Pimped-out Prius taxi

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jkash\";p=\"73055)</div>

A cow-orker of mine took a business trip up to Vancouver BC late last year. He told me about a ride he took in a pimped-out Prius taxi driven by a what he described as a 60+ year old Russian ex-Mafia guy. This Prius had glow lighting on the floorboards, DVD running to a 15" drop-down video screen and an after market rear-view mirror that had a hidden video screen in the left-most 1/3rd of the mirror; massive sound system that he was pumping Gangsta' rap out of, and the foulest mouth he'd ever heard.

I wonder if this is the taxi they are referring to in the article?

I'm not really sure they cost more.
Up front yes, but if you factor in operating cost of gas and maintenance (assuming the gas prices don't come back down a lot), I think it's about the same as a comparable non hybrid model. Plus if you factor in a higher resale value (assuming a continued rising demand for the car and a reduced demand for non-hybrids), I think my Prius purchase will actually cost less over the next 5 years as a car purchase for 15K.

In Victoria, BC two taxi cab companies, Empress and BlueBird, have fleets of Prii cabs. I would suggest that cab companies don't just jump on a hybrid bandwagon to be fashionable but have done considerable cost analysis before making the commitment. Also the city of Nanaimo BC have made bulk purchases of Prii for their city workers requiring such vehicles. They must have taken the initial higher cost into consideration.

These "premium of $3k" articles must be factoring in the rebates. GM is dumping their cars with $3-5000 rebates on them, while the Prius is selling at MSRP or slightly below these days. Maybe that's what they mean.

-m.

Slightly surprised at the impression that the Prius is a very expensive car. Out of curiosity, I looked up all cars that, when fully loaded with accessories, were within a few hundred bucks of the 2005 BC version I just bought.

I was surprised at this very unscientific survey and did not factor in the ability to bargain down other models. But just using MRSP I found 5 pickups, the BW Beetle, PT Cruiser and a lot of others within a few bucks of my Prius.

Also, it looks like the Prius holds value better on resale. Just saw a guy buy a 2003 with 22,000 miles for $22,000! He didn't want to wait a year and a half for a new one. I also saw 3 bare bones 2004 Prii on a used car lot for an asking price of $22,000.

No timing belt to snap. No alternator to mysteriously break down. The hood of the car doesn't even get warm. The front brakes barely get used. Gas costs less over lifetime.

Is the cat integrated with the exhaust manifold and liable to crack every 100K miles? These were the major problems I've had with my Civic.

I predict less maintenance costs with the Prius.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rflagg\";p=\"73368)</div>

M:

GM has long played that Rebate Game and it's a Ponzi Scheme. For example, if you finance your GM brand vehicle, you usually don't get the "rebate."

If you cut a check on the spot, this mysterious "rebate" of $2,500-$5,000 is taken off the MSRP.

What a crock of s***.

Kind of interesting that even with their "rebate" and their "zero" percent financing scheme, GM can't seem to give away their pickups, SUV's, and awful tiny cars. Toyota dealers when asked what the Prius "really" costs will simply point to the sticker, and the car rarely stays around.

/jay

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Old n Bold\";p=\"73378)</div>

Feature for Feature, the Prius compares quite well. Especially the reliability and the offset crash test results.

Now if Toyota could put their HSD in something like the Echo Hatchback here for under $20K Cdn, they'd have a winner.

Since the Prius is already a "winner" from a sales perspective, I doubt that will happen anytime soon. Nice to dream though: HSD truly for the masses.

Go to the www.toyota.com website.

Check interior dimensions for Camry and Prius.

Then, build an all options Prius.

Build a similiar options Camry.

They cost about the same, have about the same interior diminsions.

Which one uses more fuel?

Where is the cost penalty?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rflagg\";p=\"73368)</div>

Comparing the wares sold by General Motors to the finest quality automobile producer on the planet is not possible because one is a piece of junk and the other is the finest quality avaliable.

Compare the Prius to a similiar Toyota product in interior dimensions.

Prius interior dimensions:

Interior Dimensions front
Head room 39.1
Shoulder room 55.3
Hip room 51.0
Leg room 41.7

Camry interior dimensions:

Interior Dimensions front
Head room 39.2
Shoulder room 57.5
Hip room 54.4

Well, my build Camry does not have leather, (neither does the 26,666 Prius, but no NAV or Bluetooth or Smartkey...

Price: 26,802

Just where is this Prius expensive? I get a vastly better equipped car, for less money and it saves fuel.




That is apples to apples.

GM makes junk.