). So your use of the car may also influence your decision if milage is an important factor. The Civic gas engine is pretty much always running when the car is in operation (the exception is that it will stop when the car is stopped in traffic so that you don't use any gas idling). The Toyota does not engage the gas engine until it is needed to charge the battery or provide power at higher speeds such as on the highway. Therefore the Prius can take short trips around town powered strictly on electric with the gas engine never coming into play. That's pretty cool. (But I still love my Honda!)

Dave C.
me: www.idexter.com
work: www.idealjacobs.com
play: www.nyline.org

[NLKotter]

I love my Subaru Forester, and the Segway fits well in the wayback. My only issue is that the little security cover that you can pull over the contents of the wayback doesn't fit over the Segway wheels - they're just a bit too tall. If you don't mind people seeing it in the back, you'd be ok.

Welcome to my hometown, by the way :-)

Good luck with your purchase!

Nancy

[SegwayBill]

Getting an HT out the trunk of almost any car is harder then putting it in. Taking it apart every time you put it into the car is not much fun and can reduce the fun factor.
The bigger the back door the easier it is to load.
I rented a Ford Winstar at Thanksgiving. it drove better then some cars I have rented lately and could easily hold 4 HT's and seat 5. The PT Cruiser has a nice split rear seat and low fender height. Some of the smaller mini vans get fair mileage and will easily hold two machines.





Bill

[Dwarf84396]

quote:Originally posted by Murray Fisher
Prius 04 works for Segway HT!! I just got back from taking my Seg to the Toyota dealers specifically to see if it would fit in the back of the Prius 04 hatchback. First I gave the owner and manager and a bunch of salesmen rides on the Seg, to soften them up. Then they brought the Prius around. It would fit just fine in several ways. Probably the best was like if it were run up a ramp and then tilt it back toward you with both rear seats folded into the floor...run it to where the right seat (2/3 width)is located and then tilt the left seat back to its normal position......a kind of close fit but nothing rubs and it went in fine and the hatchback closed. I didn't try it, but it also would go in backwards, with the power shaft between the two rear seats in their upright positions. Also, again, I did not try it, but there is a possibility you could power it up the ramps, telescope the power shaft all the way and it MIGHT go in that way. I did not try it as I have the older more rigid carrier and the support would have to be taken off to telescope the handlebars all the way. OF course it could be powered in and then take off the power shaft, but I like to avoid that if possible. A ramp would have to be worked out. The lip of the hatchback area is flush.....no raised lip, but it is fairly high.....I kind of guessed around 30 Inches.....that would require a fairly long ramp and a little figuring to attach it without scratching the finish etc. I am sure happy there is a workable solution to that car.

This is from the http://www.segwaychat.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5742 Prius 04 topic

Ben

[brina]

i have the 04 prius, i love it, it gets great milage, the segway fits fine in the back, it just about pays for its self in, i dunno 20-25 years, with the money you save on gas, plus u get funny stares from other drivers, similar to the bright eyed gawks you get when riding ur seg. And i have recently discoverd that it handles fairly well in snow and ice, much better than i orginionaly thought. And have ur heard about the smart key function- very cool- and very handy.

i strongly recomend you go for a test drive,
but i feel i should mention that the last time i checked, new orders werent expected to be in until late august.

but seriously its a very sweet car with great handling and milage and the indeash gps system, and energy tracker so u can always know if your using the batt. the gas engines or both an ur current milage... super fun,and way to many other options to list, so yeah check it out.

oh and it uses Nimh batt.-- is it a match for the seg or what...

[god1138]

The Toyota Prius is a great recommendation and its' design philosophy is a great fit with the Segway's philosophical approach. However, the 2003 Prius' trunk WILL NOT OPEN ENOUGH to accomodate an I Series. When my wife and I went car shopping 3 months ago, this was a huge factor in our decision-making process. The 2004 model is a hatch-back, but it looks oh-so-tiny in the flesh. You could get a Segway in it, I'm sure. And it's supposedly been named Motor Trend's car of the year from what I've been told.

HOWEVER, I would HIGHLY recommend the Toyota Matrix. I bought a 2004 Matrix, which is also a hatch-back, and have just absolutely loved every second of owning it. It's very roomy, has great acceleration and 'punch' for a 4-cylinder, and when you fold the back seats down, there's enough room to house at least 4 I-Series assembled or 8 disassembled Segways! It's a FANTASTIC car for hauling the Segway around in! Even if you don't fold the back seat down, you can still accomodate one assembled Segway or two disassembled Segways.*

I'd HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking... plus, the gas mileage is FANTASTIC on the car... the standard 2004 Matrix gets about 38 mpg on the highway and 28 in the city... the XRS gets a teeny little less but is what I settled on. It's a great car in most every way. Read up on it!

