Anyone else feel spoiled???

[sorka]

Originally Posted by jhinton

No, I don't feel "spoiled" by having a Prius. I hate the touch screen, the interior is nothing but cheap plastic with poor fit and finish, the seats are uncomfortable with horrible fabric, and the car handles worse than my father's 1981 Oldsmobile 98.

Maybe you should have gotten a touring model. Although even compared to a an '81 Oldsmobile of any sort, I'd bet $10K, that drivers being equal, the Prius would smoke the Olds on any track with turns.

You're obviously not familiar with current Mercedes quality. Until you get up into the $100K range, most C and M class sedans have that cheap plastic feel as well. Once you get into the S and SL classes, things start to improve.

[jhinton]

Originally Posted by kycanonist

Okay, guess what? Be insulted... that's your crap not mine. I'm a little too evolved to have to deal with your emotional baggage. If you are insulted, that's about you and not about me. I can't make you feel anything. If you feel something, it's about you.

So, the reality of the situation is, I'm happy with my car because I'm not a snob like you are.

Is there a particular reason that you want to jump into threads where people feel good about their new cars and then rain on their parades? Is there a reason that you have to be this way to people?

Seriously... therapy and psychiatric drugs work wonders for those who have these sorts of issues. You might want to look into your family of origin issues to figure out why you feel a need to be so negative.

I'm not the one in need of therapy or drugs since I'm not the one that said the interior of a Prius is as good as a Mercedes M-Class.

Why must I rain on your parade? I have a Prius, I like my Prius for what it is good at which is getting good fuel economy. However, I live in the real world. The Prius is not a luxury car, not even close. The interior fit and finish and materials are well below average for a car that retails in the $25K range.

Why am I insulted? The Mercedes M-Class interior was my job. As the product engineer I was personally responsable for the quality of the instrument panels that were supplied for the 2008 model year. There is simply no comparison between the M-Class cockpit and the Prius cockpit in materials or panel fit. I routinely scraped intrument panels for defects that couldn't be seen but we could feel. On the other hand my Prius has huge and glaring flaws on just about every panel and the paint is flaking off the glove box door. I take pride in my work so when you say the quality of the Prius and a M-Class are equivalent you imply that my work is as poor as that in the Prius.

[pdoege]

Strangely enough, the Prius beats the M-class in the J.D. Powers initial quality survey.

Check it out:
JDPower.com | Prius
JDPower.com | M-Class


Now the BMW E39 interior. The people that did that job knew a thing or two, let me tell you!

Peter

[sorka]

Originally Posted by pdoege

Strangely enough, the Prius beats the M-class in the J.D. Powers initial quality survey.

Check it out:
JDPower.com | Prius
JDPower.com | M-Class


Now the BMW E39 interior. The people that did that job knew a thing or two, let me tell you!

Peter

BMW interiors are indeed very nice.

[Son of Gloin]

Originally Posted by kycanonist

Okay, guess what? Be insulted... that's your crap not mine. I'm a little too evolved to have to deal with your emotional baggage. If you are insulted, that's about you and not about me ....

Is there a particular reason that you want to jump into threads where people feel good about their new cars and then rain on their parades? Is there a reason that you have to be this way to people?

good for you, kycanonist, for standing up for yourself AND for posing such questions. i'm quoting / replying to the above PRIOR to making it to the end of this thread ... and am MOST eager to see if any response to the above has yet come forth.

somehow, i doubt it ....

but if i'm wrong about that ... i'm confident it's much like the first post; not at all worth reading ....

EDIT FOLLOWS: well, i've made it through to the end of the thread now, and i was right ... jhinton's second post wasn't worth reading either ....

just SELL your damn Prius, if you're so disappointed in it ....

[jhinton]

Originally Posted by pdoege

Strangely enough, the Prius beats the M-class in the J.D. Powers initial quality survey.

Check it out:
JDPower.com | Prius
JDPower.com | M-Class


Now the BMW E39 interior. The people that did that job knew a thing or two, let me tell you!

Peter

Yes, the Prius beats the M-Class in the overall Initial Quality Survey (IQS) Prius 4.5 stars / M-Class 4.0 stars. However the OP was specifically equating the INTERIOR of the Prius to the M-Class. On interior ratings:

----------------------------------- Prius ------ M-Class
Comfort ---------------------------- 3.0 ------- 4.5
Features and Interior Panel ---------- 2.5 ------- 4.0
Body Interior Quality Mechanical ----- 4.5 ------- 5.0

Also keep in mind that JD Power's IQS is just that, a survey of owner's satisfaction. I suspect that the owner of a $50,000 Mercedes is expecting a bit more than the owner of a $25,000 Prius.

