Prius Myths and their Rebuttals

[Godiva]

I heard "where do you plug it in" two weeks ago when I bought dog food.

[Hopeful29]

LOL @ Where do you plug it in!

OK...I have a question for everyone. I've been wanting a Prius for 6 months now. I finally got my husband to take a look at it. But, he's still concerned about the space. I currently have a 4Runner and we go to a couple trade shows every year. we usually fly, but we're driving this year and he's afraid everything won't fit in the Prius. Does anyone have any stories of carrying A LOT of "stuff" in your Prii or any facts about the capacity it can handle?

[efusco]

Here's a good one just posted by Code Blue today....
Myth: It is better environmentally to buy a used car than a Prius.
Fact: Nope, the Prius is Better!

[miscrms]

Originally Posted by Hopeful29

LOL @ Where do you plug it in!

OK...I have a question for everyone. I've been wanting a Prius for 6 months now. I finally got my husband to take a look at it. But, he's still concerned about the space. I currently have a 4Runner and we go to a couple trade shows every year. we usually fly, but we're driving this year and he's afraid everything won't fit in the Prius. Does anyone have any stories of carrying A LOT of "stuff" in your Prii or any facts about the capacity it can handle?

The bottom line is a lot. Between the under bed storage in the back, the seats folding down etc you can pack an impressive amount of stuff in there. There are numerous threads on the topic if you use the search engine. Here's a link to one of them:
Largest or most unusual Load Carried in Your Prius

Rob

[Hopeful29]

Thanks Rob!

[LenS]

Originally Posted by LenS

Prius isn't a "REAL" car because Toyota is paying over $30,000(?) to build each one. If they really sold them at a profit the cost would be prohibitive.

Just heard this one over 4th of July weekend. I did not have any dollar figures to discuss it. Anyone have info on a statement like this?

Well....it has been some days since I posted this and I have spent several hours searching the subject on the Internet. As a newbee to the PriusChat and have only owned a Prius since May this is my spin:

1) Yes, Toyota did subsidize the early Prius. Saw a reference that Toyota some time in the past (start of 2nd generation Prius??) that they were no longer doing that. If they were still doing that to the toon of $10,000 per unit for 1,000,000 units sold that would be 10 billion dollars. I can't say for sure but I don't Toyota would do that.

2) On a personal level if they still are SO WHAT. All that means is I would be crazy for not buying a brand new $35,000 car for $25,000! So would anyone else.

3) Environmentally not so good if the Prius is really a $35,000 car. That means the cost of hybrid technology would reduce the number of buyers.

It would be best to compare apples to apples. So lets look at the 2009 Camry and 2009 Camry Hybrid. "Compared to the similarly equipped four-cylinder Camry XLE, for instance, the Hybrid costs approximately $1,500 more" but the fuel economy is improved from 25mpg to 34mpg. At 10 years with replacing the $4000 battery pack at 10 years the net saving would still be about $1,500 to $3,000 ahead from $4 a gallon fuel. And of course there is ALSO to positive environmental impact of driving a near zero emissions vehicle.

So, thanks Toyota (for what ever reason you had) for starting this HEV program over 15 years ago and sticking with it when other manufactures lost the vision.

It would appear that Toyota has made real HEV vehicles that are even today cost competitive.

[donee]

Hi LenS,

The Camry 4 cyl, to Camry Hybrid, is more a Saturn Sky to Porshe comparison. If you want to compare on equivalent performance, the Camry V6 is closer to the Hybrid, than the 4 cyl.

Compare those two cars, and the Hybrid is actually cheaper.

[LenS]

2009 Camry:
2.4L 0-60 in 8.9 sec
Hybrid 0-60 in 8.4 sec
3.5L 0-60 in 6.5 sec

Off the line with the hybrid electric motor torque the hybrid is probably pins you in your seat more the 3.5L.

Might just be best to say the hybrid is very comparable to the all gas 2.4L and 3.5L Camry's. Only thing lost is some trunk space and that can be compensated for by folding back seats.

[Prius_2L8]

I am a Volkswagen Jetta TDI Diesel owner that gets 40+ mpg, but unfortunately cannot join the elated Prius owners that have received an Energy Efficient (EE) plate from Arizona's pilot program. The 10,000 vehicle limit has been reached.

I am posting because I just received an answer from The MVD in Arizona stating the following: "...sorry but the owner cannot transfer the EE plate to you. The owner of the EE plate can only transfer the license plate to another eligible hybrid of which he is the owner."

I was hoping I could still join the thousands of Prius owners that are driving in the HOV lane by buying a used Prius and having the owner transfer his EE plate to me. That cannot be done.

Oh well...like the man that ogles a voluptuous woman from afar, I will continue to look admiringly at all the Prius' with EE plates driving past me on the HOV lanes...

...thus my username Prius_2L8 (Prius too late).

[skruse]

Originally Posted by Hopeful29

LOL @ Where do you plug it in!

OK...I have a question for everyone. I've been wanting a Prius for 6 months now. I finally got my husband to take a look at it. But, he's still concerned about the space. I currently have a 4Runner and we go to a couple trade shows every year. we usually fly, but we're driving this year and he's afraid everything won't fit in the Prius. Does anyone have any stories of carrying A LOT of "stuff" in your Prii or any facts about the capacity it can handle?

My previous vehicle was a 4Runner. Several times I transferred stuff between the 4Runner and Prius. Prius hold more - just different arrangement. I regularly carry my bicycle inside the Prius.