* By disassembled, I don't mean all-the-way-disassembled. What I meant was, taking apart the control shaft from the power base, nothing more.



-Robert
"BORN TO GLIDE"

[god1138]

By the way, we got invoice price on my Matrix XRS and it was like $16,700. Pretty fine price, if you ask me, and Toyota's usually hold their value very well next to some other vehicles. I had a 2000 Chevy Malibu Sport before and the thing was only worth $4000 trade-in... made me SO mad... but a single Segway fit well in the trunk of it... though the gas mileage wasn't very well-off!

-Robert
"BORN TO GLIDE"

[dgbint]

My Subaru Liberty ( station wagon ) and my iSeries are a great team.
It's easy enough to load and there are really good tie down points.
I lower 1/2 the rear seat and stick the handlebars through.
One rubberised rope clips around the head rest of the passenger seat and I am away in a couple of minutes.

Michael

[Sal]

These are some great suggestions, keep them coming. I was indeed considering the Prius, I will take a test drive, but I am now leaning toward the Matrix. I have had a great track record with Toyota and would like to stick with them. My parents recommend some Honda model, but they don't know which... I'll try the Matrix too. But the Pruis' gas mileage (in the 60s I think) is nothing to sneeze at! LOL

-Sal

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[dhugger]

I need to remove the CS to get my HT into my Focus SE sedan, but it fits. It fits perfectly in the trunk of a Focus hatchback though (my friend has the hatchback). And I'm sure the wagon could fit 2 or 3 HTs no problem. I don't know why, but I love my Focus almost as much as my HT. I guess it's just a cool lookin' car that handles great... and as far as I'm concerned, it's the best bang for the buck... and it's the only small car on Car & Driver's 10 best list (4 years running!)
Here's the HT in the front seat of my car (I usually put it in the back seat now though):
http://pubpages.unh.edu/~dhugger/Temp3D/HT_in_Focus.jpg

-Derek Hugger-

[Neelix]

Derek, is it possible to lay it with the control shaft parallel to the seat in the back? Then use seatbelts to hold it in. Maybe that would get rid of the disassembly.

Does your license plate say, "L3N5"? =)

-------------------------
Fear not, for even though I come from the Forbidden City, I surely do not agree with the rules.
Chris Knight

[Sal]

Hmmm, I was also thinking of the Honda Element, has plenty of room and access points... The only thing that worries me is that it seems unstable. Like the first generation Toyota Rav4s, too tall.

-Sal

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[dhugger]

Neelix, when I put the HT in the back seat, I hafta put it in parallel w/ the car. It won't fit through the door the way you see it sitting in the front seat... so I'm stuck taking it apart. Ya know what kinda drove me nuts when I first got the HT though? The wheels & fenders are about 2" too big to fit through the opening to the trunck... 2"!!!! Oh well, at least I can get it into a small car like this, right?

-Derek Hugger-

[BenBethel]

Buy the 2004 Prius. I just bought a Prius (just to fit the Segway into, and now I've sold the Segway... how silly am I? Oh well.) and absolutely LOVE it. The distance from the ground to the rear storage area is very very low... requiring minimal lifting or a very short ramp. The cool thing is that there's a 'hidden' trunk under the normal rear storage where the ramp could be placed, or that could serve as a place to 'lock in' the Segway so that it doesn't roll around while driving.

Go for it. $20K, 60mpg, $4K back from fed/state, and 50% deduction if you're an independent contractor and soon the DOT is going to allow it on HOV lanes...

Ben

www.benbethel.com

[Sal]

Maybe I missed the posts that discussed it, but Ben, why did you sell the Segway?

I am very very seriously considering the 2004 prius. Waiting to buy until my physical move to Indy is done, I'll be in indiana, as I have heard the prices are somewhat cheaper than those in NY.

-Sal

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[BenBethel]

I sold the seg cuz I quit my job in healthcare that was 2.4 miles away - no longer needing the seg. I didn't want it becoming the world's most expensive towel rack, and while it was awesome, it wasn't intelligent to keep holding onto it. I sold it to a couple in Australia and hand-delivered it to them... they absolutely love it.

Ben

www.benbethel.com

[mattk]

The I fits well in my father's Intrepid