Son of Gloin, you wanted to know why I don't just sell my Prius because I'm so dissatisfied? I'm not dissatisfied, I bought the Prius to get good fuel economy in an urban environment. It does this very well.

However, I'm not one of those owners that has "drunk the Kool-Aid" and thinks the Prius is the best car in the world because it's not. It is most definitely not a luxury car. I realize that this is a Prius owner’s forum so many here are very bias and love their car. However, all owner’s forums are that way. I’m sure that you can find someone on a Yugo owner’s forum claiming their car is a luxury car too but it doesn’t make it true.

[kycanonist]

Of course the Mercedes is going to be better than a Prius! I'm not an idiot to believe that! I've been in the Mercedes often enough to know that it's obviously a MUCH better built car and you get what you pay for with this sort of thing. I get that.

My point was that her Mercedes has the touch screen... it has the same Sirius radio as mine... it has a lot of the same bells and whistles as my Prius. By no means was I saying that it's as good as a Mercedes when it comes to engineering. I'm not an engineer and that wasn't my point.

I said that I felt spoiled because unlike those who grew up with a Mercedes as their car in the garage, we grew up in the 1970's where a luxury was having power windows and locks. I remember having to get into the car to go through the back seat to open the locks on the other door for my mom after my dad opened the driver's side door. My first car was a Fiero when I was 16 and I had to roll up the windows by hand crank. It was a big deal that it had a tape player!

So, for us, who don't have the money to spend on a $60,000 car or SUV, this IS luxury. You're right. It's all in the eye of the beholder. But, even with my 4 post graduate degrees, I've chosen to live a life under the level of wealth that allows for this sort of purchase. I'm of a generation where this sort of stuff in a car IS luxury.

I know that it's technically not a luxury car. I'm not that stupid.

However, the point of the thread initially was that I "felt" spoiled! That implies personal perspective and background. Obviously, if you grew up in a time when this stuff is standard, then you aren't going to feel the same way as someone who didn't. If you are an engineer and you build really high end cars, you are going to think that this stuff is crap. I get that.

But, why use the time to come into a thread when someone is feeling the high of their purchase to make them feel like crap? That was my point to that PP. Why feel the need to come in and make everyone else feel like they have no perspective because they are not an automotive professional?

I started the thread to share the joy that I was feeling and someone decided to jump on in and ruin that. I'm not sure why, but that's his issue, not mine.

[kycanonist]

Oh! And as of today, we're averaging 52.3 mpg! Woo-hoo!!!

[jhinton]

Originally Posted by kycanonist

I started the thread to share the joy that I was feeling and someone decided to jump on in and ruin that. I'm not sure why, but that's his issue, not mine.

That would be me that you are describing. I understand that you are excited about your new purchase and that is great. If you like the car, that is all that is important. If you would have said that it felt like you were driving a Lexus, I wouldn’t have said a thing. But you didn’t, you compared it to a Mercedes vehicle that I was personally involved in the production of. That touched a nerve and I responded to it. You don’t seem to understand why I was offended by you comparing my work to an inferior product and you are probably not going to so I guess I’ll drop it. I wish you and your car many happy years together.


BTW, my first car was a 1991 Chevy Cavalier Wagon with no options. When I lived in TN I drove a 1961 Buick Skylark that didn’t even have heat let alone A/C.

[kycanonist]

I do completely understand... that was my point in my last post. I fully understand that a Prius is nowhere near comparable to a Mercedes... the quality is going to be night and day different... but my point is that there are toys that I have only seen on a Mercedes... and I just used that as the point of reference b/c it's the only true luxury car I've ever been in. I'm not surrounded by luxury vehicles. I just happen to have one friend who has this particular Mercedes SUV and so that was my point of reference.

I'm sorry if I offended you and your work. I never meant to do that. I was just using the Mercedes as a point of reference. But, the fact that you reacted the way you did is what I can't help. You are right - anyone is more apt to take something personally that they have worked on themselves.

I have a FIL who spent his whole life working for Ford... so to see a Toyota in our driveway really breaks his heart.